Hera is the queen of all goddesses on Mt. Olympus. She is the goddess of marriage, women, and birth. She was always a beautiful woman, arguably the most beautiful goddess on Mt. Olympus. She usually wore a crown and carried a royal lotus-tipped staff. Every year she restored her virginity by bathing in the mystic waters as Nauplia in the spring Canathus. A peacock, a cuckoo, a lion and a cow are the symbols of Hera. The birds of Hera are the cuckoo from the Zeus story and the peacock from the peacocks feathers having “eyes”.Here is a Homeric poem of Hera: “I sing of golden-throned Hera whom Rhea bare. Queen of the Immortals is she, surpassing all in beauty: she is the sister and wife of loud-thundering Zeus,–the glorious one whom all the blessed throughout high Olympos reverence and honour even as Zeus who delights in thunder.”
Hera is the daughter of two titans; Cronus, and Rhea. She had three brothers; Zeus the king of gods, Hades the god of the underworld, and Poseidon the god of the sea. She also had a sister Demeter. As the eldest child, Zeus deemed the respect of Hera. The first encounter between Zeus and Hera was in the region of Hesprides. Hera was not responding to Zeus’ attempts to seduce her, so Zeus resulted into tricking Hera by using her nurturing side. In the winter Zeus turned himself into a cuckoo that appeared to be frozen in the cold. Hera, being the motherly woman she was, held the bird closely to her breasts to warm the bird. Zeus then turned back into normal form and took advantage of the surprised Hera. Unable to fight Zeus off, Hera was raped by Zeus. Hera then married Zeus in order to cover her shame from her foolishness. Hera was linked to Zeus’s sovereignty and became the chief feminine deity of Olympus. When they both entered the congregation of all gods and sat on their thrown, it was Hera who they all rose in reference to. Some people even went as far as to call Zeus “Hera’s Zeus”.
The Children of Hera are; the smith god Hephaestus, the goddesses of youth Hebe, and the god of war Ares. According to legend, Hera’s children were conceived without the help of a man; either by slapping her hand on the ground or by eating lettuce.
Hera was always highly tempered, especially when it came to Zeus and his infidelities which she took as insults. Hera always got jealous and angry at Zeus’ children by other women as well as his infidelities. Zeus was not at all a faithful spouse and would always find new women to have children with and this of course kept Hera furious. If Hera couldn’t hurt the woman who Zeus cheated with, then she would usually go after the child between the woman and Zeus. Shortly after they married she left Mt. Olympus on protest. Zeus had tricked her again into coming back by carrying a statue around Greece spreading the message of a new fiancée for Zeus. Jealous, she seized the chariot and discovered the trick Zeus had played on her. She came back to Mt Olympus.
Hera didn’t get mad at just Zeus’ infidelities though. Antigone, daughter of Laomedon, once boasted her hair was more beautiful than Hera’s. In return Hera turned her hair into serpents. She sided with the Trojans in the Trojan War because she lost a beauty contest to Aphrodite and Athena, Paris being the judge. Paris refused to give Hera the prize even after Hera had bribed Paris with world sovereignty.
Being the goddess of marriage, Hera was never a hypocrite and never cheated on Zeus. Even though she was faithful to Zeus, other gods still wanted to be with her. Ixion, the King of Lapithae, became obsessed with Hera as soon as he laid eyes on her. He was reprimanded for not respecting the bond between Zeus and Hera. He was bound to a fiery wheel and was whirled through the sky.
Zeus cheated on Hera with a mortal named Alcmene, and thus Hercules was born. Hera sought revenge by trying to drive Hercules mad and caused him to kill his wife Megrea, and also his own children. Hercules later regains consciousness and realizes how terrifying Hera can be. Zeus always tries to hide his illegitimate children from Hera.
In another case, Zeus was being over controlling and overbearing to the gods and Hera decided to plot against him. She drugged him and all the other gods tied him to a couch with many knots. Briareus overheard arguments about what the gods should do next and slipped in and untied Zeus. Zeus then rushed up from the couch and grabbed his thunderbolt. In total fury, he brought the gods trembling to their knees begging for mercy. Hera was seized and hung in gold chains from the sky. She whimpered in pain the whole night, begging him to let her go. The other gods didn’t want to get in the middle of all of that so they left Hera alone. Their help wasn’t necessary anyway because the next day Zeus let her go because she was keeping him up all night, if she agreed to never plot against him again. She often intrigued against Zeus’ plans and often was able to outwit him.
Greeks worshipped the gods through ritual and sacrifice. The Greek gods did not provide humans with a code to live by, but the gods gave them a reason for whims of fate as they shrugged at sin.
Bibliography
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Web. 20 Sept. 2011. <http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/hera.html>. - Sosa, Sylvia. “Hera: The First Greek Goddess.” arthistory.sbc.edu. Images of
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