Apaturia

“The Gathering of the Clans,” an ancient Greek religious festival lasting three
days and staged every year, during which the phratriai, or various clans of Attica,
met to discuss national affairs, celebrate their common culture, and publicly present
children born since the previous Apaturia. The name means “shared relationship,”
underscoring the Greek heritage shared with all the tribal groups of Ionia. In his
account of Atlantis (Timaeus), Plato wrote, “Now, the day was that day, the third
of the festival of Apaturia, which is called the Registration of Youth (the
Koureotis), at which, according to custom, our parents gave prizes for recitations,
and the poems of several poets were recited by us boys.” One youth, Amynander,
makes a speech in praise of Solon, which begins the story of Atlantis, as it was
brought to Greece from Egypt by the great Athenian law-giver.
Whether the tale was, in fact, recounted at each Koureotis (“Shearing Day,” a
ceremonial haircut; the last day of the festival and its climax) or Plato merely
used the occasion as a related backdrop for his narrative, the Apaturia made an
altogether appropriate setting for celebrating victory over the invading Atlanteans.
It was an annual affair of national patriotism, in which the common greatness of
the Greeks was honored. Interestingly, the previous day was known as Anarrhysis,
or “the Day of Rescue.” Nothing beyond its provocative name survives, but it may
have been a commemoration of survivors from the Atlantean disaster. Moreover,
the Apaturia was held in honor of Dionysus, whose myth portrays the god of rebirth
as a culture-bearer following some catastrophic flood. Each Apaturia took place
during the harvest time of Pyanopsion (the “Bean Month”), in late October/early
November; according to the Egyptians, Atlantis was defeated by the Greeks and
destroyed by a cataclysm of nature in their corresponding month of Aethyr (late
October/early November).
(See Plato, Solon, Timaeus)