Daphnephoria

Daphnephoria was a festival held every ninth year at Thebes in Boeotia in honour of Apollo Ismenius or Galaxius.

The Daphnephoria consisted of a procession in which the chief figure was a boy of good family and noble appearance, whose father and mother must be alive.

With young participants, the procession was able to combine components together, which signified an important stage or rite of passage.

[1] Immediately in front of this boy, who was called the Daphnephoros ('laurel bearer'), walked one of his nearest relatives, carrying an olive branch hung with laurel and flowers and having on the upper end a bronze ball from which hung several smaller balls.

[2] The Daphnephoros, wearing a golden crown, or a wreath of laurel, richly dressed and partly holding the pole, was followed by a chorus of maidens carrying suppliant branches and singing a hymn to the god.