in antiquity, an Athenian festival celebrated on the seventh day of the month Pyanephius; which, according to the generality of critics, was the same as our September.

Plutarch refers the institution of this feast to Theseus, who, after the funeral of his father, on this day paid his vows to Apollo, because the youths who returned with him safe from Crete then made their entry into the city. On this occasion, these young men putting all that was left of their provisions into one kettle, feasted together on it, and made great rejoicing. Hence was derived the custom of boiling pulse on this festival. The Athenians likewise carried about an olive branch, bound about with wood, and crowned with all sorts of first-fruits, to signify that scarcity and barrenness were ceased, singing in procession a song. And when the solemnity was over, it was usual to erect the olive branch before their doors, as a preservative against scarcity and want.