Theoroi

Theoroi (Ancient Greek: θεωροί or θεαροί) in Ancient Greece were sacred ambassadors, messengers sent out by the state which was about to organize a Panhellenic Game or Festival. Theoroi were received and hosted by Theorodokoi.^[1]

In ancient Greece theoroi meant something like "observers". They were envoys sent by city-states to consult oracles, to give offerings at famous shrines or attend festivals.

Theoria was a word for their duties. It came to mean any act of observing, and was used by Greek philosophers, generally, in the sense of "contemplation".

References

1. Dillon, Matthew. Pilgrims and Pilgrimage in Ancient Greece. Routledge, 1997, ISBN 0-415-12775-0, p. 12. "A city about to celebrate a festival would send out ambassadors to various Greek cities inviting them to attend that festival and to accept the terms of a truce covering the festival. These ambassadors were often termed theoroi, the same term as the one used for those ambassadors sent as the official delegation to a festival. Both types of theoroi would be received by theorodokoi: there were theorodokoi who received theoroi announcing a festival and other theorodokoi who received theoroi representing their states at the actual celebrations. The theoroi bringing word of a festival would not have to find their own accommodation upon arriving at a city or town, but rather would be provided with lodging and hospitality by a theorodokos."