DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2532#0025
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
of the city of Argos, there was rivalry between the several cities. But through all periods
the one point of union in the Argolid amid all the elements of rivalry and disruption,
even when the ties of blood and common descent were of no cohesive efficiency, was
this central sanctuary, which represented at once the oldest as well as the most con-
tinuously riding religious cult in the district, — the worship of Hera. Apparently
only during one short period was the worship of Hera superseded by another in the
city of Argos, namely, when the Dorian supremacy was established and when the
cities which fell to the " lot of Temenus" formed a kind of confederacy under
the direction of Argos,1 with the sanctuary of Apollo Pythaeus, at the foot of the
Larisa of Argos, as the centre. The Argives maintained that theirs was the oldest
sanctuary of Apollo Pythaeus;2 even in later times the Argives collected contribu-
tions for this sanctuary,3 and made it the repository of treaties.4 But the supreme
importance which the Heraeum had for the city of Argos,J from the earliest to the
latest times is amply proved, among other evidence, by the fact that the Argives always
reckoned their time by the years of office of the priestesses of Hera, and that these
chronological tables were used also elsewhere in Greece.6
The cult of Hera at our Heraeum was thus the principal worship of the city of Argos,
and before the preeminence of the city of Argos in the Argive district, the Heraeum
was the chief sanctuary of Mycenae. As Strabo puts it,7 it Avas the sanctuary used
in common by both these cities.
Not only was Hera the earliest divinity for the peoples which dwelt in the Argive
plain, but the Argive Heraeum presented the earliest form of this divinity and her wor-
ship in ancient Hellas.
In Homer, Hera is called 'Apyetr]* In the Iliad (iv. 51), Argos, Sparta, and
Mycenae are her favorite cities. The oldest of the sanctuaries of Hera mentioned at
Sparta is evidently9 that of "Hpa 'Apyeia, said to be "founded by Eurydice, daughter
of Lacedaemon and wife of Acrisius, the son of Abas." Thus not only the attribute
" Argive," but also the tradition of its original dedication, through the Argive kings
Acrisius and Abas, immediately point to its Argive derivation.
No doubt in this use of the term "Apyos and the attribute 'Apyeirj, the ancient Argive
district, including, both geographically and historically, Tiryns and Mycenae, is meant,
and not the city of Argos.10 The city of Argos itself had four — possibly six — separate
sanctuaries of Hera,11 each with a separate cult. Still, as we have seen, our Heraeum
remained its chief sanctuary, as it was the oldest.
1 Herod. I. 82 ; Strabo VIII. 3. 33.
2 Pans. II. 35. 2 (Telesilla, Fraf/m. 3).
8 Thucyd. V. 53 and Diod. XII. 78. 1. Le Bas, Inscr.
rec. a Argos, No. 8.
4 Thucyd. V. 47. 13.
5 It looks also as if at one time the Poseidon cult
endangered Hera's supremacy, which may be inferred
from the legend (which probably lias some foundation in
the earliest ethnological history of the land) related by
Pausanias (II. 15. 5, 22. 4 ; ef. also Pint. Q. Conv. xi.
6). Compare the similar struggle between Athena and
Poseidon at Athens. The division of national patronage
between her and Zeus Nemeios (Pans. IV. 27. 6) is evi-
dently of later origin and naturally arises out of the Upbs
ya/xos and its special cult.
6 Time. II. 2, IV. 133. For references to Ilellanieus
of Mytilene, his 'Upeiai as well as the Atthis and Persica,
see Busolt, Or. Geschichte, I. pp. 151 ft'.
^ tot€ "Apyos /cat ras MuKTjfa?, Kal to 'Hpawv €lval KOlvbv
Upbv to irpos Tais Mu/iTji'ats- a/j.<poiv. Strabo VIII. 6. 10.
8 Horn. II. v. 908 ; cf. Hesiod, Theog. 12 ; Aesch. Suppl.
299. Pind. Nem. x. 2, certainly refers to the Heraeum
when he says "Apyos *Hpas 5a>,ua Ozoirpzwh. Cf. also Eurip.
Tro. 23, Ilcracl. 349.
9 Paus. III. 13. 8. The temple mentioned by Pausanias
(III. 11. 9) as in the market-place, which she apparently
held in conjunction with Apollo, as well as that of Hera
Aphrodite (which may be the same as the Argeia) and
Hera Aigophagos (III. 13. 8 and III. 15. 9) are evidently
later.
10 See Note A.
11 Cf. Rosclier in Roseher's Lexicon d. Gr. and Rom
Mythologie, I. pp. 2075 ft.
of the city of Argos, there was rivalry between the several cities. But through all periods
the one point of union in the Argolid amid all the elements of rivalry and disruption,
even when the ties of blood and common descent were of no cohesive efficiency, was
this central sanctuary, which represented at once the oldest as well as the most con-
tinuously riding religious cult in the district, — the worship of Hera. Apparently
only during one short period was the worship of Hera superseded by another in the
city of Argos, namely, when the Dorian supremacy was established and when the
cities which fell to the " lot of Temenus" formed a kind of confederacy under
the direction of Argos,1 with the sanctuary of Apollo Pythaeus, at the foot of the
Larisa of Argos, as the centre. The Argives maintained that theirs was the oldest
sanctuary of Apollo Pythaeus;2 even in later times the Argives collected contribu-
tions for this sanctuary,3 and made it the repository of treaties.4 But the supreme
importance which the Heraeum had for the city of Argos,J from the earliest to the
latest times is amply proved, among other evidence, by the fact that the Argives always
reckoned their time by the years of office of the priestesses of Hera, and that these
chronological tables were used also elsewhere in Greece.6
The cult of Hera at our Heraeum was thus the principal worship of the city of Argos,
and before the preeminence of the city of Argos in the Argive district, the Heraeum
was the chief sanctuary of Mycenae. As Strabo puts it,7 it Avas the sanctuary used
in common by both these cities.
Not only was Hera the earliest divinity for the peoples which dwelt in the Argive
plain, but the Argive Heraeum presented the earliest form of this divinity and her wor-
ship in ancient Hellas.
In Homer, Hera is called 'Apyetr]* In the Iliad (iv. 51), Argos, Sparta, and
Mycenae are her favorite cities. The oldest of the sanctuaries of Hera mentioned at
Sparta is evidently9 that of "Hpa 'Apyeia, said to be "founded by Eurydice, daughter
of Lacedaemon and wife of Acrisius, the son of Abas." Thus not only the attribute
" Argive," but also the tradition of its original dedication, through the Argive kings
Acrisius and Abas, immediately point to its Argive derivation.
No doubt in this use of the term "Apyos and the attribute 'Apyeirj, the ancient Argive
district, including, both geographically and historically, Tiryns and Mycenae, is meant,
and not the city of Argos.10 The city of Argos itself had four — possibly six — separate
sanctuaries of Hera,11 each with a separate cult. Still, as we have seen, our Heraeum
remained its chief sanctuary, as it was the oldest.
1 Herod. I. 82 ; Strabo VIII. 3. 33.
2 Pans. II. 35. 2 (Telesilla, Fraf/m. 3).
8 Thucyd. V. 53 and Diod. XII. 78. 1. Le Bas, Inscr.
rec. a Argos, No. 8.
4 Thucyd. V. 47. 13.
5 It looks also as if at one time the Poseidon cult
endangered Hera's supremacy, which may be inferred
from the legend (which probably lias some foundation in
the earliest ethnological history of the land) related by
Pausanias (II. 15. 5, 22. 4 ; ef. also Pint. Q. Conv. xi.
6). Compare the similar struggle between Athena and
Poseidon at Athens. The division of national patronage
between her and Zeus Nemeios (Pans. IV. 27. 6) is evi-
dently of later origin and naturally arises out of the Upbs
ya/xos and its special cult.
6 Time. II. 2, IV. 133. For references to Ilellanieus
of Mytilene, his 'Upeiai as well as the Atthis and Persica,
see Busolt, Or. Geschichte, I. pp. 151 ft'.
^ tot€ "Apyos /cat ras MuKTjfa?, Kal to 'Hpawv €lval KOlvbv
Upbv to irpos Tais Mu/iTji'ats- a/j.<poiv. Strabo VIII. 6. 10.
8 Horn. II. v. 908 ; cf. Hesiod, Theog. 12 ; Aesch. Suppl.
299. Pind. Nem. x. 2, certainly refers to the Heraeum
when he says "Apyos *Hpas 5a>,ua Ozoirpzwh. Cf. also Eurip.
Tro. 23, Ilcracl. 349.
9 Paus. III. 13. 8. The temple mentioned by Pausanias
(III. 11. 9) as in the market-place, which she apparently
held in conjunction with Apollo, as well as that of Hera
Aphrodite (which may be the same as the Argeia) and
Hera Aigophagos (III. 13. 8 and III. 15. 9) are evidently
later.
10 See Note A.
11 Cf. Rosclier in Roseher's Lexicon d. Gr. and Rom
Mythologie, I. pp. 2075 ft.