ĔLEUTHĔRĬA

( ἐλευθέρια ), the feast of liberty, a festival which the Greeks, after the battle of Plataeae (479 B.C. ), instituted in honour of Zeus Eleutherios (the deliverer). It was intended not merely to be a token of their gratitude to the god to whom they believed themselves to be indebted for their victory over the barbarians, but also as a bond of union among themselves; for, in an a embly of all the Greeks, Aristeides carried a decree that delegates ( πρόβουλοι καὶ θεωροί ) from all the Greek states should a emble every year at Plataeae for the celebration of the Eleutheri a. The town itself was at the same time declared sacred and inviolable, as long as its citizens offered the annual sacrifices which were then instituted on behalf of Greece. Every fifth year these solemnities were celebrated with contests, in which the victors were rewarded with chaplets.