Daphnephoria

Daphnephoria, in Greek religion, festival held every ninth year at Thebes in Boeotia in honour of Apollo Ismenius (after the Theban river called Ismenus) or Apollo Chalazius (god of hail). It consisted of a procession in which the chief figure was a boy who was of good family and whose parents were still alive. In front of the boy walked one of his nearest relatives, carrying an olive branch hung with laurel (daphnē) flowers and...