Hera In Greek Mythology

Hera, the Goddess that made Hercules's life a living hell. She is well known in Greek mythology for she is one of the twelve Olympians as well as Zeus's wife. But what is she the Goddess of? She's known as the Goddess of marriage. She is a very determined defender of the sanctity of marriage and monogomy. With in this hub I will share with you further information that may not have known or already do know about Hera.

Though the exact location of Hera's origin may not be known in Greek mythology she was born on the Island of Samos or at Argos.

Hera has a vast family like many Gods and Goddesses. Her siblings are also very well known Gods for like Hera, they are of the original twelve Olympians. They are known as Poseidon, Zeus, Demeter, Hadies and Hestia. Her parents were the titans Rhea and Kronos. If you don't know already, let me just say that they didn't like the titans all that well so you can imagine her opinion of her parents.

Hera was married to Zeus therefore all of her children came from Zeus. Some however was said to just come from Hera herself. One of the best known children of Hera is her son Aries, the God of war. Hephaestus is sometimes said to be the son of Zeus but other times they say that he was only of Hera. Her daughters are Hebe, Goddess of health and Eileithyia the Cretan Goddess of childbirth. Then there is the sperpent Thyphon of Delphi that only came from Hera herself.

Zeus however had many children from other unions. While Hera greatly supported her own children she would make the other offspring of Zeus's lives miserable. The best known example of this is with Hercules. She would make him struggle left and right, constantly sending obstacles his way.

She had a three year honey moon of sorts with Zeus, during these years their marriage was a secret. Some tales say that she used magic to force Zeus into marrying her in secret. Then there's another story that states that Zeus would seduce Hera in the form of a damp cuckoo bird who would seek out refuge in her lap during a storm.

This is a little bit of information that I found most interesting. Each year Hera would restore her virginity by bathing herself in the Kanathos, whic his a sacred spring. I do not know why she did this but thought it was interesting enough to share.

Hera fell in love with Zeus, it's said that she loved him right away and recieved a love charm from the Goddess of love Aphrodite to seal the deal. Hera was a very jealous Goddess and would spend nearly all of her time driving off Zeus's love interests like nymphs, mistresses and any other dalliances. This is why she also tortured any other offspring of Zeus. Whenever Hera would get upset and felt like she couldn't handle Zeus's love for others she would go off on her own and would hope that Zeus would go looking for her. Each time Zeus would never search for her and she would return with out hope.

Hera, like others, had a few sacred animals. The peacock is the well known one but she also found cows to be sacred as well. Her Roman equal is called Juno. Hera was and is still today considered to be a matron Goddess.

Though her followers were plenty in Ancient Greek times she still has a few faithful followers to this day. Some Pagans connect with her and follow her faithfully, asking for her help in rituals. I never really cared for Hera, always believing that she was downright cruel, especially to Hercules. After researching her story more my opinion of her has changed drastically. I can understand now why she did treat him terribly though it wasn't Hercules fault. I can still see why she was so upset. Any wife would get down right angry if their husband had other consorts and children with others while they were still married.