Editing Hera (section)

===Festivals===
The marriage of Zeus with Hera is the main theme in most Greek festivals celebrated in honour of the goddess. In the cults of Hera the dances and rites are performed by young married women. These choral dances reenacted early myth and ritual.<ref>Claude Calame(1977), "Choruses of Young women in Ancient Greece", 2.126-133</ref> Burkert notices that "the disappearing and retrieval of Hera in some cults has parallels with other fertility cults".<ref name=Burkert129/> The Greek aetiological myths  ([[etiology|aitia]]) give a reasonable explanation of the ritual and replicate its structural form. This is accurate for "aitia" related to initiation rituals from youth to maturity.<ref name=Calame17>Claude Calame(2001), "Choruses of Young women in Ancient Greece" [https://books.google.com/books?id=DhfmgSz1eR4C p.17-18].</ref> Ancient accounts refer to the retirement of Hera  after a quarrel with Zeus. Hera's wrath may indicate the wrath and jealousy of the Greek wife.<ref>Comp. the myth of Typhon: Nilsson, "Geschichte", Vol I p.432</ref> Other accounts refer to cultic trees or pillars.<ref name=OBrian36>O'Brian (1993), "The transformation of Hera":[https://books.google.com/books?id=a77yKM26GfYC&pg=PA36 p.36]</ref> and rituals of the goddess of vegetation.<ref name=Bremmer/> Some accounts are related to rituals of the Bronze Age before the splitting of the "Mistress of the animals" into separate goddesses.<ref name=OBrian60>O'Brian (1993), "The transformation of Hera":[https://books.google.com/books?id=a77yKM26GfYC&pg=PA60 p.60-61]</ref>

* '''[[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]]'''. During Hera's famous fest "Hecatombaia"(one hundred oxen) -or Argive "Heraia"-the priestess of Hera was carried on a chart drawn by white-heifers to the sanctuary. The festival included an armed procession of male citizens and the prize of the contest was a bronze shield.<ref name=Farnell185>Farnell Cults I, p.185-187</ref> The Argive festival was a new year festival and the new male citizens introduced themselves in the community. It is not verified that the festival was originally a wedding processional ceremony.<ref>Nilsson, "Geschichte", Vol I, p.430.</ref> At Argos Hera controlled the seasonal goddesses [[Horae]].<ref name=Farnell194/><ref name=Obrien4/> Near the Heraion of Argos there was the stream "Eleutherion" (water of freedom). The priestess of Hera used it for purifications and the sacrifices were kept secret (''aporrheta'')<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.17.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160 Pausanias 2,17.1]</ref> 
*'''[[Plataia]]''' in [[Boeotia]]. The festival [[Daedala]] of Hera was a fire festival. The citizens of Plataia maintained from prehistoric times the processional wedding ceremony. A puppet named Hera was married with Zeus. The puppet was washed in the river Asopos and it was carried on a cow-drawn chart to the top of Kithairon. There the puppet was burned together with other idols. Pausanias in the aetiological myth mentions the retirement of Hera after a quarrel with Zeus and their reconciliation.<ref name=Burkert63p/> The nymph Plataia, consort of Zeus is an old form of the Greek earth-goddess and she may be related to [[Gaia]].<ref name="174-175"/>
*'''[[Samos]]'''.The name of the island was "Parthenia" in the [[Caria]]n period.<ref name=Farnell185/> In the Samian festival "Toneia", Hera was originally a goddess of fertility. The festival included initiation rites of girls and probably boys from youth to maturity.<ref name=OBrian60/> At the beginning of the festival a [[xoanon]] of Hera was carried on a plank to the sea and then back to the coast. This custom reminds the cult of the [[Hittites|Hittite]]-[[Hurrians|Hurrian]]  god of fertility [[Telipinu (mythology)|Telepinu]].<ref name=Burkert52/> In the aetiological myth of [[Menodotus of Nicomedia|Menedotus]] the image of Hera was bathed, bounted in willows and finally hidden (or hanged). The participants tried to find it.<ref name=Farnell185/><ref name=Bremmer/> Zeus was absent, and the processional wedding ceremony was introduced later.<ref name=OBrien53a/>
*'''[[Corinth]]'''. Hera-[[Acraea]] was the protectress of the castle. The [[Corinth]]ian "Heraia" was a mourning festival. Hera is related to [[Medea]] (the wife of [[Jason]]) a foreign goddess who was introduced in Greece. In the myth of the [[Argonauts]] Hera is the protectress of Jason. The scholiast of [[Euripides]] suggests that the cult of Acraea is related to the cult of [[Adonis]]. Every year seven boys and seven girls with shorn hair and wearing black garments were dedicated to the goddess. Annual sacrifices were performed for the killed children of Medea .<ref>Farnell Cults I, p. 201-202</ref>
*'''[[Stymphalus]]''' in  [[Arcadia (region)|Arcadia]]. Hera was worshipped as goddess of marriage. Three festivals  celebrated the three phases of Hera as "pais" (virgin), "teleia" (fulfilled) and "chera" (widowed). "Pais" may symbolize the arrival of the goddess in spring and "chera" her departure in winter. In the aetiological myth of Pausanias Hera retired after a quarrel with Zeus and then she came back. During her retirement people considered that she was divorced and she was worshipped as "chera".<ref name=Farnell191/>
*'''[[Euboea]]'''. The island was the holy place of Hera and the goddess was worshipped  near [[Elymnion]] or on the mountain [[Dirfi]]. Coins from [[Eretria]] verify that the citizens imitated the wedding of Zeus with Hera.<ref>Nilsson, "Geschichte", Vol I, p.430</ref>
*'''[[Athens]]'''. The "sacred marriage" of Zeus with Hera was celebrated in Athens during the month "Gamelion" (late winter).<ref name=Farnell185/>
*'''[[Hermione (Argolis)|Hermione]]''' in [[Argolis]]. Hera was worshipped as "parthenos" (virgin). In a Greek myth Zeus was transformed into a cuckoo to seduce Hera. There were two temples, one of Zeus on the mountain-Cuckoo and one of Hera on the mountain Pron.<ref name=Farnell185/>
*''' [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]]'''. In the festival [[Heraean Games|Heraia]] young girls competed in a footrace. The race was held every four years and only virgin women were allowed to attend the games. The prize was an olive wreath.<ref>Matthew Dillon (2002), Girls and women in Ancient Greek religion" p.131</ref> Traditionally the custom  was established by [[Hippodamia (daughter of Oenomaus)|Hipodameia]] and choral dances were performed in honour of her. A marriage-ceremony was probably part of the festival.<ref name=Farnell188>Farnell, Cults I, p.188 -190</ref> The choral dances and the dressing of "parthenoi" indicate that the festival was an initiation ritual from youth to maturity.<ref>[https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.2307/506363 Serwint Nancy (1993), "Heraia and the prenuptial initiation"]</ref> The relation of Hera with "parthenoi" (virgins) seems to connect her with the goddess of vegetation.<ref name=OBrian60/><ref name=Calame17/>
*'''[[Aegina]]''''. Traditionally the festival was introduced from Argos. The image of Hera was carried on a chart drawn by white heifers. The festival included games and sacrifices. There was a contest between young boys for killing a female goat with their spears and they got her as a prize. In the aetiological myth Hera retired to the woods after a quarrel with Zeus and her place was discovered by a female goat. Then she was obliged to return.<ref name=Farnell188/>
*'''[[Nauplia]]''' in [[Argolis]]. Like the bride who took her bride-bath, Hera bathed every year in the spring [[Kanathos]] and recovered annually her virginity. This is one of the holy secrets (''aporrheta'') at the mysteries which they celebrated in honour of Hera.<ref name=Paus2381/>
*'''[[Knossos]]''' in [[Crete]]. The "hieros gamos" of Zeus with the earth goddess (finally named Hera) was celebrated near the river Theren. The ritual continued unchanged from very ancient times.<ref name=Elder/> The original name of the Minoan goddess could be [[Britomartis]], [[Diktynna]] or "Hellopis".<ref name=Schach/> On a Minoan depiction the goddess seems to  arrive on a chariot during spring and she disappears in winter.<ref name=OBrien53a/>