ELLO´TIA
ELLO´TIA or
HELLOTIA (
ἐλλώτια or
ἑλλώτια), a festival with a torch race celebrated at Corinth in
honour of Athena as a goddess of fire. (Schol.
Pind. Ol.
13.56;
Athen. 15.678 a, b;
Etym. M. s. v.
Ἑλλωτίς.)
A festival of the same name was celebrated in Crete, in honour of Europa. The
word
ἑλλωτίς, from which the festival
derived its name, was, according to Seleucus (ap. Athen.
l.c.), a myrtle garland twenty cubits in circumference, which was
carried about in the procession at the festival of the Ellotia. (Compare
Hesych. and
Etym. M. s. v.
Ἑλλώτια.)
[
L.S]