The Eleutheria were established in Syracuse to commemorate the fall of the tyrant Thrasybulus and the expulsion of the Dinomenidi family in 466 BC.
These festivities were dedicated to Zeus Eleutherios, the liberator, and took place every four years in a solemn ceremony: at dawn all the inhabitants of the city would gather in a procession announced by the blare of trumpets.
The participants would march along with wagons decorated with myrtles and garlands carrying a black bull to be sacrificed to Zeus.
Vases filled with wine, milk, oil and precious perfumes were offered as libations.
