Etymology

The word ἑορτή ➚, noun, f, 'a feast, festival' is considered as a deverbal formation evolved from a presumable form *Fε-Fορ-τή (Frisk 1960; Beekes 2010). However, its further etymology is not clear. The word is sometimes connected with Aeolic/Arcado-Cypriot ἔροτις ‘festival, feast’, despite the fact that some scholars do not confirm this hypothesis (cf. Smyth 1984: 254). According to Frisk (op. cit.), it is also related to ἔρανος ‘meal on joint account’ and ἦρα ‘service’. Beekes (op. cit.), on the other hand, definitely denies the link between ἑ. and the latter one.

Dialectal forms

There can be found some epigraphic evidence from the 6th century BC Ionia showing more archaic form ἐορτή, v. Milet I 3, 31a-b + 31c ➚. However, during the times of Herodotus (484-425 BC), a shortened form ὀρτή was already in use (so-called hypaeresis). It appears both in prose, e.g. in Hdt. 1, 31, 2: ἐούσης ὁρτῆς τῇ Ἥρῃ τοῖσι Ἀργείοισι 'when there was a festival of Hera in Argos', and in poetry, e.g.: Anacreon 55 (53): ὁρτὴν ἀγάγωμεν/Διονύσῳ 'let's keep a feast of Dionysos'. It is also attested by the inscriptions, e.g.: Milet I 3, 133, 22 ➚ (commentary and the choice of examples after D. G. Miller 2014: 176.). All forms cited above should be generally written without the spiritus asper (v. Smyth, op. cit.). It is, however, good to point out here that the notation of Ionic psilosis in literary sources is far from consequence (cf. A. Thumb, A. Scherer 1959: 266).

Morfology and syntax

Derivatives: ἑορταῖος ‘festal’, ἑορτώδης ‘festal, solemn’, ἑορτάζω ‘keep a festival’, ἑόρτασις ‘holiday-keeping’, ἑόρτασμα ‘festival, holiday’, ἑορταστής ‘participant of a feast, reveller’, ἑορταστικός ‘proper to a festival’; φιλ-έορτος ‘fond of a feast’

Collocations
There are a few collocations meaning ‘to keep a feast/festival’:
ἑορτὴν ἄγειν (e.g.: Xen., Cyr. 6, 2, 6 ➚);
ἑορτὴν ποιεῖν (e.g.: Hdt. 3, 48, 3 ➚);
ἑορτὴν ἑορτάζειν (e.g.: Xen., Atheniensium respublica 3, 2 ➚) – the last one can be described as figura etymologica, it occurs in classical authors, but is especially common in later ones.

Proverbs with the word ἑ.:
κατόπιν ἑορτῆς ἥκειν ‘to have come the day after the fair’ (cf. Pl., Grg. 447a ➚);
ἀεργοῖς αἰὲν ἑορτά ‘every day's a holiday to those who don't work’ (cf. Theoc. 15.26 ➚)

Attestations

The term ἑ. is the 1078th most common word in ancient Greek according to Logeion ➚. As such it appears very frequently even in basic corpora of Greek texts. In the TLG various forms of this lemma occur 6475 times, taking into account only the texts restricted to the 6th century A.C. The word ἑ. is firstly attested in Homer’s Odyssey in two places:

Odyssey 20, 156:
οὐ γὰρ δὴν μνηστῆρες ἀπέσσονται μεγάροιο,
ἀλλὰ μάλ᾽ ἦρι νέονται, ἐπεὶ καὶ πᾶσιν ἑορτή.

For the wooers will not long be absent from the hall, but will return right early; for it is a feast-day for all men. (translated: A.T. Murray)

Odyssey 21, 258:
νῦν μὲν γὰρ κατὰ δῆμον ἑορτὴ τοῖο θεοῖο
ἁγνή: τίς δέ κε τόξα τιταίνοιτ᾽; ἀλλὰ ἕκηλοι

For to-day throughout the land is the feast of the god—a holy feast. Who then would bend a bow? (translated: A.T. Murray)

According to the commentary, in both passages cited above ἑ. refers to the so-called νεομηνία ➚ (the feast of the new moon) dedicated to Apollo known as Neomēnios. The celebration was to take place at the beginning of spring. It is worth noting, moreover, that the feast in the Odyssey overlaps with the return of Odysseus and his revenge on the suitors. In such case, Apollo can be perceived as another protector of the hero’s deeds. What is more, words in Od. 20, 156 are told by Eurycleia, who has already recognised her lord and is privy to his plans. As a result, the term ἑ. used in this quotation can sound a little ambiguous (v. J. Russo 1992: 91-92; 116). The fact that that day an archery competition is going to take place seems also meaningful since a bow is an attribute of Apollo the god (v. M. Fernández-Galiano 1992: 176). The ancient author of The Live of Homer points out that a similar festival was kept in Samos. Homer was to visit the most prominent house in the neighbourhood and sing a song entitled εἰρεσιώνη ➚ (literally a branch of olive or laurel) which was still performed many years later on that day (v. W. Walter Merry, James Riddell, D. B. Monro, 1886 ➚).

As we can notice, there are no restrictions in use depending on the genre for beyond Homer (c. 8th century BC) the word ἑ. has many other attestation in poetry. Among the authors Pindar (c. 518 – c. 438 BC) can be enumerated: e.g.: Ol. 6, 69 ➚. Furthermore, the term occurs in tragedies written by Aeschylus (c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) (see below), Sophocles (c. 497/6 – 406/5 BC) and Euripides (c. 480 – c. 406 BC) as well as in comedies of Aristophanes (c. 446 – c. 386 BC). The examples from prose are countless and many of them have already been cited or will be quoted in the next paragraphs.

Besides that, the temporal scope of the use of this word is wide as well since the term was used from Homer to late antiquity onwards. There are numerous attestations in Fathers’ of the Church writings and occurrences in late encyclopaedical literature, e.g. in Harpocration, Lexicon in decem oratores Atticos, letter θ ➚: ἑορτή ἐστι τὰ Θαργήλια 'Thargelia are a festival'.

Taking particular authors into account, the highest use of the discussed word can be found in Joannes’ Chrysostomus (c. 347 – 407) works – 591 occurrences. Cyrillus Alexandrinus (c. 376 – 444) with his 388 uses takes second place in this regard. Concerning non-Christian authors, Flavius Josephus (c. AD 37 – c. 100) is the one who uses the word ἑ. the most often – 144 times. After him the following authors can be enumerated: Plutarch (c. AD 46 – after AD 119) – 137 occurences, Athenaeus (2nd/3rd century AD) – 125, Philo (c. 20 BC – c. AD 50) – 115, Pausanias (c. 110 – c. 180) – 70, Demosthenes (384 – 322 BC) – 54, Lucian (c. 125 – after 180) – 44, Herodotus – 33, Plato (428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) – 27 and Xenophon (c. 430 – 355/354 BC) – 25. This list was prepared thanks to the TLG tools. However, one should remember that such statistics are never fully free of mistakes and one form could be counted twice because of different versions of the same text encompassed in the corpus.

Regarding the epigraphic evidence, the word ἑ. is attested in a high amount of inscriptions from different regions (about 350). Asia Minor provides most of the material, but there are also many examples from Egypt, Nubia, Cyrenaica and Attica.

Classical tradition – usage and commentary

Lemma ἑορτή is usually translated as ‘a religious feast/a festival in honour of a god or gods’. Scholars, nevertheless, find it quite problematic to deliver an exact definition of this term and, as a result, many different religious activities are taken into account while this phenomenon is being discussed (v. Mikalson 1982: 213; Parker 2005: 159, 369). ἑ. is sometimes identified with the term θυσία ➚ ‘sacrifice’ (Casabona 1966: 132-134), which is well illustrated by following passage from Iscocrates, 19, 10: καὶ οὔτε θυσίαν οὔτε θεωρίαν οὔτ' ἄλλην ἑορτὴν οὐδεμίαν χωρὶς ἀλλήλων ἤγομεν 'we would perform no sacrifice, make no pilgrimage, and celebrate no festival except in one another's company' (translated: G. Norlin). On the other hand, however, some scholars try to mark boundaries precisely between these two terms (v. Mikalson, op. cit.; Prince, Kearns 2004: 215). The main point is to be a broader meaning of ἑ. containing θυσία in itself. J. Mikalson states plainly (op. cit.: 213): 'There was a thysia, a sacrifice, of some type in each heorte, but each thysia was not a heorte'. Different understanding of these two terms in antiquity may be proven by the fact that the works περὶ ἑορτῶν and περὶ θυσιῶν were written as separate entries. Parker (op. cit.: 159), on the other hand, claims that only sacrifices or rites observed by a huge group of people could be described as ἑορταί. Smaller organisations usually spoke of their rituals as θυσίαι.

In the beginning ἑ. encompassed events of various types, both public and private. According to Mikalson (op. cit.: 215), in the 5th century BC Athens, nonetheless, each festival (including women’s feast) was under the control of the state and was financed by the magistrates (so-called ἑορτὴ δημοτελής). Many ancient authors pointed out, the main aim of the feast was to take a rest after the labour of everyday life, which in Greek can be described as ἄνεσις ἑορταστική, v. Strabo 10, 3, 9 ➚. Plato in Leg. 2, 653 C-D develops this idea in the following way:

τούτων γὰρ δὴ τῶν ὀρθῶς τεθραμμένων ἡδονῶν καὶ λυπῶν παιδειῶν οὐσῶν χαλᾶται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις καὶ διαφθείρεται κατὰ πολλὰ ἐν τῷ βίῳ, θεοὶ δὲ οἰκτίραντες τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπίπονον πεφυκὸς γένος, ἀναπαύλας τε αὐτοῖς τῶν πόνων ἐτάξαντο τὰς τῶν ἑορτῶν ἀμοιβὰς [τοῖς θεοῖς], καὶ Μούσας Ἀπόλλωνά τε μουσηγέτην καὶ Διόνυσον συνεορταστὰς ἔδοσαν, ἵν’ ἐπανορθῶνται, τάς τε τροφὰς γενομένας ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς μετὰ θεῶν.

Now these forms of child-training, which consist in right discipline in pleasures and pains, grow slack and weakened to a great extent in the course of men's lives; so the gods, in pity for the human race thus born to misery, have ordained the feasts of thanksgiving as periods of respite from their troubles; and they have granted them as companions in their feasts the Muses and Apollo the master of music, and Dionysus, that they may at least set right again their modes of discipline by associating in their feasts with gods. (translated: William Heinemann)

In many works, it is highlighted that a joyful atmosphere connected with good entertainment (παιδιά ➚), good food and good companionship were distinctive features of ἑ. (v. e.g. Mikalson, op. cit.: 216-218; Bremmer, 1994: 38). Association with good fun is discernible for example in the following passages: Aristoph., Pax 816-817: ξύμ/παιζε τὴν ἑορτήν 'keep the feast together with me' and Pl., Phdr. 276b: παιδιᾶς καὶ ἑορτῆς χάριν 'for play and cheerful celebration', cf. also Arist., Rh. 2, 3, 1380b ➚. Other important elements bound with festivals were music, dance and sports contests. That is why, many ἑορταί were to some extent also spectacles. Collocation θεᾶσθαι τὴν ἑορτήν ‘to see a festival’ is present, for example, in the following passus from Plato, Resp. 1, 327a: Κατέβην [...] τὴν ἑορτὴν βουλόμενος θεάσασθαι 'I went down because I wanted to see a festival'. The visual side of the ancient Greek feast was for sure influenced by special festal clothes (ἐσθὴς ἀνδρὸς ἡ/κόσμος γυναικὸς ὁ εἰς ἑορτὰς) worn by participants, which are mentioned in Xen., Oec. 9,6 ➚. Parker, however, gives some examples of grim ἑ. and regards the breadth of participation as a real mark of ἑ. (op. cit.: 162).

One should mention here that ancient festivals did not have a fixed programme. Despite this, it is possible to point out some activities inseparably intertwined with many (but not necessarily all) ἑορταί such as a procession (πομπή ➚), musical contest (ἀγὼν ➚ μουσικός ➚), sports contest (ἀγὼν γυμνικός ➚), banquet or partition of sacrificial meat (κρεανομία ➚), all night celebration or vigil (παννυχίς ➚) and general assemble of participants (πανήγυρις ➚). For that reason, πανήγυρις as a pars pro toto may also gain the meaning ‘feast, festival’ and be used as a synonym for ἑ. This usage is particularly frequent in later texts where both words are often juxtaposed as a rhetorical gemination reinforcing the importance of a respective feast (see below). And conversely, ἑ. may sometimes mean general assembly or gathering of people: ὄχλος καὶ ἑ. καὶ στρατὸς καὶ πλῆθος 'a crowd and gathering and assembled multitude and a mass of men'., v. Plot. 6.6.12.

Due to a firm association with playful time ἑ. can be used metaphorically as ‘a pleasure’, especially when something seems unexpectedly (from the speaker’s point of view) pleasant for somebody (v. Mikalson, op. cit.: 218). Such usage can be traced in the following citation: Th. 1.70.8 ➚: ἑορτὴν ἡγεῖσθαι τὸ τὰ δέοντα πρᾶξαι'(The Athenians) consider doing what has to be done nothing more than pleasure'; cf. also Aeschyl., Eum. 190-193 ➚.

Following ancient sources some scholars claim (cf. Mikalson, op. cit. 214) that as ἑορταί should be defined such events which have a proper name – like ἡ τῶν Παναθηναίων ➚ ἑ. 'the festival of Panathenaia' in D.4.35 ➚ – and end with the letter -a (because they are mostly plural neuter forms). This observation was noted by Herodotus in 1, 148, 2 ➚. Mikalson (op. cit. 214) based on the ancient evidence provides in his article subsequent list of Athenian ἑορταί: Anthesteria, Apatouria, Bendideia, Brauronia, City Dionysia, Eleusinia, Haloa, Eleusinian Mysteries, Panathenaia, Proerosia, Pyanopsia, Skira, Stenia, Synoikia, Tauropolia, Thargelia, Thesmophoria, Asklepieia in Piraeus and Theoria to Apollo on Delos (Delia) (for a more detailed list see Parker, op. cit.: 456-485).

The Septuagint

ἑ. is an equivalent of three Hebrew words: khag, khodesh and mo-ade'. What is interesting, Hebrew khag denotes festal gathering, especially one of three great pilgrim-feasts generally connected with pilgrimage, joy and dance. ἑ. occurs in the Septuagint 124 times, its first attestation can be found in Ex. 10, 9: ἔστιν γὰρ ἑορτὴ κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν 'for we must hold a feast to the Lord' (ESV). This Greek word in the Septuagint is used mostly for Jewish feasts such as Passover (τὸ πασχα ἑορτή, v. Ez. 45, 21 ➚); the feast of Unleavened Bread (ἡ ἑ. τῶν ἀζύμων, v. II Ch. 30, 13 ➚), the feast of Weeks (ἡ ἑ. ἑβδομάδων, v. De. 16, 10 ➚), Pentecost (ἡ πεντηκοστὴ ἡ ἑ., v. To. 2,1 ➚), feast of the Harvest (ἑ. θερισμοῦ, v. Ex. 23, 16 ➚); the feast of Tabernacles (ἑ. σκηνῶν, v. Le. 23, 34 ➚); ἡ ἑ. τῆς σκηνοπηγίας, v. Za. 14, 16 ➚); feast of the Ingathering (ἑ. συντελείας, v. Ex. 23, 16 ➚); ἑ. συναγωηῆς, v. Ex. 34, 22 ➚). The term is employed even when the observance of these festivals is perverted by the Israelites and brings God's punishment upon them, for example in Is. 1, 14: καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς ὑμῶν μισεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου 'your appointed feasts my soul hates' (ESV). The word ἑ. in a similar context can be also juxtaposed with its antonym πένθος ➚ 'grief, sorrow': I Ma. 1, 39: καὶ μεταστρέψω τὰς ἑορτὰς ὑμῶν εἰς πένθος 'and I will turn your feasts into mourning', cf. also To. 2,6 ➚; Am. 8,10 ➚. One of the most common collocations with ἑ. in Septuagint is ἑορτὴ τοῦ κυρίου 'a feast of the lord' (e.g. Ex. 13, 6 ➚)/ἑορτὴ τῷ κυρίῳ 'a feast for the Lord' (e.g. Le. 23, 37 ➚). Moreover, ἑ. quite often links with personal pronouns in the genitive case forming possessive expressions, like ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς ὑμῶν 'during yours festivals'(e.g. Nu. 10, 10 ➚)/ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς μου 'during my festivals' (e.g. Nu. 28, 2 ➚). With the preposition ἐν ➚, on the other hand, ἑ. usually express time or circumstances standing for a Hebrew word mo-ade' 'appointed time > sacred timed’. Once exceptionally ἑ. indicates pagan feast – Dionysia: II Mach. 6, 7: γενομένης δὲ Διονυσίων ἑορτῆς 'when the festival of Dionysos came'. It is worth noting, however, that this book was originally written in Greek.

The New Testament

ἑ. in the New Testament can be found 25 times (the most often in the Gospel of. St. John): Matthew 26,5 ➚; Matthew 27,15 ➚; Mark 14,2 ➚; Mark 15,6 ➚; Luke 2,41 ➚; Luke 2,42 ➚; Luke 22,1 ➚; John 2,23 ➚; John 4,45 ➚ (twice); John 5,1 ➚; John 6,4 ➚; John 7,2 ➚; John 7,8 ➚ (twice); John 7,10 ➚; John 7,11 ➚; John 7,14 ➚; John 7,37 ➚; John 11,56 ➚; John 12,12 ➚; John 12,20 ➚; John 13,1 ➚; John 13,29 ➚; Colossians 2,16 ➚. The term is used to indicate feasts from the public Jewish calendar, which are – as stated above – concentrated generally on joyful gathering and ceremonial eating. ἑ. the most often refers to Passover and sometimes is linked with the proper name of this festival, e.g.: Luke 2,41 ➚: τῇ ἑορτῇ τοῦ πάσχα 'for the feast of Passover' (cf. John 6,4 ➚). It is also sometimes used with the names of the other Jewish festivals – the feast of Unleavened Bread (ἡ ἑορτὴ τῶν ἀζύμων, v. Luke 22,1 ➚); the feast of Tabernacles (ἡ ἑορτὴ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἡ σκηνοπηγία, v. John 7,2 ➚). Additionally, St. John quite often employs the expression ‘Jewish festival’ – ἑορτὴ τῶν Ἰουδαλίων (v. John 5,1 ➚; 6,4 ➚; 7,2 ➚). The other common collocations with the word ἑ. in the Greek New Testament are: ‘to go to/for a feast’: εἰς τὴν ἑορτήν ἔρχεσθαι (eg. John 4,45 ➚)/εἰς τὴν ἑορτήν ἀναβαίνειν (eg. John 7,8 ➚) and ‘during the time of the feast’: ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ (eg. Mtthew 26,5 ➚; Mark 14,2 ➚; John 12,20 ➚).

Late Antiquity

As Mikalson notices (op. cit.: 219), the word ἑ. expands its meaning in later texts and tends to be used to describe celebrations of various kinds, including a private birthday (cf. Suda-γενέθλια ➚). Despite that, this word is most commonly used to indicate every religious feast, Christian, Jewish and pagan.

According to the Glossary of Later and Byzantine Greek, Christian festivals divided into two groups: the one connected with the biblical history of Jesus Christ (δεσποτικαὶ ἑ.) such as: τὰ Χριστούγεννα (Christmas), ἡ Ἀνάληψις ‘the feast of the Lord’s Ascension’, sometimes just Sunday, as well, and the second one – a group of festivals in honour of the Mather of God (θεομητορικαὶ ἑ.), such as: ὁ Εὐαγγελισμός ‘Annunciation’. Obviously, Easter was considered as a Christian feast of the greatest importance. In sources it is often expressed by just a word ἑ., sometimes it is, however, additionally determined by adjectives, e.g.: ἡ μεγάλη ➚ ἑ.’the great festival’ (cf. e.g. Joannes Chrysostomus, Adversus ebriosos et de resurrectione domini nostri Jesu Christi 438: Ἑορτάσωμεν τὴν ἑορτὴν ταύτην τὴν μεγίστην καὶ λαμπρὰν, ἐν ᾗ ἀνέστη ὁ Κύριος 'So let us celebrate this feast, the greatest and most brilliant of them all, the one in which the Lord is risen' (translated: D. C. Ford); ἁγία ➚ ἑ. 'a holy festival’, cf. Joannes Chrysostomus, Ad populum Antiochenum 11, 128: τὴν ἁγίαν ταύτην ἔλθωμεν ἑορτὴν 'we may come [...] to this holy feast' (translated: Ph. Schaff); ἱερὰ ➚ ἑ. ‘sacred/hallowed festival’: Joannes Chrysostomus, Ad populum Antiochenum 18, 179: οὕτω τὴν ἱερὰν ἀγάγωμεν ἑορτήν 'we may thus keep the sacred feast (translated: Ph. Schaff). The discussed word can be also followed by the partitive genitive of the same noun (ἑ. ἑορτῶν 'festival of festivals') and juxtaposed, as stated above, with the word πανήγυρις ➚, cf. e.g. Gregorius Nazianzenus, In sanctum pascha B 30: Πάσχα Κυρίου [..]. Αὕτη ἑορτῶν ἡμῖν ἑορτὴ, καὶ πανήγυρις πανηγύρεων 'The Lord’s Pascha [...] It is to us the feast of feasts and festival of festivals' (translated: N. V. Harrison).

In polemical literature, ἑ. is used to describe pagan or Jewish holidays. It may then be accompanied by pejorative epithets. A particular example of this can be found in the Paraphrase of St. John's Gospel by Nonnus (5th century AD). In this author, the word ἑ. is used, interestingly, only in relation to the perverted and condemnable Jewish holidays, which are contrasted with the true Passover of Jesus Christ (Doroszewski 2022: 128-9). The Jewish Passover in Nonnus' poem resembles a Bakchic orgy and it is accompanied by epithets and terms associated with the cult of Dionysos: θυιὰς ➚ ἑ. 'Bacchic feast' (Par. II, 113), ἑ. φιλόργιος ➚ 'feast loving orgies' (Par. VI, 9), ἑ. ἀσίγητος ➚ 'never silent feast' (Par. XI, 227), εὐκέλαδος ➚ ἑ. 'well-sounding feast' (Par. VII, 31), κῶμος ➚ ἑορτῆς ‘cheerful procession of the feast’ (Par. IV, 20 4). Moreover, ἑ. in Nonnus is in one place strikingly contrasted with ὁσία ➚ τελετή ➚ 'holy rite', a term referring to the Passover of Christ: Par. VII, 31-33: ὑμεῖς εὐκελάδοιο μετέλθετε κῶμον ἑορτῆς·/οὔπω ἐγὼ κλισίας νεοπηγέας ἄρτι γεραίρων/εἰς τελετὴν ὁσίην ἐπιβήσομαι 'Join the procession of the well-sound festival yourselves. I won't go for a holy feast to celebrate just built huts'. It seems particuralry intriguing since St. John uses the word ἑ. in both senses in corresponding passus: John 7,8: ὑμεῖς ἀνάβητε εἰς τὴν ἑορτήν· ἐγὼ οὐκ ἀναβαίνω εἰς τὴν ἑορτὴν ταύτην, ὅτι ὁ ἐμὸς καιρὸς οὔπω πεπλήρωται 'Go to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come' (cf. Doroszewski 2022: 147-151).

The case of Nonnus illustrates a more general problem with the terminology employed for the Christian theology. Patristic authors like Origen or Cyrillus Alexandrinus warn against identifying the Jewish Passover with the Passover of the Lord (cf. Doroszewski 2022: 125). A passus from Theodore of Heraclea (AD 281–319) may serve as example of such point of view: Fr. Jo. 172: Ἦν δὲ ἐγγὺς τὸ πάσχα τῶν Ἰουδαίων, οὐ τοῦ κυρίου· […] ἀλλ’οὐδὲ ὅπου οὗτοι εἱστήκεσαν, ἑώρτασεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ἀλλ’εἰς τὸ μέγα <πάσχα> ἀνέῳγεν τὸ σεσαρκωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον 'The Jewish Passover – not the Passover of the Lord – was approaching [. . .] Jesus was not observing the feast where those stood, but set out for the great Passover, the incarnate and praiseworthy feast' (translated: D. Jasiński).

The discussed word appears also in Joannes Chrysostomus’ speeches against the Jews. Here the analysed term is juxtaposed with the pejorative noun νόσημα ➚ 'desease', which reinforces the tone of condemnation in his speech: Adversus Judaeos 1, 844: Τί δέ ἐστι τὸ νόσημα; Ἑορταὶ τῶν ἀθλίων καὶ ταλαιπώρων Ἰουδαίων μέλλουσι προσελαύνειν συνεχεῖς καὶ ἐπάλληλοι... 'What is this disease? The festivals of the pitiful and miserable Jews are soon to march upon us one after the other and in quick succession...' (translated: P. W. Harkins).

Modern Greek

The modern Greek γιορτή with the very general meaning ‘holiday, religious feast, state feast, birthday, name day’ is a direct continuant of ancient Greek ἑορτή.