Hera

Basic Information / General Synopsis:

Hera, or Juno

Was a divine personification of what may be called the female power of the heavens – that is, the atmosphere, with its fickle and yet fertilizing properties; while Zeus represented those properties of the heavens that appeared to be of a male order. To their marriage was traced all the blessings of nature, and when they met, as on Mount Ida in a golden cloud, sweet fragrant flowers sprang up around them. A tree with golden apples grew up at their marriage feast, and streams of ambrosia flowed past their couch in the happy island of the west. That marriage ceremony took place, it was believed, in spring, and to keep up a recollection of it, an annual festival was held at that season in her honour. Like the sudden and violent storms, however, which in certain seasons break the peacefulness of the sky of Greece, the meetings of this divine pair often resulted in temporary quarrels and wrangling, the blame of which was usually traced to Hera; poets, and most of all Homer, in the Iliad, describing her as frequently jealous, angry, and quarrelsome, her character as lofty and proud, cold, and not free from bitterness. Of these scenes of discord we have several instances, as when (Iliad i. 586) Zeus actually beat her, and threw her son Hephaestos out of Olympos; or (Iliad xv. 18) when, vexed at her plotting against Herakles, he hung her out of Olympos with two great weights (earth and sea) attached to her feet, and her arms bound by golden fetters – an illustration of how all the phenomena of the visible sky were thought to hang dependent on the highest god of heaven; or again (Iliad i. 396) when Hera, with Poseidon and Athene, attempted to chain down Zeus, and would have succeeded had not Thetis brought to his aid the sea giant Aegaeon. As goddess of storms, Hera was consistently described as the mother of Ares, herself taking part in war occasionally, as against the Trojans, and enjoying the honour of festivals, accompanied by warlike contests, as at Argos, where the prize was a sacred shield.

Her favourite companions, in periods of peace, were the Charites (Graces) and the Horae (Seasons), of which the latter are also found in company of her husband. Her constant attendant was Iris, goddess of the rainbow. The peacock, in its pride and gorgeous array, and the cuckoo as herald of the spring, were sacred to her. In the spring-time occurred her principal festival, at which the ceremony consisted of an imitation of a wedding, a figure of the goddess being decked out in bridal attire, and placed on a couch of willow branches while wreaths and garlands of flowers were scattered about, because she loved them. Another singular festival was held in her honour every fifth year at Olympia in Elis, the ceremony consisting in the presentation of a splendidly embroidered mantle (peplos) to the goddess, and races in which only girls and unmarried women took part, running with their hair streaming down, and wearing short dresses, - the judges on the occasion being sixteen married women.

The character, however, in which Hera was most generally viewed was that of queen of heaven, and as the faithful wife of Zeus claiming the highest conceivable respect and honour. Herself the ideal of womanly virtues, she made it a principal duty to protect them among mortals, punishing with severity all trespassers against her moral law – but, naturally, none so much as those who had been objects of her husband’s affections – as, for instance, Semele, the mother of Dionysos, or Alkmene, the mother of Herakles. Her worship was restricted for the most part to women, who, according to the various stages of womanhood, regarded her in a different light: some as a bride, styling her Parthenia; others as a wife, with the title of Gamelia, Zygia, or Teleia; and others again in the character of Eileithyia, as helpful at child-birth. Of these phases of her life that of bride was obviously associable with the phenomena of the heavens in the spring-time, when the return of dazzling light and warmth spread everywhere affectionate gaiety and the blooming of new life. As queen of heaven and wife of Zeus she will be found, in connection with the legends of Argos and its neighbourhood, possessed, from motives of jealousy, of a hatred towards the nocturnal phenomena of the sky, and especially the moon, as personified by the wandering Io, whom she placed under the surveillance of Argos, a being with innumerable eyes, and apparently a personification of the starry system.

The town of Argos, with its ancient legends, which clearly betray some powerful sensitiveness to the phenomena of light, was the oldest and always the chief centre of this worship of Hera. There was her principle temple, and within it a statue of the goddess, by Polykleitos, which almost rivaled in grandeur and beauty the Zeus at Olympia, by Pheidias. Next came Samos, with its splendid temple erected for her by Polykrates. In Corinth also, in Eubœa, Bœotia, Crete, and even in Lakinion, in Italy, she had temples and devotees.

Juno, the Roman equivalent of Hera, was mostly regarded from the maternal point of view, and in accordance with that frequently styled Lucina, the helper at child-birth. Temples were erected and festivals held in her honour – of the festivals that called Matronalia being the chief. It was held on the 1st of March of each year, and could only be participated in by women, who went with girdles loose, and on the occasion received presents from husbands, lovers, or friends, making presents in turn to their servants. The spirits that guarded over women were called in early times Junones. (e)

The image of Hera is said to have consisted at first of a long pillar, as in Argos, and in Samos of a plank, and to have assumed a human form only in comparatively late times. The statue of her by Polykleitos, mentioned above, was a gold and ivory and of colossal size. It represented her seated on a throne, holding in one hand a pomegranate, the symbol of her marriage, and in the other a sceptre on which sat a cuckoo. On her head was a crown ornamented with figures of the Charites (Graces) and Horae. We can still in some measure recall the appearance of the statue from the marble head known as Juno Ludovisi (on plate iv.), from the coins of Argos, and from several ancient heads in marble of great beauty. Praxiteles made a colossal statue of her in the character of the protectress of marriage rites, and also a group of her seated, with Athene and Hebe standing beside her. On the painted vases the scene in which she most frequently occurs is that where she appears before Paris to be judged of her beauty. (e)

One of the cities where Hera had a cult dedicated to her was Corinth. The temple to Hera was very isolated and difficult to reach. Each year young boys & girls were selected to spend all full year at her temple.  During this year they were symbolically 'dead'.  They wore black at all times and each was required to cut their hair.

The Gods were not generally supposed to interfere with humans as both parties are directly subjected to the will of the Fates.  However, as the myths often demonstrate there are many times where this rule was disobeyed.  One such instance involved Hera and Poseidon.  Both wanted to intervene in a battle being fought by the Greeks.  Zeus forbid them to assist the Greeks in any way.  Hera convinces Hypnos (God of Sleep) to aid them.  She seduces Zeus, who lets his guard down, who is then put into a deep sleep by Hypnos.  Hera and Poseidon intervene but not without consequences.

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Resource List :

All entries are taken verbatim from the original source:

(e) "Who's Who in Mythology."  Alexander S. Murray.  Braken Books.  ©1988

Other Sources Used:

(f) http://www.loggia.com/myth/myth.html

(1) Personal & professor's notes from the class: Classics 323 - Greek Religion. Taken Winter Quarter 2003 at The Ohio State University.

(2) Personal & professor's notes from the class:  Classics 324 - Magic in the Ancient World.  Taken Autumn Quarter 2002 at The Ohio State University.