Meanings
- A religious ritual performed in Southern Bulgaria and Northern Greece involving trance and dancing on fire.
The insistence that the Anastenaria was so archaic—that its worldview preceded the Hellenic gods—actually “internationalized” the custom.
2015, Roumen Daskalov, Alexander Vezenkov, Entangled Histories of the Balkans, →ISBN2 more examples
The author, Mrs. Anne Gault Antoniades, an American long resident in Greece and familiar with its language, is competent to write about the Anastenaria not only because she can give an eyewitness account of the festival, but particularly by virtue of her keen interest in the Greek people and the study she has made of their folkways.
1954, Anne Gault Antoniades, The Anastenaria: Thracian Firewalking Festival - Issue 36, page 2These kerchiefs symbolized the bond uniting husband and wife, as in the context of the Anastenaria they symbolize the bond between Saint Constantine and the possessed Anastenarissa.
2016, Peter Loizos, Evthmios Papataxiarchis, Contested Identities: Gender and Kinship in Modern Greece, →ISBN, page 109
Origin
- Ancient Greekἀναστένω“groan aloud”
- EnglishAnastenaria
From Ancient Greek ἀναστένω (anasténō, “groan aloud”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Anastenaria
Cite this entry
Anastenaria. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Anastenaria
“Anastenaria.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Anastenaria. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Anastenaria,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Anastenaria.
Source: Anastenaria on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.