Khoes

The second day of Anthesteria is called Khoes, which means "pitchers."

On this day, the new wine is taken to Dionysos' temple and there it is mixed with water, as Dionysos taught, and a libation is made as first-fruit offering to him. As is customary, a prayer is offered up in thanks for the wine and the fruits of the harvest. The wine is then tasted and then to bed to await the morning when celebration in honor of the god and his gifts.

The God Dionysos is a god of opposites, life and death, merriment and solemnity, drunkenness and sobriety are all linked in this festival. Because the dead are said to be free to roam, this day is also marked with a taint of miasma as well as exultation and celebration. The sanctuaries of the Gods are closed this day, and it is considered a bad omen to swear oaths on this day.

On this day, we drink!

On this day, the sanctuary of Dionysos Limnaios is open, the only time of the year when it is, and during the Anthesteria is the only time when the gates of the underworld are thus open and the dead are said to walk the earth (like Halloween) and in this mixture of love, life, and death, there is a drunken and erotic adventure to be had as all people, men women and children, celebrate by drinking of the wine.

The Bassilina (Queen) is the wife of the Basileus (King) and at their marriage she must have been a virgin. With the aid of the seven Venerable Women chosen by her husband, she swears an oath and together they mix the wine in front of the mask of the god and through the pouring of the wine for the revelers, they call forth the God.

The men too participate, and with the Basileus they sit and partake of a drinking contest judged by the Basileus, and in this way they call forth the God.

Processions of revelers make their way through the city, and men in the processions yell out insults at the crowd and make crude jokes meant to drive away the pollution of the dead, and the crowds return the favor, and all in jest they rejoice in the lusty pleasures of life brought to mind by the celebrations.

The seven Venerable Women, in turn, are preparing for the sacred marriage right between the Bassilina and the God in the Bull Pen. they travel into the Marshes and at the 14 altars of Dionysos they perform the rites to call the God to his marriage.

In general, this is a day which, like Halloween, is meant to confront us with death and remind us of the joys of life.