Horae

The Horae, or Hours (also Seasons), were goddesses of the right time and of the order that comes with it. Hesiod names three of them, Eunomia, Dike and Eirene, as daughters of Zeus and Themis. In Homer they keep the gates of Olympus, and in the hymns they dress and attend Aphrodite and join the dances of the gods.

Who Were the Horae?

Parents and Names

In Hesiod’s Theogony Zeus took Themis as his second wife, “who bore the Horae, Eunomia, Dike and flourishing Eirene, who watch over the works of mortal men,” and also the Moirai (Hesiod, Theogony 901–906). Apollodorus gives the same parents and the same three daughters, calling them Peace, Order and Justice (Apollodorus, Library 1.3.1). Pindar likewise makes Eunomia a daughter of Themis (Pindar, Olympian 9).

• Eunomia, “Good Order”
• Dike, “Justice”
• Eirene, “Peace”

Athens had its own Horae. Pausanias writes that the Athenians worshipped two Graces, Auxo and Hegemone, while Carpo was not a Grace but a Season, and the other Season, worshipped with Pandrosus, was called Thallo (Pausanias 9.35.2). Carpo and Thallo were thus the two Seasons worshipped at Athens.

Keepers of the Gates of Olympus

In the Iliad, the gates of heaven open of their own accord for Hera’s chariot, “the gates which the Horae keep, to whom great heaven and Olympus are entrusted, to roll back the dense cloud or to set it in place” (Homer, Iliad 5.749–751; repeated at 8.393–395). When Hera and Athena return, the Horae unyoke their horses (Iliad 8.433).

The Horae and the Gods

Attendants of Aphrodite

In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (hymn 6), when Aphrodite comes ashore on Cyprus after her birth from the foam, the gold-crowned Horae welcome her gladly, clothe her in immortal garments and set a gold crown on her head. They adorn her ears and neck with gold, with the same jewels they wear themselves when they go to the lovely dances of the gods in the house of their father (Homeric Hymn 6 to Aphrodite 5–13). In Hesiod, when the gods fashion the first woman, Pandora, the Horae with beautiful hair crown her with spring flowers (Hesiod, Works and Days 75).

In the Dances of Olympus

When Apollo plays the lyre on Olympus, the Graces and the Horae dance, together with Harmonia, Hebe and Aphrodite, holding each other by the wrist (Homeric Hymn 3 to Apollo 194–196).

Worship

Pausanias records a sanctuary of the Seasons at Argos (Pausanias 2.20.5). At Argos, he also saw Graces and Seasons worked on the crown of Hera’s statue in the Heraion (Pausanias 2.17.4). He adds that in a hymn by Olen, Hera was said to have been reared by the Seasons (Pausanias 2.13.3). At Megara, a statue of Zeus had the Seasons and Fates above its head, so that the god alone appears to rule Destiny and to apportion the seasons as is due (Pausanias 1.40.4).

Horae Sources

Hesiod, Theogony 901–906, Works and Days 75; Homer, Iliad 5.749–751, 8.393–395, 8.433; Homeric Hymn 3 to Apollo 194–196; Homeric Hymn 6 to Aphrodite 5–13; Apollodorus, Library 1.3.1; Pindar, Olympian 9; Pausanias 1.40.4, 2.13.3, 2.17.4, 2.20.5, 9.35.2.

See Also: Zeus, Themis, Aphrodite, Hera, Moirai, The Graces