Ephebi

(ἔφηβοι). The Athenian name for youths over the age of eighteen. The completion of a boy's eighteenth year was the occasion of a festival, at which the ἔφηβος made a drink-offering to Heracles and entertained his friends with wine. His hair, hitherto worn long, was cut, and the locks dedicated to Apollo. For the two following years the ephebi were mainly employed in gymnastic exercises, and after that time the proper civic ἐφηβεία commenced. After an examination (δοκιμασία) to test the genuineness of their civic descent and their physical capacity, the ephebi were entered on the list of their tribe, presented to the people assembled in the theatre, armed with spear and shield, and taken to the sanctuary of Agraulos at the foot of the citadel, where they bound themselves by a solemn oath to the service and defence of their country. For the next two years they served as guards on the frontier. After the completion of their twentieth year they were admitted to the meetings of the assembly and employed in foreign service. Their dress was the χλαμύς and the πέτασος.