Greek Mythology: Hercules Greek Mythology Hercules Hercules Hercules or Heracles, legendary hero of ancient Greek and Rome. Known for his great strength he was the son of Zeus and Alcmene (granddaughter of Perseus). Zeus fell in love with Alcmene, and when Alcmene's husband, Amphitryon, was away, Zeus made her pregnant. This made Hera so angry that she tried to prevent the baby from born. Baby Hercules strangling a snake However Alcmene gave birth to baby and she named him Hercules "glorious gift of Hera". But that did not ended Hera anger. Hera sent two serpents to kill Hercules in his cradles, but the infant strangled them. He grew up and had become a great warrior, he married a princess, Megara. He killed Megara and his children in a fit of rage sent by Hera and was forced to become the servant of Eurystheus, ruler of Greece.

Hercules and the three headed dog Cerberus Eurystheus obliged Hercules to perform the famous 12 labors, including cleansing the Augean stables, fetching the golden apples of the Hesperides, and descending into Hades to bring back the three-headed dog Cerberus. Hercules and Deianira Hercules married Deianira , as he won her hand by wrestling with the river god Acheloos. Deianira later sent Hercules a shirt smeared with poison, which she mistakenly believed was a love potion. In agony Hercules burned himself to death on a pyre and his spirit ascended to heaven. The marriage of Hercules and Hebe Hera ended her anger as Hercules had suffered enough. Hercules became an immortal and married Hebe daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hercules love 5 Facts About Hera 5 Facts About Hera Posted In: Information and Theories 7/31/09 By: Yona Williams Hera is often portrayed in Greek mythology as the woman filled with jealousy over the many affairs of Zeus. Whether she was serving as the goddess to women and marriage or trying to take the life of one of Zeus' offspring, Hera is a chief figure in Greek mythology.

In this article, you will learn more facts and trivia regarding the wife of mighty Zeus. An Ongoing Battle with Heracles Zeus was not the only god that Hera came to feud with, as she would endure a long-going battle with Heracles ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ that started right at the early days of his conception and birth. Heracles' mother was Alcmene, who had been described as one of the loveliest of women who happened to be filled with wisdom and born to mortal parents. People often compared her face and dark eyes to none other than Aphrodite. Hera was jealous of Alcmene and attempted to prevent the birth of Heracles by tying her legs in knots. However, a faithful servant tricked Hera into thinking that she had already given birth to the baby. The baby lived and while he was still an infant, Hera sent two serpents to take his life while he lie asleep. However, her plan to kill the babe was once again foiled, as the baby grabbed a snake in each hand. A nurse going in to check on the baby saw Heracles playing with the dead snakes as if they were toys.

5 Facts About Hera Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â· Hera was born to Cronus and Rhea ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ the same parents as her husband, Zeus. However, after her birth, Cronus swallowed his daughter in fear that a prophecy involving one of his offspring would come true. Being told that one of his children would take his place on the throne, he took great pains to ensure his position in Mount Olympus. Ironically, it would be Hera's husband that would best the god. Their mother, Rhea, executed a plan that hid the existence of Zeus. Rhea wrapped a stone in baby clothes so that Cronus would mistake the rock for his son. Zeus was relocated to a cave on Crete. Later on, Rhea gave Cronus an herb that caused him to regurgitate five of their children, including Hera. When Zeus grew old enough, Cronus was sent to Tartarus ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ situated deep in the underworld. Cronus was never in any danger of being killed because as a Titan, he enjoyed immortality.

Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â· Sacred animals associated with Hera are the peacock and the cow. Pomegranates and peacock feathers are often used as symbols for Hera. Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â· Hera was related to Demeter (the goddess of harvest), Hades (god of the Underworld), Poseidon (ruler of the sea), and Hestia (goddess of the hearth). Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â· The Roman equivalent to Hera is Juno. Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â· The jealous and vengeful nature of Hera knows no bounds. When Paris offends the goddess by selecting Aphrodite as the most beautiful of all goddesses, Hera is instantly filled with hatred. This will later play a role in Paris' life. Clickbank Name: Hera - Crystalinks Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her. Hera's mother was Rhea and her father Cronus.

Portrayed as majestic and solemn, often enthroned, and crowned with the polos (a high cylindrical crown worn by several of the Great Goddesses), Hera may bear a pomegranate in her hand, emblem of fertile blood and death and a substitute for the narcotic capsule of the opium poppy. Hera was known for her jealous and vengeful nature, most notably against Zeus's lovers and offspring, but also against mortals who crossed her, such as Pelias. Paris offended her by choosing Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess, earning Hera's hatred. Etymology and Early History Unlike some Greek gods, such as Zeus and Poseidon, Hera's name is not analyzable as a Greek or Indo-European word. She therefore seems to be a survival of a pre-Greek "great goddess" figure - perhaps one of the powerful female divinities of the Minoan pantheon, or of some unidentified pre-Greek ("Pelasgian") people. Hera's importance in the early archaic period is attested by the large building projects undertaken in her honor. Hera's importance in the early archaic period is attested by the large building projects undertaken in her honor.

The temples of Hera in the two main centers of her cult, the Heraion of Samos and the Heraion of Argos in the Argolid, were the very earliest monumental Greek temples constructed, in the 8th century BC. Sometimes this devolved role is as clear as a simple substitution can make it. According to the Homeric Hymn III to Delian Apollo, Hera detained Eileithyia, to already prevent Leto from going into labor with Artemis and Apollo, because the father was Zeus. The other goddesses present at the birthing on Delos sent Iris to bring her. As she stepped upon the island, the divine birth began. In the myth of the birth of Heracles, it is Hera herself who sits at the door instead, delaying the birth of Heracles until her proteg�, Eurystheus, has been born first. The Homeric Hymn to Pythian Apollo makes the monster Typhaon the offspring of archaic Hera in her Minoan form, produced out of herself, like a monstrous version of Hephaestus, and whelped in a cave in Cilicia (Iliad, ii. 781-783).

She gave the creature to Gaia to raise. At Olympia, Hera's seated cult figure was older than the warrior figure of Zeus that accompanied it. Homer expressed her relationship with Zeus delicately in the Iliad, in which she declares to Zeus, "I am Cronus' eldest daughter, and am honorable not on this ground only, but also because I am your wife, and you are king of the gods." Though Zeus is often called Zeus Heraios ("Zeus, consort of Hera"), Homer's treatment of Hera is less than respectful, and in late anecdotal versions of the myths (see below) she appeared to spend most of her time plotting revenge on the nymphs seduced by her Consort, for Hera upheld all the old right rules of Hellene society and sorority. Hera was born of Cronos and Rhea, and was abruptly swallowed after birth due to a prophesy that one of Cronos's children will take over his throne. Zeus was spared and when he grew older he saved all of his siblings, then banished Cronos, because the gods were immortal and could not be killed.

The Cult of Hera Hera was especially worshipped, as "Argive Hera" (Hera Argeia), at her sanctuary that stood between the former Mycenaean city-states of Argos and Mycenae, where the festivals in her honor called Heraia were celebrated. "The three cities I love best," the ox-eyed Queen of Heaven declares (Iliad, book iv) "are Argos, Sparta and Mycenae of the broad streets." Her other main center of cult was at Samos. There were also temples to Hera in Olympia, Corinth, Tiryns, Perachora and the sacred island of Delos. In Magna Graecia, the temple long called the Temple of Poseidon among the group at Paestum was identified in the 1950s as a second temple there of Hera. Greek altars of Classical times were always under the open sky. Hera may have been the first to whom an enclosed roofed temple sanctuary was dedicated, at Samos about 800 BC.

(It was replaced later by the Heraion, one of the largest Greek temples anywhere.) Earlier sanctuaries, whose dedication is less secure, were of the Mycenaean type called "house sanctuaries". Samos excavations have revealed votive offerings, many of them late 8th and 7th century, which reveal that Hera at Samos was not merely a local Greek goddess of the Aegean: the museum there contains figures of gods and suppliants and other votive offerings from Armenia, Babylon, Iran, Assyria, Egypt, testimony to the reputation which this sanctuary of Hera enjoyed and to the large influx of pilgrims - and a general reminder to us that Greek myths did not evolve in a cultural vacuum (Burkert 1998).

In Euboea the festival of the Great Daedala, sacred to Hera, was celebrated on a sixty-year cycle.In Hellenistic imagery, Hera's wagon was pulled by peacocks, birds not known to Greeks before the conquests of Alexander: Alexander's tutor, Aristotle, refers to it as "the Persian bird." The peacock motif was revived in the Renaissance iconography that unified Hera and Juno, and which European painters have kept familiar to us (Seznec 1953). A bird that had been associated with Hera on an archaic level, where most of the Aegean goddesses were associated with "their" bird, was the cuckoo, which appears in mythic fragments concerning the first wooing of a virginal Hera by Zeus. Her archaic association was primarily with cattle, as a Cow Goddess, who was especially venerated in "cattle-rich" Euboea. Her familiar Homeric epithet bo�pis, is always translated "cow-eyed", for, like the Greeks of Classical times, we reject its other natural translation "cow-faced" or at least "of cow aspect". A cow-headed Hera, like a Minotaur would make a dark demon of fear.

But on Cyprus, very early archaeological sites contain bull skulls that have been adapted for use as masks (see Bull (mythology)). The pomegranate, an ancient emblem of the Great Goddess, remained an emblem of Hera: many of the votive pomegranates and poppy capsules recovered at Samos are made of ivory, which survives burial better than the wooden ones that must have been more common. Like all goddesses, Hera may be displayed wearing a diadem and be veiled. Matriarchy There has been considerable scholarship, reaching back to Johann Jakob Bachofen in the mid-nineteenth century, about the possibility that Hera, whose early importance in Greek religion is firmly established, was originally the goddess of a matriarchal people, presumably inhabiting Greece before the Hellenes. In this view, her activity as goddess of marriage established the patriarchal bond of her own subordination: her resistance to the conquests of Zeus is rendered as Hera's "jealousy", the main theme of literary anecdotes that undercut her ancient cult. However, it remains a controversial claim that primitive matriarchy existed in Greece or elsewhere.

Emblems of the Presence of Hera In Hellenistic imagery, Hera's wagon was pulled by peacocks, birds not known to Greeks before the conquests of Alexander: Alexander's tutor, Aristotle, refers to it as "the Persian bird." The peacock motif was revived in the Renaissance iconography that unified Hera and Juno, and which European painters have kept familiar to us (Seznec 1953). A bird that had been associated with Hera on an archaic level, where most of the Aegean goddesses were associated with "their" bird, was the cuckoo, which appears in mythic fragments concerning the first wooing of a virginal Hera by Zeus. Her archaic association was primarily with cattle, as a Cow Goddess, who was especially venerated in "cattle-rich" Euboea. Her familiar Homeric epithet boopis, is always translated "cow-eyed", for, like the Greeks of Classical times, we reject its other natural translation "cow-faced" or at least "of cow aspect". A cow-headed Hera, like a Minotaur would make a dark demon of fear. But on Cyprus, very early archaeological sites contain bull skulls that have been adapted for use as masks.

The pomegranate, an ancient emblem of the Great Goddess, remained an emblem of Hera: many of the votive pomegranates and poppy capsules recovered at Samos are made of ivory, which survives burial better than the wooden ones that must have been more common. Like all goddesses, Hera may be displayed wearing a diadem and be veiled. Hera's Children Hera presides over the right arrangements of the marriage and is the archetype of the union in the marriage bed, but she is not notable as a mother. The legitimate offspring of her union with Zeus is Ares, Hebe (the goddess of youth), Eris (the goddess of discord) and Eileithyia (goddess of childbirth). Hera was jealous of Zeus' giving birth to Athena without recourse to her (actually with Metis), so she gave birth to Hephaestus without him. (An alternate version discounts this and says Zeus and Hera were both parents of Hephaestus) Zeus and/or Hera herself were then disgusted with Hephaestus' ugliness and threw him from Mount Olympus.

As another alternative version, Hera gave birth to all of the children usually accredited to her and Zeus together, alone by beating her hand on the Earth, a solemnizing action for the Greeks, or by eating lettuce. Hephaestus gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by making her a magical throne which, when she sat on it, didn't allow her to leave it. The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go but he repeatedly refused. Dionysus got him drunk and took him back to Olympus on the back of a mule. Hephaestus released Hera after being given Aphrodite as his wife. Hera the Nemesis of Heracles Hera was the stepmother and enemy of Heracles, who was named "Hera-famous" in her honor; Heracles is the hero who, more than even Perseus, Cadmus or Theseus, introduced the Olympian ways in Greece. When Alcmene was pregnant with Heracles, Hera tried to prevent the birth from occurring by tying Alcmene's legs in knots. She was foiled by Galanthis, her servant, who told Hera that she had already delivered the baby.

Hera punished Galanthis by turning her into an animal. While Heracles was still an infant, Hera sent two serpents to kill him as he lay in his cot. Heracles throttled a single snake in each hand and was found by his nurse playing with their limp bodies as if they were a child's toys. The anecdote is built upon a representation of the hero gripping a serpent in each hand, precisely as the familiar Minoan snake-handling goddesses had once done. "The picture of a divine child between two serpents may have been long familiar to the Thebans, who worshiped the Cabeiri, although not represented as a first exploit of a hero". Later she stirred up the Amazons against him when he was on one of his quests. One account of the origin of the Milky Way is that Zeus had tricked Hera into nursing the infant Heracles: discovering who he was, she pulled him from her breast, and a spurt of her milk formed the smear across the sky that can be seen to this day. Unlike any Greeks, the Etruscans instead pictured a full-grown bearded Heracles at Hera's breast: this may refer to his adoption by her when he became an Immortal.

He had previously wounded her severely in the breast. Hera assigned Heracles to labor for King Eurystheus at Mycenae. She attempted to make almost each of Heracles' twelve labors more difficult. When he fought the Lernaean Hydra, she sent a crab to bite at his feet in the hopes of distracting him. When Heracles took the cattle of Geryon, he shot Hera in the right breast with a triple-barbed arrow: the wound was incurable and left her in constant pain, as Dione tells Aphrodite in the Iliad, Book V. Afterwards, Hera sent a gadfly to bite the cattle, irritate them and scatter them. Hera then sent a flood which raised the water level of a river so much that Heracles could not ford the river with the cattle. He piled stones into the river to make the water shallower. When he finally reached the court of Eurystheus, the cattle were sacrificed to Hera. Eurystheus also wanted to sacrifice the Cretan Bull to Hera. She refused the sacrifice because it reflected glory on Heracles. The bull was released and wandered to Marathon, becoming known as the Marathonian Bull.

Some myths state that in the end, Hera befriended Heracles for saving her from Porphyrion, a giant who tried to rape her during the Gigantomachy, and that she even gave her daughter Hebe as his bride. Whatever myth-making served to account for an archaic representation of Heracles as "Hera's man" it was thought suitable for the builders of the Heraion at Paestum to depict the exploits of Heracles in bas-reliefs. The Twelve Labors Hera assigned Heracles to labor for King Eurystheus at Mycenae. She attempted to make almost each of Heracles' twelve labors more difficult. When he fought the Lernaean Hydra, she sent a crab to bite at his feet in the hopes of distracting him. To annoy Heracles after he took the cattle of Geryon, Hera sent a gadfly to bite the cattle, irritate them and scatter them. Hera then sent a flood which raised the water level of a river so much Heracles could not ford the river with the cattle. He piled stones into the river to make the water shallower. When he finally reached the court of Eurystheus, the cattle were sacrificed to Hera.

Eurystheus also wanted to sacrifice Cretan Bull to Hera, who hated Heracles. She refused the sacrifice because it reflected glory on Heracles. The bull was released and wandered to Marathon, becoming known as the Marathonian Bull. Hera's Jealousies Echo For a time, a nymph named Echo had the job of distracting Hera from Zeus' affairs by incessantly talking. When Hera discovered the deception, she cursed Echo to only speak the words of others (hence our modern word "echo"). Leto and Artemis/Apollo When Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant and that Hera's husband, Zeus, was the father, she banned Leto from giving birth on "terra-firma", or the mainland, or any island at sea. She found the floating island of Delos, which was neither mainland nor a real island and gave birth there. The island was surrounded by swans. As a gesture of gratitude, Delos was secured with four pillars. The island later became sacred to Apollo. Alternatively, Hera kidnapped Ilithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to prevent Leto from going into labor. The other gods forced Hera to let her go.

Either way, Artemis was born first and then assisted with the birth of Apollo. Another version states that Artemis was born one day before Apollo, on the island of Ortygia and that she helped Leto cross the sea to Delos the next day to give birth to Apollo. Callisto/Arcas Hera also figures in the myth of Callisto and Arcas. A follower of Artemis, Callisto took a vow to remain a virgin. But Zeus fell in love with her and disguised himself as Apollo in order to lure her into his embrace. Hera then turned Callisto into a bear out of revenge. Later, Callisto's son with Zeus, Arcas, nearly killed her in a hunt but Zeus placed them both in the sky as the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. An alternate version: One of Artemis' companions, Callisto lost her virginity to Zeus, who had come disguised as Artemis. Enraged, Artemis changed her into a bear. Callisto's son, Arcas, nearly killed his mother while hunting, but Zeus or Artemis stopped him and placed them both in the sky as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

In an another alternate version: Artemis killed Callisto in bear form, deliberately. Hera was not pleased with the placement of Callisto and Arcas in the sky, so she asked her nurse, Tethys, to help. Tethys, a marine goddess, cursed the constellations to forever circle the sky and never drop below the horizon, hence explaining why they are circumpolar. Semele/Dionysus Dionysus was a son of Zeus by a mortal woman. A jealous Hera again attempted to kill the child, this time by sending Titans to rip Dionysus to pieces after luring the baby with toys. Though Zeus drove the Titans away with his thunderbolts but only after the Titans ate everything but the heart, which was saved, variously, by Athena, Rhea, or Demeter. Zeus used the heart to recreate Dionysus and implant him in the womb of Semele, hence he was again "the twice-born". Sometimes it was said that he gave Semele the heart to eat to impregnate her. Io Hera almost caught Zeus with a mistress named Io, a fate avoided by Zeus turning Io into a beautiful white heifer.

However, Hera was not completely fooled and demanded Zeus give her the heifer as a present. Once Io was given to Hera, she placed her in the charge of Argus to keep her separated from Zeus. Zeus then commanded Hermes to kill Argus, which he did by lulling all one-hundred eyes to sleep. Hera sent a gadfly to sting Io as she wandered the earth. In an alternate version: Io was transformed back into a nymph by Hera in Egypt. The Egyptians saw her, and worshipped her as a goddess and her former form, the cow. Lamia Lamia was a queen of Libya, whom Zeus loved. Hera turned her into a monster and murdered their children. Or, alternately, she killed Lamia's children and the grief turned her into a monster. Lamia was cursed with the inability to close her eyes so that she would always obsess over the image of her dead children. Zeus gave her the gift to be able to take her eyes out to rest, and then put them back in. Lamia was envious of other mothers and ate their children.

Other Myths Involving Hera Cydippe Cydippe, a priestess of Hera, was on her way to a festival in the goddess' honor. The oxen which was to pull her cart were overdue and her sons, Biton and Cleobis pulled the cart the entire way (45 stadia, 8 kilometers). Cydippe was impressed with their devotion to her and her goddess and asked Hera to give her children the best gift a god could give a person. Hera ordained that the brothers would die in their sleep. Tiresias Tiresias was a priest of Zeus, and as a young man he encountered two snakes mating and hit them with a stick. He was then transformed into a woman. As a woman, Tiresias became a priestess of Hera, married and had children, including Manto. According to some versions of the tale, Lady Tiresias was a prostitute of great renown. After seven years as a woman, Tiresias again found mating snakes, struck them with her staff, and became a man once more. As a result of his experiences, Zeus and Hera asked him to settle the question of which sex, male or female, experienced more pleasure during intercourse.

Zeus claimed it was women; Hera claimed it was men. When Tiresias sided with Zeus, Hera struck him blind. Since Zeus could not undo what she had done, he gave him the gift of prophecy. An alternative and less commonly told story has it that Tiresias was blinded by Athena after he stumbled onto her bathing naked. His mother, Chariclo, begged her to undo her curse, but Athena couldn't; she gave him prophecy instead. Chelone At the marriage of Zeus and Hera, a nymph named Chelone was disrespectful (or refused to attend). Zeus condemned her to eternal silence. The Iliad During the Trojan War, Diomedes fought with Hector and saw Ares fighting on the Trojans' side. Diomedes called for his soldiers to fall back slowly. Hera, Ares' mother, saw Ares' interference and asked Zeus, Ares' father, for permission to drive Ares away from the battlefield. Hera encouraged Diomedes to attack Ares and he threw his spear at the god. Athena drove the spear into Ares' body and he bellowed in pain and fled to Mt. Olympus, forcing the Trojans to fall back.

The Golden Fleece Hera hated Pelias for having murdered Sidero, his step-grandmother, in a temple to Hera. She later attempted to manipulate Jason and Medea to kill Pelias and succeeded. The Metamorphoses In Thrace, as Ovid tells in Metamorphoses 6.87, Hera and Zeus turned King Haemus and Queen Rhodope into mountains, the Balkan (Haemus Mons) and Rhodope mountain chain respectively for their hubris in comparing themselves to the gods. The Judgment of Paris This is one of the many works depicting the event. Hera is the goddess in the center, wearing the crown. All the gods and goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis (the eventual parents of Achilles). Only Eris, goddess of discord, was not invited. She was annoyed at this, so she arrived with a golden apple inscribed with a word meaning "for the fairest one"), which she threw among the goddesses. Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all claimed to be the fairest, and thus the rightful owner of the apple.

The goddesses chose to place the matter before Zeus, who, not wanting to favor one of the goddesses, put the choice into the hands of Paris, a Trojan prince. After bathing in the spring of Mount Ida (where Troy was situated), the goddesses appeared before Paris. The goddesses undressed and presented themselves to Paris naked, either at his request or for the sake of winning. Still, Paris could not decide, as all three were ideally beautiful, so they resorted to bribes. Hera offered Paris control over all Asia and Europe, while Athena offered wisdom, fame, and glory in battle, and Aphrodite offered the most beautiful mortal woman in the world as a wife, and he accordingly chose her. This woman was Helen, who was, unfortunately for Paris, already married to King Menelaus of Sparta. The other two goddesses were enraged by this and through Helen's abduction by Paris they brought about the Trojan War. Hera in Neopaganism Hera is one of the most popular gods among modern Neopagan sects in the United States, particularly among Hellenistic Neopagans.

While most mythology regarding Hera seems to be conveniently omitted by most modern Neopagans, her roles remain much the same as they were in classical Hellenistic Paganism. Hera is seen as the goddess of the home and monogamy, and is believed to inspire love, loyalty, and happiness. Hera is also believed to inspire jealousy and is most commonly worshipped by women. All sects that include the worship of Hera encourage monogamy and the fulfillment of domestic duties. Worship of Hera may include or inspire the collecting of fragrances and ornaments, extravagant home decoration, the burning of oils and incense (particularly within the home), and the spilling of drinks or the burning of bread and other foods as sacrifice. Some have jested that the most common form of worship is the spilling of drinks and the burning of food within the home.

Greek Mythology: Goddess Hera Greek Mythology Goddess of: Women, marriage, and childbirth Symbols: Pomegranate, lily, cow, cuckoo, lutus, and peacock Parents: Cronus and Rhea Children: Ares, Eris, Hebe, Eileithyia, and Hephaestus Spouse: Zeus (also her brother) Abode: Mount Olympus Roman name: Juno Hera is a goddess in Greek mythology and one of the Twelve Olympians. As the wife of Zeus, Hera was considered the queen of Mount Olympus. She is most associated as the goddess of women, marriage, and childbirth. How was Hera usually pictured? Hera was usually pictured wearing flowing robes, a crown, and holding a lotus scepter. Sometimes she was shown sitting on a throne or riding a chariot drawn by peacocks. What powers and skills did she have? As the Queen of Olympus and a major goddess, Hera was considered very powerful. The women of Greece prayed to Hera for protection during childbirth, good health, and to aide them in their marriages. She also had power over the skies and could bless the people with clear skies or curse them with storms.

Birth of Hera Hera was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea, the king and queen of the Titans. After being born, Hera was swallowed by her father Cronus because he was scared that his children would someday overthrow him. Hera was eventually saved by her younger brother Zeus. Queen of Mount Olympus Hera was courted by her brother Zeus who was the leader of the gods on Mount Olympus. At first she was not interested, but Zeus tricked her into marrying him by disguising himself as a wounded cuckoo bird. Hera rescued the cuckoo bird and ended up marrying Zeus. Revenge on Zeus Hera was a very jealous and vengeful wife. She wanted Zeus all to herself, but Zeus cheated on her constantly with other goddesses and with mortal women. Hera often took out her revenge on the women who Zeus loved and the children they had with Zeus. Heracles One example of Hera's revenge is the story of the hero Heracles who was Zeus's son by the mortal woman Alcmene. Hera first tried to kill Heracles as a baby by sending two serpents to his bed, but this failed when Heracles killed the serpents. She later caused Heracles to go mad and kill his wife and children.

As punishment for killing his family, Heracles was forced to perform the Twelve Labors. Hera made these labors as difficult as possible, hoping that Heracles would be killed. Interesting Facts About the Greek Goddess Hera Hera sided with the Greeks in the Trojan War after the Trojan Prince Paris chose Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess over her. She was the patron goddess of the city of Argos. In one story, Hera bans her own son Hephaestus from Mount Olympus because he is ugly and deformed. Other titles for Hera include "goat-eater", "cow-eyed", and "white-armed." She was one of the few Greek gods or goddesses that remained faithful to her spouse. Some of the women and goddesses that Hera exacted revenge on included Callisto, Semele, Io, and Lamia. A nymph named Echo was given the job of distracting Hera from Zeus's affairs. When Hera discovered what Echo was doing, she cursed Echo into only repeating the last few words that others said to her (this is where the modern word "echo" comes from). Take a ten question quiz about this page.

For more about Ancient Greece: Overview Hera Hera Hera, vase painting Juno Barberini Vatican , Rome In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology , Hêra (Greek Ἥρα or Ἥρη, Ήρα ) was the wife and sister of Zeus . She presided as goddess of marriage, the patriarchal bond of her own subordination. Hera is portrayed as being majestic and solemn, often enthroned and crowned with the polos, the high cylindrical crown worn by several of the Great Goddesses. In her hand she may bear the pomegranate, emblem of fertile blood and death and a substitute for the narcotic capsule of the opium poppy (Ruck and Staples 1994). "Nevertheless, there are memories of an earlier, aniconic representation, as a pillar in Argos and as a plank in Samos" (Burkert 1985 p.131). In Roman mythology, the consort of Zeus (Jupiter) was Juno. Etymology and Pre-History Unlike some Greek gods, such as Zeus and Poseidon , Hera's name is not analyzable as a Greek or Indo-European word.

She therefore seems to be a survival of a pre-Greek "great goddess" figure - perhaps one of the powerful female divinities of the Minoan pantheon, or of some unidentified pre-Greek ("Pelasgian") people. Hera's importance in the early archaic period is attested by the large building projects undertaken in her honor. The temples of Hera at Samos and in the Argolid were the very earliest monumental Greek temples constructed, in the 8th century BC. At Olympia, her seated cult figure was older than the warrior figure of Zeus that accompanied it. Homer expressed her relationship with Zeus delicately in The Iliad, in which she declares to Zeus, "I am Cronus' eldest daughter, and am honourable not on this ground only, but also because I am your wife, and you are king over the gods."[1] ( Though Zeus is often called Zeus Heraios ("Zeus, consort of Hera"), Homer's treatment of Hera is less than respectful, and in late anecdotal versions of the myths (see below) she appeared to spend most of her time plotting revenge on the nymphs seduced by her Consort, for Hera upheld all the old right rules of Hellene society.

Hera, the wife and sister of Zeus. Hera and Prometheus Cult Hera was especially worshipped, as "Argive Hera" (Hera Argeia), at her sanctuary that stood between the former Mycenaean city-states of Argos and Mycenae, where the festivals in her honor called Heraia were celebrated. "The three cities I love best," the ox-eyed Queen of Heaven declares (Iliad, book iv) "are Argos, Sparta and Mycenae of the broad streets." Her other main center of cult was on Samos. There were also temples to Hera in Olympia , Corinth , Tiryns , Perachora and the sacred island of Delos. In Magna Graecia, the temple long called the Temple of Poseidon among the group at Paestum was identified in the 1950s as a second temple there of Hera. Greek altars of Classical times were always under the open sky. Hera may have been the first to whom an enclosed roofed temple sanctuary was dedicated, at Samos about 800 BC.

(It was replaced later by the Heraion, one of the largest Greek temples anywhere.) Earlier sanctuaries, whose dedication is less secure, were of the Mycenaean type called "house sanctuaries". Samos excavations have revealed votive offerings, many of them late 8th and 7th century, which reveal that Hera at Samos was not merely a local Greek goddess of the Aegean: the museum there contains figures of gods and suppliants and other votive offerings from Armenia, Babylon, Iran, Assyria, Egypt , testimony to the reputation which this sanctuary of Hera enjoyed and to the large influx of pilgrims— and a general reminder to us that Greek myths did not evolve in a cultural vacuum (Burkert 1998). In Euboea the festival of the Great Daedala, sacred to Hera, was celebrated on a sixty-year cycle.

In Hellenistic imagery, Hera's wagon was pulled by peacocks, birds not known to Greeks before the conquests of Alexander: Alexander's tutor, Aristotle , refers to it as "the Persian bird." The peacock motif was revived in the Renaissance iconography that unified Hera and Juno, and which European painters have kept familiar to us (Seznec 1953). A bird that had been associated with Hera on an archaic level, where most of the Aegean goddesses were associated with "their" bird, was the cuckoo, which appears in mythic fragments concerning the first wooing of a virginal Hera by Zeus. Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus The statue of Hera is seated on a throne; it is huge, made of gold and ivory, and is a work of Polycleitus . She is wearing a crown with Graces and Seasons worked upon it, and in one hand she carries a pomegranate and in the other a sceptre. About the pomegranate I must say nothing, for its story is somewhat of a holy mystery.

The presence of a cuckoo seated on the sceptre they explain by the story that when Zeus was in love with Hera in her maidenhood he changed himself into this bird, and she caught it to be her pet. This tale and similar legends about the gods I relate without believing them, but I relate them nevertheless. Pausanias Statue of Hera dedicated by Cheramyes. Samos . c. 560 BC, Louvre Museum, Paris Her archaic association was primarily with cattle, as a Cow Goddess, who was especially venerated in "cattle-rich" Euboea. Her familiar Homeric epithet boôpis, is always translated "cow-eyed", for, like the Greeks of Classical times, we reject its other natural translation "cow-faced" or at least "of cow aspect". A cow-headed Hera, like a Minotaur would make a dark demon of fear. But on Cyprus, very early archaeological sites contain bull skulls that have been adapted for use as masks (see Bull (mythology)..

The pomegranate, an ancient emblem of the Great Goddess (see Pomegranate), remained an emblem of Hera: many of the votive pomegranates and poppy capsules recovered at Samos are made of ivory, which survives burial better than the wooden ones that must have been more common. Like all goddesses, Hera may be displayed wearing a diadem and be veiled. Hera and children Hera presides over the right arrangements of the marriage and is the archetype of the union in the marriage bed, but she is not notable as a mother. The legitimate offspring of her union with Zeus is Ares . Hera was jealous of Zeus' giving birth to Athena without recourse her (actually with Metis ), so she gave birth to Hephaestus without him. (An alternate version discounts this and says Zeus and Hera were both parents of Hephaestus) Zeus and/or Hera herself were then disgusted with Hephaestus' ugliness and threw him from Olympus. As another alternative version, Hera gave birth to all of the children usually accredited to her and Zeus together, alone by beating her hand on the Earth, a solemnizing action for the Greeks, or by eating lettuce.

Hephaestus gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by making her a magical throne which, when she sat on it, didn't allow her to leave it. The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go but he repeatedly refused. Dionysus got him drunk and took him back to Olympus on the back of a mule. Hephaestus released Hera after being given Aphrodite as his wife. Hera and Zeus, Selinunte Hera the nemesis of Heracles Hera was the enemy of Heracles , the hero who, more than even Perseus , Cadmus or Theseus , introduced the Olympian ways in Greece (Ruck and Staples 1994). When Alcmene was pregnant with Heracles, Hera tried to prevent the birth from occurring. She was foiled by Galanthis, her servant, who told Hera that she had already delivered the baby. Hera turned her into a weasel. While Heracles was still an infant, Hera sent two serpents, to kill him as he lay in his cot, the mythographers interpreted the event.

Heracles throttled a single snake in each hand and was found by his nurse playing with their limp bodies as if they were child's toys. The anecdote is built upon a representation of the hero gripping a serpent in each hand, precisely as the familiar Minoan snake-handling goddesses had once done. The Birth of the Milky Way, Peter Paul Rubens One account of the origin of the Milky Way is that Zeus had tricked Hera into nursing the infant Heracles: discovering who he was, she had pulled him from her breast, and a spurt of her milk formed the smear across the sky that can be seen to this day. Hera Ludovisi Altemps Inv8631 The Twelve Labors Hera assigned Heracles to labor for King Eurystheus at Mycenae. She attempted to make almost each of Heracles' twelve labors more difficult. When he fought the Lernaean Hydra, she sent a crab to bite at his feet in the hopes of distracting him. Eurystheus wanted to sacrifice Cretan Bull to Hera, who hated Heracles. She refused the sacrifice because it reflected glory on Heracles. The bull was released and wandered to Marathon, becoming known as the Marathonian Bull.

To annoy Heracles after he took the cattle of Geryon, Hera sent a gadfly to bite the cattle, irritate them and scatter them. Hera then sent a flood which raised the water level of a river so much Heracles could not ford the river with the cattle. He piled stones into the river to make the water shallower. When he finally reached the court of Eurystheus, the cattle were sacrificed to Hera. Hera's jealousies Echo For a time, a nymph named Echo had the job of distracting Hera from Zeus' affairs by incessantly talking. When Hera discovered the deception, she cursed Echo to only speak the words of others (hence our modern word "echo"). Leto and Artemis/Apollo When Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant and that Hera's husband, Zeus, was the father, she banned Leto from giving birth on "terra-firma", or the mainland, or any island at sea. She found the floating island of Delos , which was neither mainland nor a real island and gave birth there. The island was surrounded by swans. As a gesture of gratitude, Delos was secured with four pillars. The island later became sacred to Apollo.

Alternatively, Hera kidnapped Ilithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to prevent Leto from going into labor. The other gods forced Hera to let her go. Either way, Artemis was born first and then assisted with the birth of Apollo. Another version states that Artemis was born one day before Apollo, on the island of Ortygia and that she helped Leto cross the sea to Delos the next day to give birth to Apollo. Callisto/Arcas Hera also figures in the myth of Callisto and Arcas . A follower of Artemis, Callisto took a vow to remain a virgin. But Zeus fell in love with her and disguised himself as Apollo in order to lure her into his embrace. Hera then turned Callisto into a bear out of revenge. Later, Callisto's son with Zeus, Arcas, nearly killed her in a hunt but Zeus placed them both in the sky as the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. An alternate version: One of Artemis' companions, Callisto lost her virginity to Zeus, who had come disguised as Artemis. Enraged, Artemis changed her into a bear.

Callisto's son, Arcas, nearly killed his mother while hunting, but Zeus or Artemis stopped him and placed them both in the sky as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Another alternate version: Artemis killed Callisto in bear form, deliberately. Hera was not pleased with the placement of Callisto and Arcas in the sky, so she asked her nurse, Tethys , to help. Tethys, a marine goddess, cursed the constellations to forever circle the sky and never drop below the horizon, hence explaining why they are circumpolar. Actors as Hephaistos, Hera and Ares Semele/Dionysus Dionysus was a son of Zeus by a mortal woman. A jealous Hera again attempted to kill the child, this time by sending Titans to rip Dionysus to pieces after luring the baby with toys. Though Zeus drove the Titans away with his thunderbolts but only after the Titans ate everything but the heart, which was saved, variously, by Athena, Rhea , or Demeter . Zeus used the heart to recreate Dionysus and implant him in the womb of Semele , hence he was again "the twice-born".

Sometimes it was said that he gave Semele the heart to eat to impregnate her. See also Dionysus' birth for other variations. Io Hera almost caught Zeus with a mistress named Io, a fate avoided by Zeus turning Io into a beautiful white heifer. However, Hera was not completely fooled and demanded Zeus give her the heifer as a present. Once Io was given to Hera, she placed her in the charge of Argus to keep her separated from Zeus. Zeus then commanded Hermes to kill Argus, which he did by lulling all one-hundred eyes to sleep. Hera sent a gadfly to sting Io as she wandered the earth. Lamia Lamia was a queen of Libya, whom Zeus loved. Hera turned her into a monster (or she killed Lamia's children and the grief turned her into a monster) and murdered their children. Lamia was cursed with the inability to close her eyes so that she would always obsess over the image of her dead children. Zeus gave her the gift to be able to take her eyes out to rest, and then put them back in. Lamia was envious of other mothers and ate their children.

Other Stories Involving Hera Cydippe Cydippe, a priestess of Hera, was on her way to a festival in the goddess' honor. The oxen which was to pull her cart were overdue and her sons, Biton and Cleobis pulled the cart the entire way (45 stadia, 8 kilometers). Cydippe was impressed with their devotion to her and her goddess and asked Hera to give her children the best gift a god could give a person. Hera ordained that the brothers would die in their sleep. Tiresias As a young man, Tiresias found two snakes mating and hit them with a stick. He was then transformed into a woman. Seven years later, Tiresias did the same thing again and became a man again. A time later, Zeus and Hera asked him which sex, male or female, experienced more pleasure during intercourse. Zeus claimed it was women and vice versa. Tiresias sided with Zeus. Hera struck him blind. Since Zeus could not undo what she had done, he gave him the gift of prophecy. Chelone At the marriage of Zeus and Hera, a nymph named Chelone was disrespectful (or refused to attend).

Zeus condemned her to eternal silence. The Trojan War During the Trojan War , Diomedes fought with Hector and saw Ares fighting on the Trojans' side. Diomedes called for his soldiers to fall back slowly. Hera, Ares' mother, saw Ares' interference and asked Zeus, Ares' father, for permission to drive Ares away from the battlefield. Hera encouraged Diomedes to attack Ares and he threw his spear at the god. Athena drove the spear into Ares' body and he bellowed in pain and fled to Mt. Olympus, forcing the Trojans to fall back. Hera hated Pelias for having murdered Sidero, his step-grandmother, in a temple to Hera. She later attempted to manipulate Jason and Medea to kill Pelias and succeeded. In Thrace, as Ovid tells in Metamorphoses 6.87, Hera and Zeus turned King Haemus and Queen Rhodope into mountains, the Balkan (Haemus Mons) and Rhodope mountain chain respectively for their hubris in comparing themselves to the gods.

Heracles / Hercules Heracles killing his children , Megara ,his wife, Iolaos and Alcmene as witnesses According to Greek tradition, probably based on Libanius, "Oration" XII, 99, or on the Epitome of the Library of Apollodorus, Heracles was conceived in the womb when Cronos , god of time, extended the night during his parents' nuptial. That miraculous event may have been a solar eclipse near daybreak, which took place on September 7, 1251 BC. It lasted from 6:51 to 9:41 in the morning at Sparta, with 75.9% magnitude. The Legend has it that Heracles was born in Thebes , Greece, where Alcmene and Amphitryon lived. The eclipse could well be visible there also. Adulthood He continued to perform feats such as slaying a lion that was preying on the local flocks and defending Thebes against a neighbouring army. For the latter he was awarded the King of Thebes' (Creon) daughter, Megara.

The Twelve Labours Stamps of Heracles, The twelve labours Main Article:The Twelve Labours In a fit of madness, induced by Hera, Herakles slew his wife and children, and as penance as told to him by the Delphic Sibyl, he was required to carry out ten tasks set by his arch-enemy, Eurystheus (who had become King in his stead). Herakles successfully carried them all out, but Eurystheus deemed that two of the tasks had been failed due to Herakles being helped, and allocated two more, which Herakles also completed, making 12. Omphale and Heracles, Francois Lemyone , 1724 Omphale Omphale was a queen or princess of Lydia. As penalty for a murder, Heracles was her slave. He was forced to do women's work and wear women's clothes, while she wore the skin of the Nemean Lion and carried his olive-wood club. After some time, Omphale freed Heracles and married him. Some sources mention a son fathered on Omphale who is variously named. For further details see Omphale .

It was at that time that the cercopes, mischievous wood spirits, stole Heracles' weapons. He punished them by tying them to a stick with their faces pointing downward. Hylas While walking through the wilderness, Heracles was set upon by the Dryopians. He killed their king, Theiodamas, and the others gave up and offered him Prince Hylas. He took the youth on as his weapons bearer and beloved. Years later, Heracles and Hylas joined the crew of the Argo. As Argonauts they only participated in part of the journey. In Mysia, Hylas was kidnapped by a nymph. Heracles, heartbroken, searched for a long time but Hylas had fallen in love with the nymphs and never showed up again. The ship set sail without them. Story of Heracles and Hylas Iole King Eurytus of Oechalia promised his daughter, Iole, to whoever could beat his sons in an archery contest. Heracles won but Eurytus abandoned his promise. Heracles killed him and his sons and abducted Iole. Killing various giants Heracles killed the giants Cycnus, Porphyrion and Mimas.

Laomedon/Tros Before the Trojan War , Poseidon sent a sea monster to attack Troy. Laomedon planned on sacrificing his daughter Hesione to Poseidon in the hope of appeasing him. Heracles happened to arrive (along with Telamon and Oicles) and agreed to kill the monster if Laomedon would give him the horses received from Zeus as compensation for Zeus' kidnapping Ganymede. Laomedon agreed. Heracles killed both the monster but Laomedon went back on his word. Accordingly in a later expedition Heracles and his followers attacked Troy and sacked it and slew all Laomedon's sons present there save Podarces, who saved his own life by giving Heracles a golden veil Hesione had made. Telamon took Hesione as a war prize; they were married and had a son, Teucer. Other adventures Heracles defeated the Bebryces (ruled by King Mygdon) and gave their land to Prince Lycus of Mysia, son of Dascylus. He killed the robber Termerus. Heracles visited Evander with Antor, who then stayed in Italy.

Heracles killed King Amyntor of the Dolopes for not allowing him into his kingdom. He also killed King Emathion of Arabia. Heracles killed Lityerses after beating him in a contest of harvesting. Heracles killed Poriclymenus at Pylos. Heracles founded the city Tarentum (modern: Taranto) in Italy. Heracles learned music from Linus (and Eumolpus), but killed him after Linus corrected his mistakes. He learned how to wrestle from Autolycus. He killed the famous boxer Eryx of Sicily in a match. Heracles later participated in many other adventures. He was an Argonaut. He killed Alastor and his brothers. When Hippocoon overthrew his brother, Tyndareus and killed Tyndareus' son, Lycon, as King of Sparta, Heracles reinstated the rightful ruler and killed Hippocoon. Marriage, sex and death Heracles had countless affairs with women. He naturally had a great many children from various women, collectively referred to as the Heracleidae (most notable: Macaria).

One event that stands out was his stay at the palace of King Thespios, who liked his build and encouraged Heracles to make love to his daughters, all fifty of them, in one night. They all got pregnant and all bore sons. Many of the kings of ancient Greece traced their lines to one or another of these, notably the kings of Sparta and Macedon. Heracles and Lichas, Antonio Canova 1796. Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Rome. Heracles angry that Lichas brought him a shirt with Nessus blood throws him into the sea. During the course of his life, Heracles married three times. His first marriage was to Megara, whose two children he murdered in a fit of madness and whom he later gave in marriage to his companion Iolaus, because the sight of her was too painful. His second wife was Omphale, the Lydian queen or princess to whom he was sold as a slave. His last marriage was to Deianira, for whom he had to fight the river god Achelous.

(Upon Achelous' death, Heracles removed one of his horns and gave it to some nymphs who turned it into the cornucopia.) Soon after they wed, Heracles and Deianira had to cross a river, and a centaur named Nessus offered to help Deianeira across but then attempted to rape her. Enraged, Heracles shot the centaur from the opposite shore with a poisoned arrow (from the Lernean Hydra) and killed him. As he lay dying, Nessus told Deianira that if she ever wanted to make sure of Heracles' love, she should gather up his blood and spilled semen and save them. Later, when Deianira suspected that Heracles was preferring the company of Iole, she soaked a shirt of his in the mixture. Heracles' servant, Lichas, brought him the shirt and he put it on. Instantly he was in agony, as the shirt burned into his flesh and ripped it from his bones. Heracles died a voluntary death, asking that a pyre be built for him to end his suffering.

Mount Oeta (today Oiti or Iti) in Greece where Heracles died After his death on the pyre the gods transformed Heracles into an immortal. He then married Hebe. The Children of Heracles No one but Heracles' friend Philoctetes (in some versions: Iole or Poeas) would light his funeral pyre. For this action, Philoctetes (or Poeas) received Heracles' bow and arrows, which were later necessary for the Greeks to defeat Troy in the Trojan War. Acca Larentia In Roman mythology, Acca Larentia was Hercules' mistress. She was married to Tarutius, a wealthy merchant. When he died, she gave his money to charity. In another version, she was the wife of Faustulus. Heracles' male lovers (eromenoi) Plutarch, in his Eroticos, maintains that Heracles' male lovers were so numerous they were beyond counting. Here is a partial list: Abderus (entrusted with - and slain by - the carnivorous mares of Thracian Diomedes.

Hercules founded the city of Abderus in Thrace in his memory, where he was honored with games.) Admetus (assisted in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar; also a beloved of Apollo, as per Plutarch and Callimachus) Elacatas (Spartan eromenos, honored there with a sanctuary and yearly games, according to Sosibius) Euphemus Hylas [1] ( Iolaus (Theban, Heracles' nephew, helped him in many labors. Plutarch reports that down to his own time lovers and their beloveds would go down to his tomb in Thebes to swear an oath of loyalty to him.) Iphitus Jason (late mention, may be literary conceit) Nestor (Loved him for his wisdom) Nireus Philoctetes (according to Martial. He is also heir to the hero's bow and is the one who lights his pyre.

Later he is the initiator of Neoptolemus, son of Achilles.) Phrix Herakles and Amazons, Louvre F218 Modern and ancient intepretations Via the Greco-Buddhist culture, Herculean symbolism was transmitted to the far east. An example remains to this day in the Nio guardian deities in front of Japanese Buddhist temples. Later interpretations of Heracles' legend cast him as a wise leader and a good friend (many of the movie and TV adaptations cast him in this light, especially the recent syndicated TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and the movie Hercules). While he was a champion and a great warrior, he was not above cheating and using any unfair trick to his advantage. However, he was renowned as having made the world safe for man by destroying many dangerous monsters, and he was also held up as an example for never having attacked first, but for having conquered all merely by defending himself when attacked, and protecting the helpless and distraught. His self-sacrifice obtained Him the ascent to the Olympian realms and He was welcomed by the Gods. The legend of Heracles endures, though often co-opted to suit the political fashion of the day.

As a public domain character Hercules or Heracles have appeared in several comic book adaptations; see: Hercules (comics) See also: sword and sandal (film genre); Maciste; The Sons of Hercules; The Mighty Hercules Herakles (Hercules) Farnese and why he needs your help! detail, red-figure lekythos : Hera suckling Hercules while Aphrodite and Iris look on; Greek, c. 360-350 BC, London, British Museum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 1986 Hercules Lifts the Skin of the Sea and Stops Venus for an Instant from Waking Love, Salvador Dali , 1963 Temple of Heracles, Agrigentum (Akragas) HERA : Summary of the Olympian Goddess Juno (Roman goddess); Isis (Egyptian goddess) V) What were some popular myths about Hera? SAGA OF THE GODS * Hera and her siblings were swallowed at birth by their father Kronos. Zeus later conscripted Metis to feed the Titan-King a draught which made him disgorge the five. * After Zeus birthed Athena from his head, Hera conceived her own child without intercourse.

This son was born deformed, and Hera cast him out of heaven in disgust. Hephaistos, when grown, trapped his mother on a magical, binding throne as punishment of her earlier rejection. LOVE STORIES * Zeus seduced Hera in the shape of a cuckoo and the pair were wed in a secret ceremony. * Ixion tried to seduce Hera, who reported his actions to Zeus. The god formed a simalcrum of the goddess out of clouds and sent it to the man. When he slept with this false Hera, Zeus sentenced him to spin for all eternity on a fiery wheel. FAVOUR & BLESSINGS * Hera supported the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece, aiding them on many occasions. Jason had earlier won her favour when he carried the goddess, disguised as an old woman, across a swollen river. WRATH & PUNISHMENT * Zeus transformed his lover Io into a cow when Hera appeared on the scene. She requested the heifer as a gift and set the giant Argos Panoptes to guard it. When he was slain, Hera sent a gadfly to torture Io, driving her to wander all the way to Egypt.

* Hera discovered the affair of Zeus and Semele and tricked the girl into asking Zeus to appear before her in his full glory. She did and was consumed by his fiery lightning. * After the goddess learnt that Aiakos King of Aigina was an illegitimate son of Zeus, she poisoned the island's waters, killing the country's entire population. * When Hera discovered the Titaness Leto was pregnant with Zeus' child, she sent her agents to drive the goddess from land to land, denying her a place to give birth. * Zeus once declared that the next child born of his blood would rule in Mykenai. The god intended it to be Herakles, but Hera delayed his birth (almost killing his mother in the process) and sped up the delivery of his cousin Eurystheus. When Herakles was born, she sent serpents to his cradle to kill him. * Hera drove Zeus' illegitimate son Herakles mad, compelling him to murder his own children. The hero was then forced to complete twelve labours for Eurystheus, and in the process Hera opposed him at every turn.

* The goddess was wrathful at losing to Aphrodite the prize of the Golden Apple adressed "to the Fairest". She took her anger out on the city Troy, supporting the Greeks, in a war over the elopement of unfaithful Helene (Aphrodite bribe to Paris for the prize). * Hera turned the pygmy queen Gerana into a crane as punishment for claiming to be more beautiful than she. PICTURES I) Depictions of Hera in Greek Vase Painting These images of Hera come from Ancient Greek Vases, painted approximately 2,500 years ago. NB Click on thumbnails to view full-size images. II) Other Classical Depictions of Hera Hera was also depicted in classical statues, stone reliefs, frescoes and coins. SELECTED MYTHS (short versions) I) Hera and the Trap of Hephaistos "Hephaistos, when he was born, was cast out [of heaven] by Hera. In revenge he sent as a gift a golden chair with invisible fetters.

When Hera sat down she was held fast, and Hephaistos refused to listen to any other of the gods save Dionysos - in him he reposed the fullest trust - and after making him drunk Dionysos brought him to heaven [and released Hera]." Source: Pausanias, Guide to Greece 1.20.3 II) Hera and Zeus Contest the Joys of Sex "Teiresias saw two snakes sexually couples in the area of Kyllene, and when he injured them he changed from a man into a woman. Later, seeing the same snakes again mating, he was changed back into a man. Thus, when Hera and Zeus were arguing as to whether men or women enjoy sex more, they put the question to Teiresias. He said that on a scale of ten, women enjoy it nine times to mens one.

Whereupon Hera blinded him, and Zeus gave him the power of prophecy." Source: Apollodorus, The Library 3.71 III) Hera and the Lust of Ixion "Ixion [a man who feasted with the gods on Olympos] fell in love with Hera and tried to rape her, and when Hera told Zeus about it, Zeus wanted to determine if her report was really true. So he fashioned a cloud to look like Hera, and laid it by Ixions side. When Ixion bragged that he had slept with Hera, Zeus punished him by tying him to a wheel, on which he was turned by winds up in the air." Source: Apollodorus E1.20 IV) Hera and the Pygmy-Queen Gerana "A certain woman became queen and ruled over the Pygmaioi (Pygmies); her name was Gerana, and the Pygmaioi worshipped her as a god, paying her honours too august for a human being. The result was, they say, that she became so puffed up in her mind that she held the goddesses of no account.

It was especially Hera, Athena, Artemis, and Aphrodite that, she said, came nowhere near her in beauty. But she was not destined to escape the evil consequences of her diseased imagination. For in consequence of the anger of Hera she changed her original form into that of a most hideous bird and became the crane of today and wages war on the Pygmaioi because with their excessive honours they drove her to madness and to her destruction." Source: Aelian, On Animals 15.29 V) Hera, Io and the Peacock's Tail "Juppiter [Zeus] [seduced the Nymphe Io, and] fore-sensing his spouses [Hera's] arrival, transformed poor Inachis [Io] into a sleek white heifer (lovely still although a cow). Saturnia [Hera], against her will, admired the creature and asked whose she was, and whence she came and to what herd belonged, pretending not to know the truth. He lied - The earth had brought her forth - so to deflect questions about her birth. Then Saturnia [Hera] begged the heifer as a gift. What should he do?

Too cruel to give his darling! Not to give - suspicious; shame persuades but love dissuades. Love would have won; but then - if he refused his wife (his sister too) so slight a gift, a cow, it well might seem no cow at all! The goddess won her rival, but distrust lingered and still she feared her husbands tricks, till, for safe-keeping, she had given the cow to Arestorides [Argos] - Argus of the hundred eyes, all watching and on duty round his head, save two which took in turn their sleep and rest ... Heavens master [Zeus] could not endure Phoronis [Ios] distress, and summoned his son [Hermes] ... and charged him to accomplish Argus death ... [So Hermes] visited him [Argos], and with many a tale he stayed the passing hours and on his reeds played soft refrains to lull the watching eyes ... [and Hermes] saw all Argus eyelids closed and every eye vanquished in sleep.

He stopped and with his wand, his magic wand, soothed the tired resting eyes and sealed their slumber; quick then with his sword he struck off the nodding head and from the rock threw it all bloody, spattering the cliff with gore. Argus lay dead; so many eyes, so bright quenched, and all hundred shrouded in one night. Saturnia [Hera] retrieved those eyes to set in place among the feathers of her bird [the peacock] and filled his tail with starry jewels." Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.624 VI) Hera and the Death of Semele "Zeus fell in love with Semele and slept with her, promising her anything she wanted, and keeping it all from Hera. But Semele was deceived by Hera into asking Zeus to come to her as he came to Hera during their courtship. So Zeus, unable to refuse her, arrived in her bridal chamber in a chariot with lightning flashes and thunder, and sent a thunderbolt at her.

Semele died of fright, and Zeus grabbed from the fire her six-month aborted baby [Dionysos], which he sowed into his thigh." Source: Apollodorus 3.26 FURTHER INFO (7 detailed pages on Hera) NOTE: Many of these sections are currently under construction (they will be available later in 2005-6)

Question: In Greek mythology, Hera sent two serpents to kill which baby?
Answer: Heracles