Hera, otherwise known as Juno, was the goddess of marriage, women, children, the sky and starry heavens. The daughter of Cronus and Rhea, Hera was brought up under the two Titans, Tethys and Oceanus. Hera was both the wife and sister of Zeus who bore him Ares, Hebe, Eris and Eileithyia. She was also Hephaestus’ mother. The cow and peacock were her sacred animals and in her depictions she would often be portrayed as a cuckoo or hawk. Hera was the luckless wife who was destined to seethe in rage and jealously as she almost impotently watched Zeus run off with his endless stream of mistresses. Unable to suppress her fury, she would often attack her husband’s liaisons and his illegitimate children. One of her most heinous attacks was that of Heracles— Zeus’s love child—where she induced his insanity which drove him to murder his wife and children. Hera was an independent goddess who was mutinous and incredibly ambitious. She would often rebel and carry out revenge on her husband’s liaisons, but her feats would often end in a fizzle as she was inferior in power to Zeus. She, however, always managed to outwit him.
Mythology and Theology: Greek Narrative of Love Affairs of Zeus
