Page:Psychology of the Unconscious (1916).djvu/334

 and Argos, the marriage procession was represented with bridesmaids, marriage feast, and so on. The festival took place in the wedding month "[Greek: Gamêliô/n]" (beginning of February). But in Plataea the image was previously carried into a lonely place in the wood; approximately corresponding to the legend of Plutarch that Zeus had kidnapped Hera and then had hidden her in a cave of Cithaeron. According to our deductions, previously made, we must conclude from this that there is still another train of thought, namely, the magic charm of a rejuvenation, which is condensed in the Hierosgamos. The disappearance and hiding in the wood, in the cave, on the seashore, entwined in a willow tree, points to the death of the sun and rebirth. The early springtime [Greek: Gamêliô/n] (the time of Marriage) in February fits in with that very well. In fact, Pausanias informs us that the Argivan Hera ''became a maiden again by a yearly bath in the spring of Canathos''. The significance of the bath is emphasized by the information that in the Plataeian cult of Hera Teleia, Tritonian nymphs appeared as water-carriers. In a tale from the Iliad, where the conjugal couch of Zeus upon Mount Ida is described, it is said:[66]

"The son of Saturn spake, and took his wife Into his arms, while underneath the pair, The sacred Earth threw up her freshest herbs: The dewy lotos, and the crocus-flower, And thick and soft the hyacinth. All these Upbore them from the ground. Upon this couch They lay, while o'er them a bright golden cloud Gathered and shed its drops of glistening dew.