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The Adonia was an annual, unofficial festival celebrated by women in ancient Greece to mourn the death of the mortal youth Adonis, consort of the goddess Aphrodite. [1, 2, 3]

Key Rituals and Features

Gardens of Adonis: Women planted fast-growing seeds like lettuce, fennel, wheat, or barley in shallow potsherds or baskets weeks ahead. [1, 2, 3]
Rooftop Gathering: Participants carried these small gardens up ladders to the roofs of their houses. [1, 2, 3]
Withering Symbolism: The plants were left exposed to the summer sun to wither and die quickly, symbolizing the short life and swift passing of Adonis. [1, 2, 3]
Communal Lament: Women spent the night mourning, dancing, drinking, and singing ritual laments on the rooftops. [1, 2]

Social and Cultural Role

Private and Informal: The festival was not state-sponsored, publicly financed, or regulated by priests. [1, 2, 3]
Inclusive Participation: It was organized ad hoc by groups of female friends, neighbors, citizens, and non-citizens (including enslaved women). [1, 2]
Female Agency: The ritual allowed women a rare space for emotional expression, social bonding, and a degree of religious agency outside of official civic cults. [1, 2]

More... 

During the mock funeral procession of the Adonia, women engaged in a rare, highly expressive, and subversive performance of public grief that directly challenged classical Athenian norms.

The procession featured several key elements:

• Carrying the Effigy: After the "Gardens of Adonis" withered on the hot rooftops, the women carried small shrouded images or effigies representing the dead Adonis down to the streets below.
• Ritualized Lamentation: Led by a mix of citizen wives, courtesans (hetairai), and enslaved women, the participants marched through the city beating their breasts, tearing their hair, and singing loud, uninhibited laments.
• Defying the Law: This public display directly flouted strict Athenian sumptuary laws. Solon’s legal codes explicitly banned women from excessive, loud, or organized public mourning for family members to prevent civil unrest. The Adonia bypassed this because Adonis was a mythical foreigner, not a real citizen.
• The Final Burial: The procession concluded when the women cast the effigies and the dead gardens into the sea or local springs, symbolizing the finality of Adonis's death and returning the ritual elements to nature.

This public display provided a stark contrast to the quiet, state-sanctioned festivals of Athens, offering women a fleeting moment to claim authority over the city's public spaces.