Canephŏrus
（
κανηφόρος). A basket-bearer. The
κάνειον or
κανοῦν, derived from
κάννα, “a reed,” was in the Homeric times a
basket used for holding bread (
Il. ix. 217) or other edibles for meals, or the sacred
οὐλαί for sacrifice (
Od. iii. 441). Some few golden utensils were used in state sacrifices,
though the usual
κανᾶ πομπικά were no doubt
χαλκᾶ (Michaelis,
Parthenon, p. 259). One of silver is
referred to in the
C. I. G. 2855, 19, and one of earthenware in Dion. H. ii. 23
(Grimm). At Athens the
κανοῦν was used in religious service
only. A particular part of the ceremony seems to have been called
κανοῦν or
κανᾶ, when the basket was carried
round the altar (
H. F. 926), laid down, and the
οὐλαί taken therefrom.
Κάναστρον signifies a
bowl and also a dish made of cork or earthenware (
Epig. xiv. 3). The Roman
canistrum was used for
just the same purposes as the Homeric
κανοῦν—viz.,
for holding bread, necessaries for sacrifice, and remains of a feast (
Hor. Sat. ii. 6, 105). Its epithets signify
“flat”—e. g.
patulis, lata, etc.
They were, then, flat baskets used, among other purposes, for carrying the requisites for
religious ceremonies. At the Panathenaea they were car
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Canephori. (British Museum.)
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ried by adult maidens of high birth, who were genuine native Athenians; but when a
private individual sacrificed, his daughter or some maiden of his family acted as his
canephorus.
An antefixa in the British Museum (see illustration) represents two canephori approaching a
candelabrum. Each of them elevates one arm to support the basket, while she slightly raises
her tunic with the other.
