The Horae were originally the personifications of nature in its different seasonal aspects, but in later times they were regarded as goddesses of natural justice andorder in general. "They bring and bestow ripeness, they come and go in accordance with the firm law of the periodicities of nature and of life",Karl Kerenyi observed, adding "Hora means 'the correct moment'."[3] Traditionally, they guarded the gates ofOlympus, promoted the fertility of the earth, and rallied the stars and constellations.
The course of the seasons was also symbolically described as the dance of the Horae, and they were accordingly given the attributes of spring flowers, fragrance and graceful freshness; for example, inHesiod'sWorks and Days, the fair-hairedHorai, together with theCharites andPeitho crownPandora — she of "all gifts" — with garlands of flowers.[4] SimilarlyAphrodite, emerging from the sea and coming ashore atCyprus, is dressed and adorned by theHorai,[5] and, according to a surviving fragment of the epicCypria,[6] Aphrodite wore clothing made for her by the Charites and Horai, dyed with spring flowers, such as theHorai themselves wear.
The number of Horae varied according to different sources, but was most commonly three: either the trio of Thallo, Auxo, and Carpo (goddesses of the order of nature), orEunomia (goddess of good order),Dike (goddess of Justice) andEirene (goddess of Peace).
InArgos, two Horae, rather than three, were recognised, presumably winter and summer: Auxesia (possibly another name for Auxo) and Damia (possibly another name for Carpo).[7]
In lateeuhemerist interpretations, they were seen as Cretan maidens who were worshipped as goddesses after they had been wrongfully stoned to death.
The earliest written mention ofHorai is in theIliad where they appear as keepers ofZeus's cloud gates.[8] "Hardly any traces of that function are found in the subsequent tradition,"Karl Galinsky remarked in passing.[9] They were daughters ofZeus andThemis, younger sisters of theMoirai.[10][11]
in one variant emphasizing their fruitful aspect, Thallo, Auxo, and Carpo —the goddesses of the three seasons the Greeks recognized: spring, summer and autumn— were worshipped primarily amongst rural farmers throughout Greece;
in the other variant, emphasizing the "right order" aspect of the Horai, Hesiod says that Zeus wedded "brightThemis" who bore Dike, Eunomia, and Eirene, who were law-and-order goddesses that maintained the stability of society; they were worshipped primarily in the cities ofAthens,Argos, andOlympia.
Of the first, more familiar, triad associated withAphrodite and Zeus is their origins as emblems of times of life, growth (and the classical three seasons of year):
Thallo (Θαλλώ, from θάλλειν (thallein 'to sprout, grow', esp. fruit trees)[15] or Thalatte was the goddess ofspring, buds and blooms, and a protector of youth.
Auxo (Αὐξώ, from αὐξάνειν (auxanein, 'to increase')[16] or Auxesia was worshipped (alongsideHegemone) inAthens as one of their twoCharites. Auxo was the Charis of spring and Hegemone was the Charis of autumn. One of the Horae, and the goddess and personification of the season ofsummer, she is the protector of vegetation and plants, and growth and fertility.
Carpo (Καρπώ, from καρπῶν (karpōn) 'to bear fruit')[17] Carpho, Xarpo or Damia (not to be mistaken withKarpos) was the one who brings food and was in charge ofautumn,ripening, andharvesting, as well as guarding the way toMount Olympus and letting back the clouds surrounding the mountain if one of the gods left. She was an attendant toPersephone,Aphrodite, andHera, and was also associated withDionysus,Apollo, andPan.
At Athens, two Horae: Thallo (the Hora of spring) and Carpo (the Hora of autumn), also appear in rites ofAttica noted byPausanias in the 2nd century AD.[18][19]
An allegory of the peace and happiness of the state; depicted are Dike (justice), Eunomia (order) and, in the center, Eirene (peace).The painting is byJacob Jordaens
Of the second triad associated to Themis and Zeus for law and order:
Dike (Δίκη, "Justice", her Roman equivalent wasIustitia) was the goddess of morality and justice: she ruled over human justice, as her motherThemis ruled over divine justice. Theanthropomorphisation of Diké as an ever-young woman dwelling in the cities of men was so ancient and strong that in the 3rd century BCEAratus inPhaenomena 96 asserted that she was born a mortal and that, though Zeus placed her on earth to keep mankind just, he quickly learned this was impossible and placed her next to him on Olympus, as the Greek astronomical/astrological constellationThe Maiden.
Eunomia (Εὐνομία, "Order", her Roman equivalent was Disciplina) was the goddess of law and legislation. The same or a different goddess may have been a daughter ofHermes andAphrodite.
Eirene (Εἰρήνη. "Peace", her Roman equivalent wasPax) was the personification of peace and wealth, and was depicted in art as a beautiful young woman carrying acornucopia,scepter, and a torch orrhyton.
Nonnus in hisDionysiaca mentions a distinct set of four Horae, the daughters ofHelios.Quintus Smyrnaeus also attributes the Horae as the daughters of Helios andSelene, and describes them as the four handmaidens ofHera.[20][21] The seasons were personified by the ancients, the Greeks represented them generally as women but on some antique monuments they are depicted as winged children with attributes peculiar to each season.[22] The Greek words for the four seasons of the year were as follows:
Crowned with flowers, holding either a kid or a sheep, and having near to her a budding shrub: she is also characterised by Mercury, and by a ram.[citation needed]
Crowned with ears of corn, holding a bundle of them in one hand and a sickle in the other: she is also characterised by Apollo, and by a serpent.[citation needed]
Either holds bunches of grapes, or has a basket of fruits upon her head: she is also characterised by Bacchus, and by a lizard or hare.[citation needed]
Well clothed, and the head covered, stands near a tree deprived of foliage, with dried and withered fruits in one hand and water-fowls in the other: she is also characterised by Hercules, and by a salamander.[citation needed]
Here Spring appears with flowery chaplets bound. Here Summer in her wheaten garland crown'd; Here Autumn the rich trodden grapes besmear. And hoary Winter shivers in the rear.
Nicolas Poussin has represented the four seasons by subjects drawn from theBible: Spring is portrayed byAdam andEve in paradise: Summer, byRuth gleaning: Autumn, byJoshua andCaleb bearing grapes from the promised land; and Winter, by thedeluge.
In more modern representations the seasons are often surrounding Apollo: Spring, as Flora, crowned with flowers, and in a shaded green drapery over a white robe: Summer, standing under the lion in the zodiac, with a gold-coloured drapery over a white gauze vestment, the edges of which are tinged by the yellow rays of the sun, holding a sickle, having near her a wheat-sheaf; Autumn, as a Bacchante, in a violet-coloured garment, pressing grapes with one hand into a golden cup, which she holds in the other; and Winter as an aged person, placed in the shade at a great distance from the god.[23][24]
Finally, a quite separate suite of Horae personified the twelve hours (originally only ten), as tutelary goddesses of the times of day. The hours run from just before sunrise to just after sunset, thus winter hours are short, summer hours are long:
The last set of hours of the day and night is allegorically represented in the following:[27][better source needed]
Hours
Description
Ruling Planet
Twelve Hours of Morning
The ancients supposed each of the hours to be governed by a separate planet.
First hour
Represented as a young girl, her head adorned with light flowing hair; she is clad in a short dress of rose-colour, resembling the tints of the clouds before the rising of the sun; her wings are like those of a butterfly, and she holds the Sun and a bunch of full-blown roses.
Sun
Second hour
Appears to have wings like the preceding; her hair is of a darker hue, and her dress of a deep gold colour; she is surrounded by light clouds, indicating the vapours which the sun exhales from the earth; her attributes are the planet Venus and a sunflower.
Venus
Third hour
Her hair is brown, and her drapery is white, shaded with red; she holds the planet Mercury and a sun-dial.
Mercury
Fourth hour
Considered to be time best calculated for gathering herbs, as the heat of the sun had by then dissipated the clouds, and sufficiently dried the earth; its personification was therefore clothed entirely in white, and bore a hyacinth and the figure of the Moon.
Moon
Fifth hour
Her robe was tinged with lemon colour, denoting the golden brightness of the sun as it advances towards the meridian; in her hand was the planet Saturn
Saturn
Sixth hour
Turns her face to the beholder, and as the sun has now attained its greatest power, her dress is red and flaming; her accompaniments are the planet Jupiter and a lotus, which, like the sunflower, follows the course of the sun.
Jupiter
Seventh hour
Her dress is orange, tinged with red; she holds the planet Mars and a lupin, a plant that, according to Pliny, served to indicate the time to the country people on a cloudy day.
Mars
Eighth hour
Wears a variegated robe of orange and white, showing the diminution of light, now beginning to be apparent; the Sun is in her hands.
Sun
Ninth hour
Her attitude and that of the two preceding hours, inclines towards the horizon; her dress is lemon-coloured; she bears the planet Venus and a branch of olive, a tree said by Pliny to shed its leaves during the solstice.
Venus
Tenth hour
She is dressed in yellow, tinged with brown; she holds the planet Mercury and a branch of poplar.
Mercury
Eleventh hour
As the day draws to its close, appeared to be precipitating her flight; her drapery is dark yellow, and her attributes are a moon and a clepsydra, or hour-glass, which marks the time without the sun's assistance.
Moon
Twelfth hour
Seems in the act of plunging beneath the horizon, thus denoting the setting of the sun; she is dressed in a robe of dark violet colour, and holds the planet Saturn and a branch of willow.
Saturn
Twelve Hours of Night
These, like the hours of the day, are depicted with wings, and in the attitude of flying; they differ from each other only in the colour of their drapery, and in their various attributes.
First hour
Her robe is of the hue of the horizon during twilight; she bears in her hands the planet Jupiter and a bat.
Jupiter
Second hour
Habited in dark gray, and holds the planet Mars and a screech owl.
Mars
Third hour
Clad in black, carries an owl and the Sun.
Sun
Fourth hour
Her dress is not quite so dark as that of the preceding, because the light of the heavenly bodies now diminishes in some measure the obscurity of night; she holds the planet Venus and an hour-glass.
Venus
Fifth hour
Her attributes are the planet Mercury and a bunch of poppies.
Mercury
Sixth hour
She is enveloped in a thick black drapery, and holds the Moon and a cat, which has the faculty of seeing in the dark.
Moon
Seventh hour
Her robe is deep blue; she bears the planet Saturn and a badger, that animal being much disposed to sleep.
Saturn
Eighth hour
Clad in a lighter blue, holds the planet Jupiter and a dormouse.
Jupiter
Ninth hour
Dressed in violet colour, to denote the approach of morning, and is characterised by the planet Mars and an owl.
Mars
Tenth hour
Her robe is of a paler shade of violet; she bears the Sun and a clock surmounted by a bell.
Sun
Eleventh hour
Habited in blue, and accompanied by a cock, holds the planet Venus.
Venus
Twelfth hour
Her attitude of flying precipitately behind the horizon; her drapery is of mixed colours, white, blue, and violet; she bears in her hand the planet Mercury, and leads a swan, which, by its white plumage, indicates the brightness of the coming day.
^References to the Horai in classical sources are credited in Karl Kerenyi's synthesis of all the mythology,The Gods of the Greeks 1951, pp. 101f and passim (index, "Horai").
^Murray, John (1833).A Classical Manual, being a Mythological, Historical and Geographical Commentary on Pope's Homer, and Dryden's Aeneid of Virgil with a Copious Index. Albemarle Street, London: J. Murray. p. 256.
^Murray, John (1833).A Classical Manual, being a Mythological, Historical and Geographical Commentary on Pope's Homer, and Dryden's Aeneid of Virgil with a Copious Index. Albemarle Street, London: J. Murray. pp. 172–174.
Nonnus,Dionysiaca translated by William Henry Denham Rouse (1863-1950), from the Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1940.Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Pausanias,Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
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