To what extent do you think the great Panathenaia was a religious occasion?
Against
Sports
The main part of the festival was a sporting competition of
similar scale to the olympics, suggesting The Great Panathenaia had sporting significance. The prizes for these events included amphorae, large sums of money and commodities such as olive oil.
Music
People would come to show off their musical
talent by singing, playing the aulos or lyre and
reciting the works of Homer. This meant it was a chance to make one's talents known as well as celebrate the birth of
Athena.
Social
In Athens, people didn't often get a chance to get together and socialise so religeous festivals like the Panathenaia were some of the few chances Athenians got to socialise and eat cooked meat and other delicacies.
Percentage of
population who celebrated
There is a chance that not everyone who celebrated
the Panathenaia actually worshipped her, just as how most people who celebrate Christmas in the modern day just do it for the sake of having time off to relax.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we think the Great Panathenaia was originally introduced for the purpose of worshipping Athena, however, as the festival grew and became more popular, it became less and less about religion and more about relaxing and generally having a good time.
For
Difficult to separate
In some cases it is very difficult to separate sport and religion. For example in the Olympics athletes were made to swear on oath to Zeus that they would not cheat in the races. Also victories in competions such as the great Panatheneia itself were dedicated to the Gods.
Athena's birthday
Athena was the patron godess of Athens
therefore she and her birthday deserved more credit than
some musical events that had no relevance
to Athens or its history.
Peplos
The peplos was a dress made of gold and purple dedicated to Athena. The gift would've formed the focus of the festival and it would've been made by aristocratic girls which would be a great honor. The peplos would've been suitable as Athena was the godesses of weaving.
sacrifices
There was a huge sacrifice where about a hundred oxen
were slaughtered. THis would've proved that they wanted to show everyone how important the festival was to them and Athena otherwise that many cows wouldm't have been slaughtered.