Her iconography usually presents her as a dignified, matronly figure, upright or enthroned, crowned with apolos ordiadem, sometimes veiled as a married woman.[1] She is the patron goddess of lawful marriage. She presides over weddings, blesses and legalises marital unions, and protects women from harm during childbirth. Her sacred animals include thecow,cuckoo, andpeacock. She is sometimes shown holding apomegranate as an emblem of immortality. HerRoman counterpart isJuno.[2]
The name Hera (Hēra or Hērē) has several possible and mutually exclusive etymologies. One possibility is to connect it withGreekὥρα (hōra, season) or, according toPlato, withἐρατή (eratē, "beloved"); another one is to interpret it as "ripe for marriage".[3] as Zeus is said to have married her for love.[4] According toPlutarch, Hera was an allegorical name and an anagram ofaēr (ἀήρ, "air").[5] So begins the section on Hera inWalter Burkert'sGreek Religion.[6] In a note, he records other scholars' arguments "for the meaning Mistress as a feminine toHeros, Master", with uncertain origin.John Chadwick, a decipherer ofLinear B, remarks "her name may be connected withhērōs (ἥρως, 'hero'), but that is no help since it too is etymologically obscure."[7] A. J. van Windekens proposes the meaning "young cow, heifer", which is consonant with Hera's common epithet βοῶπις (boōpis, "cow-eyed").[8]Robert S. P. Beekes has suggested aPre-Greek origin.[9] Her name is attested inMycenaean Greek, written in Linear B syllabary as𐀁𐀨e-ra, appearing on tablets found inPylos andThebes;[10] it is attested also in theCypriotic dialect, in thedative forme-ra-i.[11]
TheProto-Indo-European root might have meant either 'the female who is attached/coupled' or 'the female whoattaches herself' (as in both socially and physically or emotionally).[12]
Hera bore several epithets in the mythological tradition and in literature. In the historical times the majority of the Greeks recognized Hera as the consort of Zeus.[14] Hera is the protector of marriage and of the rights of the married women.[15] In some cults she has some functions of the earth goddess. She is occasionally related to warfare as tutelary goddess.
Ὑπερχειρία (Hypercheiria), 'the goddess who holds her protecting hand over a thing'. Hera was worshipped under this surname at a sanctuary in Sparta, which was built following an oracle's command after theEurotas River flooded the land.[29]
Μειλίχιος (Meilichios), 'gentle', like "Zeus-Meilichios" atSelinus.[42][43]
Μηλιχία (Μēlichia) 'gentle, with gentle words' at Hierapetna.[42]
Τελχινία (Telchinia):Diodorus Siculus write that she was worshipped by theIalysians and the Cameirans (both were on the island ofRhodes). She was named thus because according to a legend,Telchines (Τελχῖνες) were the first inhabitants of the island and also the first who created statues of gods.[44]
Ὑπερχειρία (Ηypercheiria), 'with the hand above' atSparta.[45][19]
In historical times, the majority of the Greeks recognized Hera as the consort ofZeus.[14] Zeus was the protector of rights and mores, and his partner Hera became the protector of legal marriage and the rights of married women .[15] Hera emerged from a form of the "Mycenean goddess of the palace" and became the spouse of Zeus.[46][1] Modern scholars suggest that Hera is not only the Olympian sky-goddess, but in some cults she may be identified with the earth-goddess.[47][48] Her ancient connection with her sacred animal, the cow, still existed in historical times. She is probably related toNear-Eastern forms of cow-goddesses such asHathor orBat.[46] The Greek earth-goddessGaia is occasionally identified with Hera.[49] Gaia may be related to theVedic earth-goddessPrithvi, who was also associated with the cow and is the consort ofDyaus.[50]
An inscription inLinear B on a tablet found atPylos mentions offerings "to Zeus-Hera-Drimios"; Drimios is the son of Zeus.[51] Hera was the tutelary goddess of Argos and it is possible that she had Mycenean origin.[1]Martin P. Nilsson suggested that Hera is mainly the "Argeiē" (Ἀργείη), a name given by Homer[52] which describes her not as Greek, but as anArgive goddess. She is the protectress of the citadel.[53] In literatureArgos is called "dōma Hēras" (the house of Hera)[54] and the Argives are called her people byPindar.[16] Homer inIliad uses the formula "boōpispotnia Hērē)" (cow-eyed, mistress Hera), which probably relates her to a form of the Mediterranean goddess of nature.[55][46] The epithet Qo-wi-ja ( boōpis) appears in aLinear B inscription.[56]Walter Burkert notices that it is difficult to confirm that the epithet "bowpis" corresponds to a Greek belief.[57] However it is possible that Hera was conceived as a cow in her archaic cults.[46][48]
Hera exists as a spouse ofZeus and their "sacred marriage" was celebrated in many Greek festivals in a processional ceremony from ancient times.[1] The myth of the premarital approach of Hera byZeus is early mentioned by Homer .[58] It is possible that the myth has its origins to an old custom of the European country population, the premarital intercourse of the engaged couple.[59] According toWalter Burkert the "Mediterranean goddess of nature" becomes the bride of the Greek sky-god.[60] He notices that "the disappearance and retrieval of Hera has parallels with other fertility cults" .[61][62] Hera was originally a goddess of fertility in her fest "Toneia" at Samos and atKnossos inCrete. At Samos the image of Hera was hidden bounted in willows and the participants tried to discover it.[63][64] AtKnossos Zeus is mating with the earth goddess (finally named Hera) in a very ancient ritual.[1] In her festivalDaedala atPlataia there is an account of Hera's quarrel with Zeus and their reconciliation.[65][17]
InCrete the bull was associated with religious practices. In the legend of theMinotaur the Queen ofKnossos is hidden inside an artificial hollow cow and she is mating with a bull-form god in a sacred ceremony. Thehieros gamos indicates a ritual of fertility magic, which was probably introduced fromNear East in theAegean region.[66] The "hieros gamos" of Zeus with the earth goddess (finally named Hera) was celebrated atKnossos inCrete.[1][66] InNear East the solar-deity and the moon-goddess are often represented as a bull and a cow[66] andRoscher proposed that Hera was a moon-goddess.[67] The combination feminine divinity-cow-moon is not unusual inCrete andNear East.[66] The relationship of Hera with the cow still existed in the historical times and this probably relates her to Near-Eastern forms of cow-goddesses likeHathor (orBat).[46] The Egyptian sky-goddess Hathor is the consort of the sky-godHorus.
In theVedic tradition the earth-goddessPrithvi is the consort of the sky-godDyaus and she is associated with the cow. Prithvi may be identified with the Greek goddessGaia.[50]Pherecydes of Syros in his cosmogony describes the mating of two divine principles: The marriage ofZas withChthonie.Geoffrey Kirk notices that after the marriage "Cthonie" becomesGe who probably takes charge of the protection of marriage. Hera is occasionally identified with "Ge".[49] In a fragment ofEuripides theAether of Zeus is the sky-god who is the father of men and gods, and the earth-goddessGe is the mother of all life.[68] It seems thatIo the priestess of Hera at Argos and consort of Zeus, was another form of Hera. In a Greek myth "Io" is transformed into a cow .[69] This seems to be correlated to how Homer inIliad uses the formula "boōpispotnia Hērē)" (cow-eyed, mistress Hera), suggesting that they may have been syncretized.[70][47]
Hera may have been the first deity to whom the Greeks dedicated an enclosed roofed temple sanctuary, atSamos about 800 BCE. It was replaced later by theHeraion of Samos, one of the largest of all Greek temples (altars were in front of the temples under the open sky). There were many temples built on this site, so the evidence is somewhat confusing, and archaeological dates are uncertain.
The temple created by theRhoecus sculptors and architects was destroyed between 570 and 560 BCE. This was replaced by thePolycratean temple of 540–530 BCE. In one of these temples, we see a forest of 155 columns. There is also no evidence of tiles on this temple suggesting either the temple was never finished or that the temple was open to the sky.
Earlier sanctuaries, whose dedication to Hera is less certain, were of the Mycenaean type called "house sanctuaries".[74] Samos excavations have revealed votive offerings, many of them late 8th and 7th centuries BCE, which show that Hera at Samos was not merely a local Greek goddess of theAegean. The museum there contains figures of gods and suppliants and other votive offerings fromArmenia,Babylon,Iran,Assyria, andEgypt, testimony to the reputation which this sanctuary of Hera enjoyed, and the large influx of pilgrims. Compared to this mighty goddess, who also possessed the earliest temple atOlympia and two of the great fifth and sixth-century temples ofPaestum, the termagant ofHomer and the myths is an "almost... comic figure," according toBurkert.[75]
Though the greatest and earliest free-standing temple to Hera was theHeraion of Samos, in the Greek mainland Hera was especially worshipped as "Argive Hera" (Hera Argeia) at her sanctuary that stood between the former Mycenaean city-states ofArgos andMycenae,[76][77] where the festivals in her honor calledHeraia were celebrated. "The three cities I love best," she declares in theIliad, book iv, "are Argos, Sparta and Mycenae of the broad streets." There were also temples to Hera inOlympia,Corinth,Tiryns,Perachora and the sacred island ofDelos. InMagna Graecia, two Doric temples to Hera were constructed atPaestum, about 550 BCE and about 450 BCE. One of them, long called theTemple of Poseidon was identified in the 1950s as a temple of Hera.[78]
TheDaedala fire festival onCithaeron nearPlataea, included an account of Hera's quarrel with Zeus and their reconciliation.[79]
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 hercult, theHeraion of Samos and theHeraion of Argos in theArgolis, were the very earliest monumentalGreek temples constructed, in the 8th century BCE.[47] At Argos theDorian "Heraion" was built on the hill ofProsymna nearMycenean hero-tombs.[47] At Samos the cult activity near the altar begun in late Mycenean period and a big altar was built in the 9th century BC.[80]
In the same vein, British scholarCharles Francis Keary suggests that Hera had some sort of "Earth Goddess" worship in ancient times,[83][84][85] connected to her possible origin as a Pelasgian goddess (as mentioned by Herodotus).[86][85] In Greece the Mediterranean goddess of nature is the bride of the Greek sky-god . In her festDaedala Hera is related to the nymph Plataia (consort ofZeus), an old forgotten form of the Greek earth-goddess.[60] Plataia may be related toGaia who is occasionally identified with Hera.[49][87]
According toHomeric Hymn II toDelian Apollo, Hera detainedEileithyia to preventLeto from going into labor with Artemis andApollo, since the father wasZeus. The other goddesses present at the birthing onDelos sentIris to bring her. As she stepped upon the island, the divine birth began. In the myth of the birth ofHeracles, it is Hera herself who sits at the door, delaying the birth of Heracles until her protégé,Eurystheus, had been born first.[88]
The Homeric Hymn toPythian Apollo makes the monsterTyphaon the offspring of archaic Hera in her ancient form, produced out of herself, like a monstrous version ofHephaestus, and whelped in a cave inCilicia.[89] She gave the creature toPython to raise.
In theTemple of Hera, 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 theIliad, in which she declares to Zeus, "I amCronus' eldest daughter, and am honourable not on this ground only, but also because I am your wife, and you are king of the gods."[70]
There has been considerable scholarship, reaching back toJohann Jakob Bachofen in the mid-nineteenth century,[90] 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 theHellenes. In this view, her activity asgoddess 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 ancientcult.[91]
However, it remains a controversial claim that an ancient matriarchy or a cultural focus on a monotheistic Great Goddess existed among the ancient Greeks or elsewhere. The claim is generally rejected by modern scholars as insufficiently evidenced.[92]Walter Burkert notices that the ancientKourotrophos figure is almost absent inCrete, and the nominationMother Goddess was not the underlying principle in the Minoan religion.[93]
Hera was most known as the matron goddess,Hera Teleia, but she presided over weddings as well. In myth and cult, fragmentary references and archaic practices remain of thesacred marriage of Hera and Zeus.[94] AtPlataea, there was a sculpture of Hera seated as a bride byCallimachus, as well as the matronly standing Hera.[95]
Hera was also worshipped as avirgin: there was a tradition inStymphalia inArcadia that there had been atriple shrine to Hera the Girl (Παις [Pais]), the Adult Woman (Τελεια [Teleia]), and the Separated (Χήρη [Chḗrē] 'Widowed' or 'Divorced').[96] In theregion around Argos, the temple of Hera inHermione near Argos was to Hera the Virgin.[97] At the spring ofKanathos, close toNauplia, Hera renewed her virginity annually, in rites that were not to be spoken of (arrheton).[98] In her fire-festivalDaedala atPlataia the puppet of the goddess was bathed in the river Asopos before the wedding ceremony. In the festival "Toneia" atSamos the image of the goddess was purified, bounted in willows and then probably hanged on a tree.[99]Robert Graves interprets this as a representation of the new moon (Hebe), full moon (Hera), and old moon (Hecate), respectively personifying the Virgin (Spring), the Mother (Summer), and the destroying Crone (Autumn).[100][101]
The marriage of Zeus with Hera is the main theme in most Greek festivals celebrated in honour of the goddess. In the cults of Hera the dances and rites are performed by young married women. These choral dances reenacted early myth and ritual.[102] Burkert notices that "the disappearing and retrieval of Hera in some cults has parallels with other fertility cults".[61] The Greek aetiological myths (aitia) give a reasonable explanation of the ritual and replicate its structural form. This is accurate for "aitia" related to initiation rituals from youth to maturity.[103] Ancient accounts refer to the retirement of Hera after a quarrel with Zeus. Hera's wrath may indicate the wrath and jealousy of the Greek wife.[104] Other accounts refer to cultic trees or pillars.[105] and rituals of the goddess of vegetation.[64] Some accounts are related to rituals of the Bronze Age before the splitting of the "Mistress of the animals" into separate goddesses.[106]
Argos. During Hera's famous fest "Hecatombaia"(one hundred oxen) -or Argive "Heraia"-the priestess of Hera was carried on a chart drawn by white-heifers to the sanctuary. The festival included an armed procession of male citizens and the prize of the contest was a bronze shield.[107] The Argive festival was a new year festival and the new male citizens introduced themselves in the community. It is not verified that the festival was originally a wedding processional ceremony.[108] At Argos Hera controlled the seasonal goddessesHorae.[16][47] Near the Heraion of Argos there was the stream "Eleutherion" (water of freedom). The priestess of Hera used it for purifications and the sacrifices were kept secret (aporrheta)[109]
Plataia inBoeotia. The festivalDaedala of Hera was a fire festival. The citizens of Plataia maintained from prehistoric times the processional wedding ceremony. A puppet named Hera was married with Zeus. The puppet was washed in the river Asopos and it was carried on a cow-drawn chart to the top of Kithairon. There the puppet was burned together with other idols. Pausanias in the aetiological myth mentions the retirement of Hera after a quarrel with Zeus and their reconciliation.[79] The nymph Plataia, consort of Zeus is an old form of the Greek earth-goddess and she may be related toGaia.[87]
Samos.The name of the island was "Parthenia" in theCarian period.[107] In the Samian festival "Toneia", Hera was originally a goddess of fertility. The festival included initiation rites of girls and probably boys from youth to maturity.[106] At the beginning of the festival axoanon of Hera was carried on a plank to the sea and then back to the coast. This custom reminds the cult of theHittite-Hurrian god of fertilityTelepinu.[62] In the aetiological myth ofMenedotus the image of Hera was bathed, bounted in willows and finally hidden (or hanged). The participants tried to find it.[107][64] Zeus was absent, and the processional wedding ceremony was introduced later.[63]
Corinth. Hera-Acraea was the protectress of the castle. TheCorinthian "Heraia" was a mourning festival. Hera is related toMedea (the wife ofJason) a foreign goddess who was introduced in Greece. In the myth of theArgonauts Hera is the protectress of Jason. The scholiast ofEuripides suggests that the cult of Acraea is related to the cult ofAdonis. Every year seven boys and seven girls with shorn hair and wearing black garments were dedicated to the goddess. Annual sacrifices were performed for the killed children of Medea .[110]
Stymphalus inArcadia. Hera was worshipped as goddess of marriage. Three festivals celebrated the three phases of Hera as "pais" (virgin), "teleia" (fulfilled) and "chera" (widowed). "Pais" may symbolize the arrival of the goddess in spring and "chera" her departure in winter. In the aetiological myth of Pausanias Hera retired after a quarrel with Zeus and then she came back. During her retirement people considered that she was divorced and she was worshipped as "chera".[94]
Euboea. The island was the holy place of Hera and the goddess was worshipped nearElymnion or on the mountainDirfi. Coins fromEretria verify that the citizens imitated the wedding of Zeus with Hera.[111]
Athens. The "sacred marriage" of Zeus with Hera was celebrated in Athens during the month "Gamelion" (late winter).[107]
Hermione inArgolis. Hera was worshipped as "parthenos" (virgin). In a Greek myth Zeus was transformed into a cuckoo to seduce Hera. There were two temples, one of Zeus on the mountain-Cuckoo and one of Hera on the mountain Pron.[107]
Olympia. In the festivalHeraia young girls competed in a footrace. The race was held every four years and only virgin women were allowed to attend the games. The prize was an olive wreath.[112] Traditionally the custom was established byHipodameia and choral dances were performed in honour of her. A marriage-ceremony was probably part of the festival.[113] The choral dances and the dressing of "parthenoi" indicate that the festival was an initiation ritual from youth to maturity.[114] The relation of Hera with "parthenoi" (virgins) seems to connect her with the goddess of vegetation.[106][103]
Aegina'. Traditionally the festival was introduced from Argos. The image of Hera was carried on a chart drawn by white heifers. The festival included games and sacrifices. There was a contest between young boys for killing a female goat with their spears and they got her as a prize. In the aetiological myth Hera retired to the woods after a quarrel with Zeus and her place was discovered by a female goat. Then she was obliged to return.[113]
Nauplia inArgolis. Like the bride who took her bride-bath, Hera bathed every year in the springKanathos and recovered annually her virginity. This is one of the holy secrets (aporrheta) at the mysteries which they celebrated in honour of Hera.[98]
Knossos inCrete. The "hieros gamos" of Zeus with the earth goddess (finally named Hera) was celebrated near the river Theren. The ritual continued unchanged from very ancient times.[1] The original name of the Minoan goddess could beBritomartis,Diktynna or "Hellopis".[66] On a Minoan depiction the goddess seems to arrive on a chariot during spring and she disappears in winter.[63]
Jupiter and Juno on Mount Ida byJames Barry, 1773 (City Art Galleries, Sheffield)
In Hellenistic imagery, Hera's chariot was pulled by peacocks, birds not known to Greeks before the conquests ofAlexander. Alexander's tutor,Aristotle, refers to it as "the Persian bird." The peacock motif was revived in theRenaissance iconography that unified Hera and Juno.[115] A bird that had been associated with Hera on an archaic level, when most of the Aegean goddesses were associated with "their" bird, was thecuckoo, 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. OnCyprus, very early archaeological sites contain bull skulls that have been adapted for use as masks (seeBull (mythology)). Her familiarHomeric epithetBoôpis, is always translated "cow-eyed". In this respect, Hera bears some resemblance to theAncient Egyptian deityHathor, a maternal goddess associated with cattle. Hera absorbed the cult of her heifer-priestessIo and may be related to theVedic earth-goddessPrithvi.[48]
Scholar of Greek mythologyWalter Burkert writes inGreek Religion, "Nevertheless, there are memories of an earlier aniconic representation, as a pillar in Argos and as a plank in Samos." At Argos in a Greek myth the priestess of HeraPhoronis ties her mistress to an aniconic pillar. At Samos Hera's plank was tied on a willow tree to ensure fertility.[6]
Plan of the Temple of Hera (Olympia):HeraionFirst temple of Hera, Paestum (Basilica)
Perachora, Corinth. One from the earliest Greek temples was the temple dedicated to HeraAkraia at Perachora, built in the 9th century BC. The dimensions of the plan were 5,50x8,00m. A teracotta house-temple model indicates that it was an upsidal building with one room. The walls were made fom small stones and dried bricks. Τhere were two pairs of (probably wooden) columns, and the high-peaked roof was covered with straws.[116]
Olympia. The Heraion was built in late 7th century BC (620 BC) . It was aDoric styleperipteral temple measured 18,75x50,01m at thestylobate. The number of the originally woodenpteron columns was 6x16 (hexastyle). Τhe wooden columns were later replaced with columns from limestone. The temple hadpronaos,cella, and the oldest knownopisthodomos. The porches were distylein antis. A colossal head of a woman, is probably a part of a statue dedicated to Hera. It was made from limestone.[117][118]
Corfu. The Archaic temple of Hera was built in 610BC. Large terracotta figures such as lions and gorgoneions decorated the roof of the temple. The temple was completely destroyed by fire in the 5th century BC.[119]
Samos. The older Heraion was built in 560 BC. It was a dipteral temple withIonic order features. It measured 50,50x103,00 m at thestylobate and the number ofpteron columns was 10x21. The temple formed a unit with the monumental altar of Hera to the east, which shared its alignment and axis. It was constructed partly of limestone and partly of marble.Herodotus callsRhoecus of Samos its first architect. It was the first of the massive Ionic temples.[120]
Heraion of Samos. A reconstruction of the "Polycrates temple" (front view)
Samos. The new Heraion was built in 525 BC and it is called the "Polycrates temple". The temple measured 54,58x111,50m at thestylobate. It was dipteral on the flanks and tripteral at the ends. The outer row had 8x24 columns except that at the back there were nine columns. The forms of the capitals resembled the ones at Ephesus, but the volutes were wider.[121]
Selinus. TheDoric temple E (temble of Hera) was built in 490 BC. It measured 25.32x67.82m at thestylobate and the number ofpteron columns was 6x15. The porches were distylein antis[122]
Selinunte-TempleE- Temple of Hera
Paestum. The first temple of Hera, the so-called "Basilica", was built in the early 6th century BC. It was an extraordinary building with a central row of inner columns. The Doric style temple measured 24,52x54,30m at thestylobate, and the number of pteron columns was 9x18. There were three columnsin antis in its porch.[123]
Paestum. A Doric temple dedicated to Hera (the so-called temple of Poseidon) was built in the first half of the 5th century BC and is usually placed later thanParthenon. The temple measured 24,3X60,00 m at thestylobate. It was an hexastyle structure and the number ofpteron columns was 6X14.[124] The temple was also used to worshipZeus and another deity, whose identity is unknown.
Agrigento-TempleD-of Hera
Agrigento. The temple of Hera (Juno Lacinia)was a Doric style peripteral building, built in 450 BC. It measured 16,90X38,15m at the stylobate and the cella measured 9.45x28,00m. The number of pteron columns was 6X13.[125]
Argos. The predecessor of the Heraion was built in late 7th century BC and has left little traces. The longstoa of the Heraion is dated from the late 7th to 6th century B.C.E.[126]
Argos. The new Heraion was built in c.410BC after the burning of its predecessor in 423BC. It measured 17,40x38,00m at the stylobate and the dimensions of the cella were c.10,00x c.27,00m. The number of pteron columns cannot be specified.[127]
Hera is the daughter of theTitansCronus andRhea, and the sister ofHestia,Demeter,Hades,Poseidon, andZeus.[128] Cronus was fated to be overthrown by one of his children; to prevent this, he swallowed all of his newborn children whole until Rhea tricked him into swallowing a stone instead of her youngest child, Zeus. Zeus grew up in secret and then tricked his father into regurgitating his siblings, including Hera. Zeus then led the revolt against the Titans, banished them, and divided the dominion over the world with his brothers, Poseidon and Hades.[129]
Other traditions, however, appear to give Hera different upbringings.Pausanias states that she was nursed as an infant by the three daughters of the riverAsterion:Euboia,Prosymna, andAkraia.[130] Furthermore, inthe Iliad, Hera states she was given by her mother toTethys to be raised: "I go now to the ends of the generous earth on a visit to theOcean, whence the gods have risen, and Tethys our mother who brought me up kindly in their own house, and cared for me and took me from Rheia, at that time when Zeus of the wide brows drove Kronos underneath the earth and the barren water."[131]
Hera is the goddess of marriage and childbirth rather than motherhood, and much of her mythology revolves around her marriage with her brother Zeus. She is charmed by him and she seduces him; he cheats on her and has many children with other goddesses and mortal women; she is intensely jealous and vindictive towards his children and their mothers; he is threatening and violent to her.[61]
In theIliad, Zeus implies their marriage was some sort of elopement, as they lay secretly from their parents.[132]Pausanias records a tale of how they came to be married in which Zeus transformed into acuckoo to woo Hera. She caught the bird and kept it as her pet; this is why the cuckoo is seated on her sceptre.[133] According to a scholion onTheocritus'sIdylls, when Hera was heading toward Mount Thornax alone, Zeus created a terrible storm and transformed himself into a cuckoo who flew down and sat on her lap. Hera covered him with her cloak. Zeus then transformed back and took hold of her; because she was refusing to sleep with him due to theirmother, he promised to marry her.[134]
In one account Hera refused to marry Zeus and hid in a cave to avoid him; an earthborn man named Achilles convinced her to give him a chance, and thus the two had their first sexual intercourse.[135] According to a version attributed toPlutarch, Hera had been reared by a nymph namedMacris on the island ofEuboea, but Zeus stole her away, where Mt.Cithaeron "afforded them a shady recess." When Macris came to look for her ward, the mountain-god Cithaeron drove her away, saying that Zeus was taking his pleasure there with Leto.[136]
God council in Olympus: Zeus and Hera throning,Iris serving them. Detail of the side A of an Attic red-figure belly-amphora, ca. 500 BC.Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich
According toCallimachus, their wedding feast lasted three hundred years.[137] All the gods and mortals were invited, but anymph namedChelone was disrespectful or refused to attend, so Zeus thus turned her into atortoise. The Apples of theHesperides thatHeracles was tasked byEurystheus to take were a wedding gift byGaia to the couple.[138]
After a quarrel with Zeus, Hera left him and retreated to Euboea, and no word from Zeus managed to sway her mind. Cithaeron, the local king, then advised Zeus to take a wooden statue of a woman, wrap it up, and pretend to marry it. Zeus did as told, claiming "she" was Plataea,Asopus's daughter. Hera, once she heard the news, disrupted the wedding ceremony and tore away the dress from the figure only to discover it was but a lifeless statue, and not a rival in love. The queen and her king were reconciled, and to commemorate this the people there celebrated a festival calledDaedala.[17] During the festival, a re-enactment of the myth was celebrated, where a wooden statue of Hera was chosen, bathed in the river Asopus and then raised on a chariot to lead the procession like a bride, and then ritually burned.[139]
According toDiodorus Siculus,Alcmene, the mother of Heracles, was the very last mortal woman Zeus ever slept with; following the birth of Heracles, he ceased to beget humans altogether.[140]
In the early works ofHomer andHesiod, Hera displays no inherent animosity towards Leto or her children (for being children of an affair, that is. She quarrels with them for political reasons in theIliad). In Hesiod'sTheogony,Leto is presented as one of Zeus's wives prior to Hera, giving no indication that Hera disliked them. In later variations of this story, our earliest account being theHomeric Hymn to Delian Apollo,[141] Hera was enraged when she discovered that Leto was pregnant and that Zeus was the father; especially when she was told that Apollo would be more dear to Zeus than Hera's sonAres. Hera received help from Ares and Iris to prevent Leto from giving birth, whence they "threatened all the cities which Leto approached, and prevented them from receiving her."[142] Alternatively,Juno convinced the nature spirits to preventLatona (Leto) from giving birth onterra-firma, the mainland, any island at sea, or any place under the sun,[143] but Poseidon felt pity to Leto and guided her to the floating island ofDelos, which was neither mainland nor a real island where Leto was able to give birth to her children.[144] Afterwards, Zeus secured Delos to the bottom of the ocean.[145] The island later became sacred to Apollo. Alternatively, Hera kidnapped her daughterEileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to prevent Leto from going into labor. The other gods bribed Hera with a beautiful necklace nobody could resist and she finally gave in.[146]
Either way, Artemis was born first (earlier sources make no mention of them being twins, so Artemis could be any age older than Apollo[141]) and then assisted with the birth of Apollo.[147] Some versions say Artemis helped her mother give birth to Apollo for nine days.[146] Another variation states that Artemis was born one day before Apollo, on the island ofOrtygia and that she helped Leto cross the sea to Delos the next day to give birth to Apollo.
Later,Tityos attempted to rape Leto at the behest of Hera. He was slain by Artemis and Apollo.
This account of the birth of Apollo and Artemis is contradicted byHesiod inTheogony, as the twins are born prior to Zeus's marriage to Hera.[148]
When Hera learned thatSemele, daughter ofCadmus King ofThebes, was pregnant by Zeus, she disguised herself as Semele's nurse and persuaded the princess to insist that Zeus show himself to her in his true form. When he was compelled to do so, having sworn byStyx,[149] his thunder and lightning destroyed Semele. Zeus took Semele's unborn child,Dionysus, and completed its gestation sewn into his own thigh.
In another version, Dionysus was originally the son of Zeus by either Demeter orPersephone. Hera sent her Titans to rip the baby apart, from which he was called Zagreus ("Torn in Pieces"). Zeus rescued the heart; or, the heart was saved, variously, byAthena,Rhea, orDemeter.[150] Zeus used the heart to recreateDionysus and implant him in the womb of Semele—hence Dionysus became known as "the twice-born". Certain versions imply that Zeus gave Semele the heart to eat to impregnate her. Hera tricked Semele into asking Zeus to reveal his true form, which killed her. Dionysus later managed to rescue his mother from the underworld and have her live on Mount Olympus.
Hera is the stepmother and enemy ofHeracles. The name Heracles means "Glory of Hera". In Homer'sIliad, when Alcmene was about to give birth to Heracles, Zeus announced to all the gods that on that day a child by Zeus himself, would be born and rule all those around him. Hera, after requesting Zeus to swear an oath to that effect, descended fromOlympus toArgos and made the wife ofSthenelus (son of Perseus) give birth toEurystheus after only seven months, while at the same time preventing Alcmene from delivering Heracles. This resulted in the fulfillment of Zeus's oath in that it was Eurystheus rather than Heracles.[88] InPausanias' recounting, Hera sent witches (as they were called by the Thebans) to hinder Alcmene's delivery of Heracles. The witches were successful in preventing the birth untilHistoris, daughter of Tiresias, thought of a trick to deceive the witches. Like Galanthis, Historis announced that Alcmene had delivered her child; having been deceived, the witches went away, allowing Alcmene to give birth.[151]
Hera's wrath against Zeus's son continued and while Heracles was still an infant, Hera sent twoserpents to kill him as he lay in his cot. Heracles throttled the snakes with his bare hands and was found by his nurse playing with their limp bodies as if they were a child's toys.[152]
According to an earlier source, however, Hera had nothing to do with the snakes in Heracles's crib.Pherecydes said that "it was Amphitryon who put the serpents in the bed, because [then] he would know which of the two children was his, and that when Iphicles fled, and Heracles stood his ground, he knew that Iphicles was begotten of his body."[153]
One account of the origin of theMilky 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 ofher milk formed the smear across the sky that can be seen to this day.[154] Her milk also created a white flower, the lily.[155] Unlike any Greeks, theEtruscans instead pictured a full-grown bearded Heracles at Hera's breast, a reference to his adoption by her when he became an Immortal: he had previously wounded her severely in the breast.
When Heracles reached adulthood, Heradrove him mad, which led him to murder his family and this later led to him undertaking his famous labours (Alternatively, according toEuripides'sHerakles, this happened after his labors had been completed). Hera assigned Heracles to labour for KingEurystheus at Mycenae. She attempted to make almost all of Heracles's twelve labours more difficult. When he fought theLernaean Hydra, she sent acrab to bite at his feet in the hopes of distracting him. Later Hera stirred up theAmazons against him when he was on one of his quests, claiming that he kidnapped their queen,Hippolyte. When Heracles took the cattle ofGeryon, he shot Hera in the right breast with a triple-barbed arrow: the wound was incurable and left her in constant pain, asDione tellsAphrodite in theIliad, Book V. Afterwards, Hera sent agadfly 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.
That was not the only time Heracles had violently attacked Hera, either. After murderingIphitus ofOechalia in cold blood and seeking purification for the crime fromNeleus, king ofPylos, Neleus and his fourteen children turned him away. After being purified elsewhere, "Heracles then marched against Neleus and not only sacked Pylos,but even wounded Hera, who was fighting as Neleus' ally. As for Neleus himself, Heracles killed him and his children, except for the youngest, Nestor."[156]
Eurystheus also wanted to sacrifice theCretan Bull to Hera. She refused the sacrifice because it reflected glory on Heracles. The bull was released and wandered to Marathon, becoming known as theMarathonian Bull.
Some myths state that in the end, Heracles befriended Hera by saving her fromPorphyrion, a giant who tried to rape her during theGigantomachy, and that she even gave her daughterHebe as his bride. Whatever myth-making served to account for an archaic representation of Heracles as "Hera's man", it was thoughtsuitable for the builders of the Heraion atPaestum to depict the exploits of Heracles inbas-relief.[157]
A prophecy stated that a son of the sea-nymphThetis, with whom Zeus fell in love after gazing upon her in the oceans off the Greek coast, would become greater than his father.[158] Possibly for this reason,[159] Thetis was betrothed to an elderly human king,Peleus son ofAeacus, either upon Zeus's orders,[160] or because she wished to please Hera, who had raised her.[161] All the gods and goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis (the eventual parents ofAchilles) and brought many gifts.[162] Only Eris, goddess of discord, was not invited and was stopped at the door by Hermes, on Zeus's order. She was annoyed at this, so she threw from the door a gift of her own:[163] agolden apple inscribed with the word καλλίστῃ (kallistēi, "To the fairest").[164]Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all claimed to be the fairest, and thus the rightful owner of the apple.
This is one of themany works depicting the event. Hera is the goddess in the center, wearing the crown.Das Urteil des Paris byAnton Raphael Mengs, ca. 1757
The goddesses quarreled bitterly over it, and none of the other gods would venture an opinion favoring one, for fear of earning the enmity of the other two. They chose to place the matter before Zeus, who, not wanting to favor one of the goddesses, put the choice into the hands ofParis, aTrojan prince. After bathing in the spring ofMount Ida where Troy was situated, they appeared before Paris to have him choose. The goddesses undressed before him, 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 political power and control of all ofAsia, 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 wasHelen, who was, unfortunately for Paris, already married to KingMenelaus ofSparta. The other two goddesses were enraged by Paris's decision and, after theTrojan War started through Helen's abduction by Paris, they sided with the Greeks.
English: Hermes, Athena, Zeus (seated), Hera and Ares (all named). Side A of an Attic black-figure neck-amphora, end of 6th century BC.BnF Museum, Paris
Hera plays a substantial role inThe Iliad, appearing in several books throughout the epic poem. She makes many attempts to thwart the Trojan Army. In books 1 and 2, Hera declares that the Trojans must be destroyed and persuadesAthena to aid theAchaeans in battle, and she agrees to assist with interfering on their behalf.[165]
In book 5, Hera and Athena plot to harmAres, who had been seen byDiomedes in assisting the Trojans. Diomedes called for his soldiers to fall back slowly. Hera saw Ares's interference and asked Zeus 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's body, and he bellowed in pain and fled toMount Olympus, forcing the Trojans to fall back.[165]
In book 8, Hera tries to persuadePoseidon to disobey Zeus and help the Achaean army. He refuses, saying he doesn't want to go against Zeus. Determined to intervene in the war, Hera and Athena head to the battlefield. However, seeing the two flee, Zeus sent Iris to intercept them and make them return to Mount Olympus or face grave consequences. After prolonged fighting, Hera sees Poseidon aiding the Greeks and giving them the motivation to keep fighting.
In book 14 Hera devises a plan to deceive Zeus. Zeus set a decree that the gods were not allowed to interfere in the mortal war. Hera is on the side of the Achaeans, so she plans aDeception of Zeus where she seduces him, with help from Aphrodite, and tricks him into a deep sleep, with the help ofHypnos, so that the Gods could interfere without the fear of Zeus.[166]
In book 21, Hera continues her interference with the battle as she tellsHephaestus to prevent the river from harmingAchilles. Hephaestus sets the battlefield ablaze, causing the river to plead with Hera, promising her he will not help the Trojans if Hephaestus stops his attack. Hephaestus stops his assault and Hera returns to the battlefield where the gods begin to fight amongst themselves. After Apollo declines to battle Poseidon,Artemis eagerly engages Hera for a duel. Hera however treats the challenge as unimportant, easily disarming the haughty rival goddess and beating her with her own weapons. Artemis is left retreating back toMount Olympus in tears to cry at Zeus's lap.[165]
Hera hatedPelias, king ofIolcus, because he had killedSidero, his step-grandmother, in one of her temples. She later convinced his nephewJason to kill Pelias. TheGolden Fleece was the item that Jason needed to get his mother Alcimide freed, which he obtained with the help of the sorceressMedea, who was influenced by the goddess. At the request of Hera,Aelous calmed all the winds but the "steady" west wind, to aid their crew, theArgonauts, on their journey home.[167]
Cydippe, a priestess of Hera, was on her way to a festival in the goddess's honor. The oxen which were to pull her cart were overdue and her sons,Biton andCleobis, pulled the cart the entire way (45stadia, 8 kilometers). Cydippe was impressed with their devotion to her and Hera, and so 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. This honor bestowed upon the children was later used bySolon as proof when trying to convinceCroesus that it is impossible to judge a person's happiness until they have died a fruitful death after a joyous life.[168]
WhenZeus had pity onIxion and brought him to Olympus and introduced him to the gods, instead of being grateful, Ixion grew lustful for Hera. Zeus found out about his intentions and made a cloud in the shape of Hera, who was later namedNephele, and tricked Ixion into coupling with it. From their union cameCentaurus. So Ixion was expelled from Olympus and Zeus orderedHermes to bind Ixion to a winged fiery wheel that was always spinning. Therefore, Ixion was bound to a burning solar wheel for all eternity, first spinning across the heavens, but in later myth transferred toTartarus.[169]
In theIliad, Homer tells of another attempted overthrow, in which Hera, Poseidon, and Athena conspire to overpower Zeus and tie him in bonds. It is only because of Thetis, who summons Briareus, one of theHecatoncheires, to Olympus, that the other Olympians abandon their plans (out of fear for Briareus).[170]
According to the myth,Aëtos was a beautiful boy born of theearth. While Zeus was young and hiding inCrete from his fatherCronus who had devoured all of Zeus's siblings, Aëtos became friends with the god and was among the first beings to swear fealty to him as new king. But years later, after Zeus had overthrown his father and become king in his place, Zeus's wife Hera turned Aëtos into an eagle, out of fear that Zeus loved him. Thus the eagle became the sacred bird of Zeus, and a symbol of power and kingship.[171][172]
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, includingManto. After seven years as a woman, Tiresias again found mating snakes; depending on the myth, either she made sure to leave the snakes alone this time, or, according toHyginus, trampled on them and became a man once more.[173]
As a result of his experiences, Zeus and Hera asked him to settle the question of which sex, male or female, experienced more pleasure duringintercourse. Zeus claimed it was women; Hera claimed it was men. When Tiresias sided with Zeus, Hera struck him blind.[174] 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 byAthena after he stumbled onto her bathing naked. His mother,Chariclo, begged her to undo her curse, but Athena could not; she gave him a prophecy instead.
The myth of Io has many forms and embellishments. Generally, Io was a priestess of Hera at theHeraion of Argos. Zeus lusted after her and either Hera turned Io into a heifer to hide her from Zeus, or Zeus did so to hide her from Hera but was discovered. Hera had Io tethered to an olive-tree and setArgus Panoptes (lit.'all-seeing') to watch over her, but Zeus sent Hermes to kill him.[175] Infuriated, Hera then sent a gadfly (Greekoistros, compareoestrus) to pursue and constantly sting Io, who fled into Asia and eventually reached Egypt. There Zeus restored her to human form and she gave birth to his sonEpaphus.[175]
Gerana was a queen of thePygmies who boasted she was more beautiful than Hera. The wrathful goddess turned her into a crane and proclaimed that her bird descendants should wage eternal war on the Pygmy folk.[176]
Lamia was a lovely queen ofLibya, whom Zeus loved; Hera in jealousy robbed Lamia of their children, either by kidnapping and hiding them away, killing them, or causing Lamia herself to kill her own offspring.[177][178] Lamia became disfigured from the torment, transforming into a terrifying being who hunted and killed the children of others.[179]
Her story only survives inscholia onTheocritus's Idyll 2. She was raised bynymphs. One day she stole Hera's anointments and gave them away toEuropa. To escape her mother's wrath, she tried to hide. Hera eventually ceased prosecuting her, and Zeus ordered theCabeiroi to cleanse Angelos. They performed the purification rite in the waters of theAcherusia Lake in theUnderworld. Consequently, she received the world of the dead as her realm of influence, and was assigned the epithetkatachthonia ("she of the underworld").[180]
Though usually considered as the daughters of Zeus andEurynome, orDionysus andCoronis according toNonnus,[183] the poetColluthus makes them the daughters of Hera, without naming a father.[184]
InTheogony and other sources, she is described as a daughter of Hera by Zeus.[181] Although, the meticulously accurate mythographerPindar inSeventh Nemean Ode mentions Hera as Eileithyia's mother but makes no mention of Zeus.
She was a daughter of Zeus and Hera.[186] In a rare alternative version, Hera alone produced Hebe after being impregnated by eating lettuce.[174] A fragment byCallimachus describes Hera holding a feast to celebrate the seventh day after the birth of Hebe.[187]Pindar states that Hebe stays by her mother's side in Olympus forever.[188]
Attested by Hesiod, Hera was jealous of Zeus's giving birth toAthena withMetis, so she gave birth to Hephaestus without union with Zeus[189] (though Homer has Hephaestus refer to "father Zeus"[190]). In some versions, Zeus threw Hephaestus offMount Olympus because he protected Hera from his advances.[191][192][193]
In other versions, Hera was the one who threw Hephaestus out of disgust for his ugliness.[194] He gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by making her a magical throne that did not allow her to leave once she sat on it.[194][195][196] The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go, but he repeatedly refused.[196]Dionysus got him drunk and took him back to Olympus on the back of a mule.[197] Hephaestus released Hera after being givenAphrodite as his wife.[198]
Although in other works Pasithea doesn't seem to be born to Hera,Nonnus made the Grace Hera's daughter.[199] Elsewhere in the book, Pasithea's father is said to beDionysus,[200] but it's unclear whether those two together are meant to be Pasithea's parents.[note 1]
Although usually Prometheus is said to be the son ofIapetus by his wifeClymene[205] orAsia,[206] Hellenistic poetEuphorion made Prometheus the son of Hera by the giantEurymedon, who raped the young goddess while she was still living with her parents.[207][208]
Typhon is presented both as the son of Hera (in HomericPythian Hymn to Apollo) and as the son of Gaia (in Hesiod'sTheogony).[209] According to theHomeric Hymn to Apollo (6th century BCE),Typhon was theparthenogenous child of Hera, whom she bore alone as a revenge at Zeus who had given birth to Athena. Hera prayed to Gaia to give her a son as strong as Zeus, then slapped the ground and became pregnant.[210] Hera gave the infant Typhon to the serpentPython to raise, and Typhon grew up to become a great bane to mortals.[211] The b scholia toIliad 2.783, however, has Typhon born in Cilicia as the offspring of Cronus. Gaia, angry at the destruction of the Giants, slanders Zeus to Hera. So Hera goes to Cronus and he gives her two eggs smeared with his own semen, telling her to bury them, and that from them would be born one who would overthrow Zeus. Hera, angry at Zeus, buries the eggs in Cilicia "under Arimon", but when Typhon is born, Hera, now reconciled with Zeus, informs him.[212]
^Throughout the epic,Nonnus gives conflicting parentages of various characters: for exampleHelios's daughterAstris's mother in book 17[201] seems to beClymene while it'sCeto in Book 26,[202] andLelantos's daughterAura's mother isCybele in Book 1,[203] butPeriboea in Book 48.[204] Moreover, Pasithea is described as one of the Graces, and elsewhere in the poem the Graces' parents are given as Dionysus andCoronis.[183]
^R. S. P. Beekes,Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 524.
^"The Linear B word e-ra".Palaeolexicon. Word study tool of Ancient languages.Raymoure, K.A."e-ra".Minoan Linear A & Mycenaean Linear B. Deaditerranean. Archived fromthe original on 2016-03-22. Retrieved2014-03-13.
^Van der Toorn, Karel; Becking, Bob; van der Horst, Pieter Willem (1999), Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (second ed.), Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdman's Publishing Company,ISBN0-8028-2491-9:[1] p.401-402
^Martin Persson Nilsson,The Minoan-Mycenaean Religion and Its Survival in Greek Religion (Lund) 1950 pt. I.ii "House Sanctuaries", pp 77-116; H. W. Catling, "A Late Bronze Age House- or Sanctuary-Model from the Menelaion, Sparta,"BSA84 (1989) 171-175.
^Burkert, p. 132, including quote; Burkert:Orientalizing Revolution.
^Her name appears, with Zeus and Hermes, in aLinear B inscription (Tn 316) at MyceneanPylos (John Chadwick,The Mycenaean World [Cambridge University Press] 1976:89).
^P.C. Sestieri,Paestum, the City, the Prehistoric Acropolis in Contrada Gaudo, and the Heraion at the Mouth of the Sele (Rome 1960), p. 11, etc. "It is odd that there was no temple dedicated to Poseidon in a city named for him (Paestum was originally called Poseidonia). Perhaps there was one at Sele, the settlement that preceded Paestum," Sarantis Symeonoglou suggested (Symeonoglou, "The Doric Temples of Paestum"Journal of Aesthetic Education,19.1, Special Issue: Paestum and Classical Culture: Past and Present [Spring 1985:49-66] p. 50.
^Kyrieleis, H. (1993). "The Heraion at Samos".p.128
^Heyden, Katharina (2022). "The Legend of Aphroditian". In Edwards, J. Christopher (ed.).Early New Testament Apocrypha. Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies 9. Zondervan Academic. pp. 115–127.ISBN9780310099710.
^"The goddesses of Greek polytheism, so different and complementary";Greek mythology scholarWalter Burkert has observed, inHomo Necans (1972) 1983:79f, "are nonetheless, consistently similar at an earlier stage, with one or the other simply becoming dominant in a sanctuary or city. Each is the Great Goddess presiding over a male society; each is depicted in her attire asPotnia Theron "Mistress of the Beasts", and Mistress of the Sacrifice, even Hera and Demeter."
^Keary, Charles Francis.Outlines of primitive belief among the Indo-European races. New York: C. Scibner's Sons. 1882. p. 176.
^Renehan, Robert.HERA AS EARTH-GODDESS: A NEW PIECE OF EVIDENCE. In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie Neue Folge, 117. Bd., H. 3/4 (1974), pp. 193-201.[2]
^Bachofen,Mutterrecht 1861, as Mother Right: An Investigation of the Religious and Juridical Character of Matriarchy in the Ancient World. Bachofen was seminal in the writings ofJane Ellen Harrison and other students of Greek myth.
Encyclopædia Britannica describes this view as "consensus", listing matriarchy as a hypothetical social system. 'Matriarchy'Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007.
^Pseudo-Apollodorus,Bibliotheke 1.4.1;Antoninus Liberalis,Metamorphoses, 35, giving as his sources Menecrates of Xanthos (4th century BCE) and Nicander of Colophon;Ovid,Metamorphoses vi.317-81 provides another late literary source.
^abDowden, Ken (1996). "Io". In Hornblower & Spawforth (ed.).The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Third ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 762–763.ISBN0-19-866172-X.
^Murray, John (1833).A Classical Manual, being a Mythological, Historical and Geographical Commentary on Pope's Homer, and Dryden's Aeneid of Virgil with a Copious Index. Albemarle Street, London. p. 8.
^In Homer,Odyssey viii. 312 Hephaestus addresses "Father Zeus"; cf. Homer,Iliad i. 578 (some scholars, such as Gantz,Early Greek Myth, p. 74, note that Hephaestus's reference to Zeus as 'father' here may be a general title), xiv. 338, xviii. 396, xxi. 332. See alsoCicero,De Natura Deorum 3.22.
^Graves, Robert (1955).The Greek Myths: 1. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books. p. 51.ISBN0736621121.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Guy Hedreen (2004) The Return of Hephaistos, Dionysiac Processional Ritual and the Creation of a Visual Narrative.The Journal of Hellenic Studies,124 (2004:38–64) p. 38 and note.
^abKarl Kerenyi (1951)The Gods of the Greeks, pp 156–158.
^The return of Hephaestus on muleback to Olympus accompanied by Dionysus was a theme of the Attic vase painters, whose wares were favored by Etruscans. The return of Hephaestus was painted on the Etruscan tomb at the "Grotta Campana" near Veii (identified by Peterson; the "well-known subject" was doubted in this instance by A. M. Harmon, "The Paintings of the Grotta Campana",American Journal of Archaeology16.1 (January - March 1912):1-10); for further examples, seeHephaestus#Return to Olympus.
^According toHesiod,Theogony927–929, Hephaestus was produced by Hera alone, with no father, see Gantz, p. 74.
^According toHesiod'sTheogony886–890, of Zeus's children by his seven wives, Athena was the first to be conceived, but the last to be born; Zeus impregnated Metis then swallowed her, later Zeus himself gave birth to Athena "from his head", see Gantz, pp. 51–52, 83–84.
^According toHesiod,Theogony183–200, Aphrodite was born from Uranus's severed genitals, see Gantz, pp. 99–100.
Apollodorus,Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Evelyn-White, Hugh,The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914.
Farnell, Lewis Richard (1896)The cults of the Greek states I: Oxford,[4]
Gantz, Timothy,Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes:ISBN978-0-8018-5360-9 (Vol. 1),ISBN978-0-8018-5362-3 (Vol. 2).
Hard, Robin,The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004,ISBN978-0-415-18636-0.Google Books.
Homer,The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Homer;The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Hyginus,The Myths of Hyginus. Edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960.
Kerenyi, Carl,The Gods of the Greeks 1951 (paperback 1980)
Kerenyi, Karl, 1959.The Heroes of the Greeks Especially Heracles.
Kirk, G. S., J. E. Raven, M. Schofield,The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts, Cambridge University Press, Dec 29, 1983.ISBN978-0-521-27455-5.fc
Ogden, Daniel (2013a),Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds, Oxford University Press, 2013.ISBN978-0-19-955732-5.
Ogden, Daniel (2013b),Dragons, Serpents, and Slayers in the Classical and early Christian Worlds: A sourcebook, Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-992509-4.
Pausanias,Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Robertson D.S,A handbook of Greek and Roman Architecture. Cambridge at the University Press. 1945
Ruck, Carl A.P., and Danny Staples,The World of Classical Myth 1994
Seyffert, Oskar.Dictionary of Classical Antiquities 1894. (On-line text)
Seznec, Jean,The Survival of the Pagan Gods : Mythological Tradition in Renaissance Humanism and Art, 1953
Slater, Philip E.The Glory of Hera : Greek Mythology and the Greek Family (Boston: Beacon Press) 1968 (Princeton University 1992ISBN0-691-00222-3 ) Concentrating on family structure in 5th-century Athens; some of the crude usage of myth and drama for psychological interpreting of "neuroses" is dated.
_Pompeian_Art.jpg)
.svg)
.jpg)
_on_May_22%2c_2022.jpg)
