(from βοῦς, ox, and φονεῖν, slaughter, in antiquity, an Athenian feast or ceremony, denominated from a bullock slain therein, with quaint formalities. From the origin of the baphonia, we are told it was forbidden by the laws of Attica to kill an ox: but it once happened, at the feast of the dioplia, that an ox ate the corn, others say the cakes, which had been dressed for the sacrifice. Thaolon the priest, enraged at this, presently killed him, and fled for it. On which the Athenians, fearing the resentment of the gods, and figuring themselves ignorant who had committed the fact, brought the bloody axe before the judges, where it was solemnly arraigned, tried, found guilty, and condemned. And, in memory of this event, a feast was instituted under the denomination of baphonia; in which it was still customary for the priest to fly, and judgment to be given about the slaughter of the ox.