InAncient Greece, theDaedala (Greek:δαίδαλα) was afestival of reconciliation that was held every few years in honor ofHera, consort of the supreme godZeus atPlataea, inBoeotia, being one of the major cults of the city.

According toPausanias, there was a "lesser Daedala" (Δαίδαλα μικρά), celebrated every four years or so exclusively by the Plataeans, and a "greater Daedala" (Δαίδαλα μεγάλα), celebrated by all of Boeotians every fourteen cycles (approx. 60 years).

In thelesser Daedala, the people ofPlataea went to an ancient oak grove and exposed pieces of cooked meat to ravens, attentively watching upon which tree any of the birds, after taking a piece of meat, would settle. Out of this tree they carved an image, and having it dressed as a bride, they set it on abullock cart with a bridesmaid beside it. The image seems then to have been drawn to the bank of the riverAsopus and back to the town, attended by a cheering crowd.^[1]

These adornedxoana were also called "daidala" (δάιδαλα orδαιδάλεια),^[2] with the connotation that they were "crafted" or "fashioned" (compareDaedalus, "daidalos" (δαίδαλος) meaning "cunning worker").

After fourteen of these cycles, thegreat Daidala was celebrated by all the people ofBoeotia; and at its start one wooden figure was chosen from the many that had accumulated through the years and designated the "bride". The wooden figure was prepared as a bride for a wedding, ritually bathed in theAsopus, adorned and raised on a wagon with an attendant. This wagon led a procession of wains carrying the accumulateddaedala up to the summit ofMount Cithaeron, where a wooden sacrificial altar was erected out of square pieces of wood. This was covered with a quantity of dry wood, and the towns, persons of rank, and other wealthy individuals, offered each a heifer to Hera and a bull to Zeus with plenty of wine and incense, while at the same time all of thedaedala were placed upon the altar. For those who did not possess sufficient means, it was customary to offer small sheep, but all these offerings were immolated in ahecatomb in the same manner as those of the wealthier persons. The fire consumed both offerings and altar.^[3]

This archaic custom was explained with anaition or "origin myth" aboutHera andZeus, which is related byPausanias:

Hera, they say, was for some reason or other angry withZeus, and had retreated toEuboia.Zeus, failing to make her change her mind, visited Kithairon, at that time despot inPlataea, who surpassed all men for his cleverness. So he orderedZeus to make an image of wood, and to carry it, wrapped up, in a bullock wagon, and to say that he was celebrating his marriage withPlataia, the daughter ofAsopus. SoZeus followed the advice of Kithairon.Hera heard the news at once, and at once appeared on the scene. But when she came near the wagon and tore away the dress from the image, she was pleased at the deceit, on finding it a wooden image and not a bride, and was reconciled toZeus. To commemorate this reconciliation they celebrate a festival called Daidala, because the men of old time gave the name of daidala to wooden images... the Plataeans hold the festival of the Daidala every six years, according to the local guide, but really at a shorter interval. I wanted very much to calculate exactly the interval between one Daedala and the next, but I was unable to do so. In this way they celebrate the feast.

—Pausanias (IX.3 § 1, &c.)

The account of the origin of the Daedala given byPausanias agrees in the main points with the story related byPlutarch, who wrote a work on the plataean Daedala; the only difference is thatPlutarch representsZeus as receiving his advice to deceiveHera fromAlalcomenes (instead of Kithairon), and that he callsPlataea, "Daedala".^[4]

The term "daedala" can also be taken as a noun derived fromDaedalus, the famed inventor. In this sense,Lucretius speaks ofNatura daedala rerum, "Nature, the inventor of all things".

• Festivals in ancient Boeotia
• Festivals of Hera

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