Daedala

For the ancient city, see Daedala (city).

In ancient Greece, the Daedala (Greek Δάιδαλα) was a festival celebrating the goddess Hera celebrated among the Boeotians, particularly the Plataeans.^[1] The festival is described by Pausanias (ix.3.§1 ff) and also by Plutarch.

According to legend, Hera was mad at Zeus and went off into another country, refusing to be reconciled. Advised by Cithaeron, the wise governor of Plataeae, Zeus announced that he was to be re-married. A statue was made from an oak tree, adorned as a bride and led in a bridal procession. Hera arrives to forestall the re-marriage and, shredding the oak-bride's clothes, realized the ruse; appreciating his cleverness, Hera was reconciled to Zeus.

According to Pausanias, there was a "lesser Daedala" festival celebrated every seven years or so only by the Plataeans, and a "greater Daedala" festival celebrated by all Boeotians every sixty years.

The adorned oak statues are sometimes also called "daedala" (Greek δάιδαλα or δαιδάλεια, "things pertaining to the Daedala") or "Daedalic sculpture".

Other usages

The term "daedala" can also be taken as the feminine version of "Daedalus", the famed inventor. In this sense, Lucretius speaks of Natura daedala rerum, "Nature, the inventor of all things".

References

1. ^ Smith, William (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Boston: C. Little and J. Brown. pp. 382. http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/index.html.