Adonia

• the festival of Adonis. It returned annually in June, about the time of the summer solstice, and was celebrated (even in Rome; cf. Manso, Essays on Myth.) with alternate lamentations and exultations, on account of the death of Adonis, Amm.22, 9. This festival was a symbol of the dying and reviving again of nature; cf. Hier. ad Ez. 8; Creuz. Symb. 2, 86; Böttig. Sab. 1, 261 sq.

ADO´NIA(Ἀδώνια), a festival celebrated in honour of Adonis, the beloved of Aphrodite. It had been introduced into Greece from the East, probably about the time of the Persian wars, and, like many other Eastern rites, was celebrated in most of the Greek cities (Aristoph. Lys. 362Pax, 410). The time and duration of the solemnities differed in the different towns and countries; but in Greece generally they seem to have lasted two days, the first being the day on which Adonis disappeared (ἀφανισμός), and the second on which his body was sought (ζήτησις) by the women in what were called the gardens of Adonis, i. e. small earthen vessels which were placed before the door of private houses and at the entrance of the temple of Adonis, and in which quickly-growing and quickly-decaying herbs were planted as a symbol of the brief duration of human life. The first of these days was a day of mourning, and the second one of rejoicing and amusements of various kinds, such as the proposing of riddles, because on that day Adonis was conceived to be coming to life again to dwell with Aphrodite for six months (Plut. Alc. 18; Nic. 13; Athen. p. 451 b; Hesych. and Suidas, s. v.; Roulez, Mélanges, vol. 3. p. 1 ff.). Other particulars respecting the worship and festivals of Adonis are given under ADONIS in the Dict. of Biogr. and Mythol.

(Ἀδώνια). A festival celebrated in honour of Adonis (q.v.), and introduced into Greece from the East probably at the time of the wars with Persia. In general the ceremonies lasted two days, the first being the day on which Adonis disappeared (ἀφανισμός), and the second that on which his body was sought (ζήτησις) by the women. The first was a day of mourning, and the second, one of rejoicing and amusement, because on it Adonis was conceived of as returning to life to spend six months with Aphrodité.