HeraBy Sian and Natasha

The symbols of Hera are the pomegranate, peacock, cow, lion and lily.

She was goddess of marriage, women and birth. She was queen of the gods because she was married to

Zeus. Her children are Hephaestus, Hebe and Ares. Hera's main sanctuary was at Argos in the Peloponnesus,

where she was worshipped as the town goddess. According to some sources, her children were conceived

without the help of a man, either by slapping her hand on the ground or by eating lettuce: thus they were born, not out of love but out of lust and hatred.

Background

Writers represented Hera as constantly being jealous of Zeus's various amorous affairs. She punished her rivals and their children, among both goddesses and mortals, with implacable fury. She placed two serpents in the cradle of Heracles; she had Io guarded by a hundred-eyed giant; she drove the foster-parents of Dionysus mad, and tried to prevent the birth of Apollo and Artemis.

Zeus usually could not stand up to her. Sometimes when he got angry, he chained her to the mountain of Olympus by fastening anvils to her feet. However, most of the time Zeus resorted to stratagems: he either hid his illegitimate children, or he changed them into animals.

Hera’s relationship with Zeus

Zeus courted her unsuccessfully. He then turned to trickery, changing himself into a dishevelled cuckoo. Hera feeling sorry for the bird held it to her breast to warm it. Zeus then resumed his normal form and taking advantage of the surprise he gained, raped her. She then married him to cover her shame.

Hera convinced the other gods to revolt against Zeus. She drugged him, and the other gods tied him up, but Briareus slipped in and was able to quickly untie the knots. Zeus sprang from the couch and grabbed his thunderbolt. He seized Hera and hung her from the sky with gold chains. She wept in pain all night but, none of the others dared to interfere. Her weeping kept Zeus up and the next morning he agreed to release her if she would swear never to rebel again. She had little choice but, to agree.

While she never again rebelled, she often intrigued against Zeus's plans and she was often able to outwit him.

Hera’s relationship with Zeus

She was very jealous and vengeful. She was very beautiful and this is why Zeus wanted to

court her in the first place. She was usually represented as a majestic woman at a

mature age, with a beautiful forehead, large and widely opened eyes, and with a grave expression commanding reverence. Her hair was adorned with a crown and a veil frequently hangs down the back of her head, to characterise her as the bride of Zeus.

She was very nurturing and always stayed faithful to Zeus even though he wasn’t to her.

She was hostile towards the Trojans, and in the Trojan war she accordingly sided with the Greeks.

Personality and characteristics

(Zeus) ‘You can never stop “supposing”. I can keep no secrets from you’. – shows Hera’s insecurities and her suspicions about Zeus. Also, it shows how their relationship is unstable.

(Zeus) ‘ This is going to mean trouble! You will make me fall foul of my wife Hera when she heaps me with abuse for this, as she will’. – shows how bad their relationship is and how they are wary of each other.

(Zeus) ‘Sit there in silence and obey me, or all the gods on Olympus will be of no help in keeping me off when I lay my unconquerable hands on you’. – shows they have a violent relationship and she has reason to be afraid of him.

She summons Achilles to call an assembly to deal with the plague. ‘Hera gave him her concern for the Greeks whose destruction she was witnessing’. - shows her nurturing and caring side, as she doesn’t want to see death and destruction at the Greek camps.

Significance of Hera in Book 1 of the Iliad