Hecatombaea

(Ἑκατόμβαια). (1) A festival celebrated in honour of Heré by the Argives and people of Aegina. It received its name from ἑκατόν and βοῦς, being a sacrifice of a hundred oxen, which were always offered to the goddess, and the flesh distributed among the poorest citizens. There were also public games, first instituted by Archinus, a king of Argos, in which the prize was a shield of brass with a crown of myrtle.

(2) An anniversary sacrifice called by this name in Laconia, and offered for the preservation of the hundred towns which once flourished in that country.