The Apellai (), was an ancient annual family festival of the Northwest Greeks, at least at Delphi, similar to the Ionian Apaturia. The festival was apparently spread by the Dorians as inferred by the use of the month name Apellaios in various Dorian localities. Sacrificial animals, called apellaia, seem to have been offered at the Apellai on the occasion of a youth becoming an adult. It is thought to have been a festival of Apollo.
Usage, meaning, and etymology The word apellai occurs only in the plural,Welwei, s.v. Apella, Apellai; Ste. Croix, p. 347; Wade-Gery p. 44. with all known uses of the word coming from Doric speaking regions of Greece.Beekes 2003, p. 9. It occurs in the Labyad inscription (late fifth to fourth century BC) of Delphi, as well as two first-century BC inscriptions from Sparta's seaport town of Gytheion.Welwei, s.v. Apella, Apellai; Burkert 1975, pp. 9–10; Wade-Gery p. 44; Labyad inscription A 31–32, 36, B 7, 8, D 3, 44 (Rhodes, and Osborne, pp. 2, 4, 6); IG V,1 1144.20–21, 1146.40–41 (Gytheion inscriptions).
The lexicographer Hesychius (5th/6th century AD) explains the meaning of the word apellai with the gloss: sekoi, ekklesiai, archairesiai.Welwei, s.v. Apella, Apellai; Burkert 1975, p. 9; Wade-Gery p. 44; Hesychius, s.v. apellai (Latte, p. 272, 5994): "ἀπελλαι· 'σηκοί, ἐκκλησίαι, ἀρχαιρεσίαι". The word sekos (plural sekoi) can refer to various kinds of enclosures,The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, s.v. σηκός (p. 1263); LSJ, s.v. σηκός. while ekklesiai refers to official public assemblies,The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, s.v. ἐκκλησία (p. 447); LSJ, s.v. ἐκκλησία. and archairesiai refers, more specifically, to public assemblies for the election of magistrates.The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, s.v. ἀρχαιρεσίαι (p. 224); LSJ, s.v. ἀρχαιρεσία. In light of Heschius's explanation of the apellai in terms of such assemblies, Heschius's sekoi might be interpreted as referring to either the entire enclosure within which such assemblies were held, or the subdivisions of such assemblies into precincts (e.g. voting precincts).Per Versnel 1993, p. 321 n. 106. While one meaning of the word sekos is 'sacred enclosure, precinct', the first meaning of the word sekos is as an enclosure for sheep, goats or cattle (see The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, s.v. σηκός (p. 1263); LSJ, s.v. σηκός), and some scholars (according to Versnel, scholars attempting to connect Apollo with herding) have interpeted Heschius's sekoi as enclosures of this type (i.e 'pens' or 'folds'), an interpretation rejected by Burkert 1975, p. 12. Luther 2006, p. 82, suggests the following interpretation of Hesychius's gloss: that the Apellai festival was celebrated in sacred precincts (sekoi) where popular assemblies (ekklesia) were held, at which elections of officials took place (archairesiai). The infinitive apellazein (ἀπελλάζειν), is thought to be a denominal verb derived from the noun apellai,Beekes 2009, s.v. ἀπέλλαι (p. 115). occurs in the Lycurgean Great Rhetra (c. 700 BC?) of Sparta, which Plutarch explains is "a reference to Apollo" meaning ekklesiazein (ἐκκλησιάζειν),Wade-Gery, pp. 44–47; Plutarch, Lycurgus 6.2. i.e. 'to conduct an assembly'.Welwei, s.v. Apella, Apellai; The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, s.v. ἀπελλάζω (p. 168); LSJ, s.v. ἀπελλάζω; Beekes 2009, s.v. ἀπέλλαι (p. 115); . The use of the word apellai in the two first-century BC inscriptions from Gytheion helps to confirm the explanations given by Hesychius and Plutarch. Both inscriptions contain the formulaic expression used to introduce official decrees of the people's assembly: "ἔδοξε τῶι δάμωι" ('it was decided by the people'), followed by: "ἐν ταῖς μεγάλαις ἀπελλαῖς" ('at the great apellai').Hansen, p. 27; Ste. Croix, p. 347; Giannakopoulos, p. 221 n. 10; Burkert 1975, p. 9; IG V,1 1144.20–21, 1146.40–41.
The etymology of the word apellai is unknown. According to Robert Beekes, "a connection with IE *h2pel- would be the most easy solution, but there are no obvious cognates for such a root."Beekes 2009, s.v. ἀπέλλαι (p. 115). According to Nilsson 1967, pp. 204, 558, Solders (Der ursprüngliche Apollon, AfRw. XXXII, 1935, pp. 142ff), has suggested a derivation of apellai from the Macedonian word pella ('stone'), an etymology which Nilsson repeats without endorsing, and Beekes ignores. Another Hesychius gloss explains the (related?) word apellein with the word apokleiein, a form of the verb apokleio (ἀποκλειω) that means 'shut out', 'close', 'shut away'. Hesychius, s.v. ἀπελλαῖν (Latte, p. 272, 5945); The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, s.v. ἀποκλειω (p. 183); LSJ, s.v. ἀποκλείω. According to Beekes this "may well provide the original meaning of ἀπέλλαι, 'enclosed space, meeting place'."Beekes 2009, s.v. ἀπέλλαι (p. 115); Versnel 1993, p. 321 n. 106.
Festival The only explicit mention of a festival called the Apellai occurs in the Labyad inscription, which records the law of the Ladyadai, a familial group at Delphi assumed to be similar to an Ionian phratry.For the text, and translation of the Labyad inscription, with commentary, see Rhodes, and Osborne, pp. 2–13; for discussions see Burkert 1975, p. 10; Nilsson 1967, p. 556; Wade-Gery, pp. 44–45; Harrison 1927, p. 440; Nilsson 1906, pp. 464–465. For Ladyadai as a phratry, see Rhodes, and Osborne, p. 8. The first month of the Delphic calendar was called Apellaios (),Samuel, p. 74; LSJ, s.v. Ἀπελλαῖος. and the inscription mentions an Apellai festival at Delphi held during that month at which the Labyaidai feasted.Wade-Gery pp. 44–45; Labyad inscription, D 3, 43–44 (Rhodes, and Osborne, pp. 6, 7). The inscription regulates the procedures for admission of members into the Ladyadai (as overseen by certain officials called the tagoi), which required the formal approval, of both the entire Ladyadai, and the particular subgroup (patria) to which the new member would belong, and which seem to have involved three points of admission: marriage, the birth of a (probably male) child, and passage into adulthood.Rhodes, and Osborne, p. 9.
In particular, the inscription regulates the "offerings of sacrificial victims and of cakes".Labyad inscription, A 4–5 (Rhodes, and Osborne, pp. 2, 3). The "sacrificial victims" were animal sacrifices called apellaia (ἀπελλαῖα),Rhodes, and Osborne, p. 9. which are to be brought and received only on the day of the Apellai, and the inscription prescribes that if the presiding Labyad officials (tagoi) were to "receive them on a day other than the Apellai, each of them is to pay a fine of 10 drachmas",Labyad inscription, A 31–38 (Rhodes, and Osborne, pp. 2, 3). In lines A 31–32 the verb describing what happens to the apellaia is a form of the verb ἄγω, commonly used, of a living creature, meaning lead or bring (LSJ, s.v. ἄγω), see also Burkert 1975, p. 10. while the cake offerings (called daratai)Rhodes, and Osborne, p. 9. were to be made by Ladyadai "on the occasion of marriages or children".Labyad inscription, A 24 (Rhodes, and Osborne, pp. 2, 3). From this it has been concluded that the Apellai were the Delphic equivalent of the Ionian festival of the Apaturia, at which the formal admission of new adult members of a phratry occurred.Cartledge, s.v. Apellai (2); Rhodes, and Osborne, p. 9; Nilsson 1906, p. 464; Harrison, p. 441; Burkert 1975, p. 10.
The Apellai, as the name of a festival, is only attested for Delphi, however the month name Apellaios was widespread among the Dorians, from which it has been inferred that the Apellai was also widespread.Burkert 1975, pp. 8–10; Nilsson 1967, p. 556; Nilsson 1906, pp. 464–465. In addition to Delphi, localities where the month name Apellaios is attested include, in Central Greece, Ozolian Locrian Chaleion,Samuel, p. 77. Oianthea,Samuel, p. 77. and Tolophon,Samuel, p. 77. and Phthiotic LamiaSamuel, p. 80; IG IX 2 76.12. and Oitaia,Samuel, p. 82; GDI 1529 = IG IX I 227.6, 229.5, 230.5. in the Peloponnese, ArgosIverson, p. 168; Samuel, p. 90. and Epidaurus,Samuel, p. 91; IG IV2 108.97, 117.10. the island of TenosSamuel, p. 102; IG XII,5 872.15. in the Aegean, OlusSamuel, p. 135; IC I xvi 4*.58–59. on Crete, HeracleaSamuel, p. 138; 645. in the Lucanian region of Southern Italy, TauromenionSamuel, p. 137; IG XIV 426.12. in Sicily, and Bithynian ChalcedonSamuel, p. 131; Syll.3 1011.9 (Dittenberger, p. 147 1011) = IK Kalchedon 10.8. in Anatolia.
Although Apellaios is not one of the eleven attested month names of the Spartan calendar,Samuel, p. 93. However, according to Wade-Gery, p. 45 with n. 1, it is likely that Apellaios was also (as at Delphi) the first month in the Spartan calendar. the Apellai is also generally thought to have been a festival celebrated at Dorian Sparta.Cartledge s.v. Apellai (1); Welwei, s.v. Apella, Apellai; Burkert 1975, p. 8 n. 31. Plutarch's use of the verb apellazein in his description of the Great Rhetra, has been understood to mean that the Spartan political assembly, was held during the festival of the Apellai.Kennel, pp. 46–49; Cartledge s.v. Apellai (1). From the use of the term 'great apellai' (megalai apellai) in the Gytheion inscriptions mentioned above, it has been inferred that, at Sparta, there were also 'lesser apellai'. Wade-Gery further suggested that the Spartan 'great apellai' was held annually, while 'lesser apellai' were held monthly.Wade-Gery, pp. 46–47; Burkert 1975, p. 10; Luther 2006, pp. 80–82.
Apollo As noted above, Plutarch connects the word apellazein with Apollo,Wade-Gery, p. 46; Plutarch, Lycurgus 6.2. and the Apellai is widely thought to have been a festival of Apollo.E.g. Cartledge s.v. Apellai (1), s.v. Apellai (2); Welwei, s.v. Apella, Apellai. In 1912, Jane Ellen Harrison argued that Apollo was intimately associated with the Apellai and the sacrificial apellaia, concluding that Apollo was "the projection of these rites",Harrisson, p. 441. although, Martin P. Nilsson, more than fifty years later, would assert that Apollo played only a minor role (geringe Rolle) in the Apellai, and that there was no reason to assume that the festival really belonged to Apollo.Nilsson 1967, p. 556.