HERA (HEER-uh)
Queen
of the Olympian gods; the wife and
sister
of Zeus.
Common
clues: Wife of Zeus; Daughter of Cronus; Juno, to the Greeks;
Mother of Ares; Greek queen of heaven; Mrs. Zeus; Bickerer in the
“Iliad”
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Goddess
Hera
In
the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hêra
was the wife and
sister of Zeus. She also presided as goddess of marriage.
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).
Hera;
marble statue 5th century B.C.
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.
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").
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.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
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It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Hera".
HERA
(239) 39
Tu >1 09 Wife of Zeus LETO
18
We+ >1 09 Mother of Ares ENYO
11
Tu+ >1 01 Zeus's wife
10
Th+ >1 08 Daughter of Cronus
10
We >1 09 Greek queen of heaven
9
Tu+ >1 05 Juno, to the Greeks
7
Th >1 06 Juno's Greek counterpart
7
We- >1 02 Zeus' wife
6
We- >1 06 Juno's counterpart
6
We+ >1 09 Mrs. Zeus
5
Tu- >1 06 Queen of Olympus
5
We- >1 04 Vindictive goddess
4
Th- >1 96 Greek goddess
4
We- >1 06 Olympian queen
4
Tu- >1 01 Sister of Zeus
3
Mo+ >1 01 Consort of Zeus
3
Fr >1 07 Mother of Hephaestus
3
Th- NYT 08 Queen of the heavens
08
Sister/wife of Zeus
07
Wife/sister of Zeus
2
We- >1 02 Apple of discord contender
2
Th- NYT 98 Ares' mother
2
Th NYT 01 Bickerer in the "Iliad"
2
Th WSJ 08 Daughter of Kronos
2
We >1 81 First Lady of Olympus
2
Fr >1 06 Jealous deity
2
Th- >1 00 Jealous wife of myth
00
Juno to Zeus
2
Tu- >1 01 Mount Olympus matriarch
2
Th- >1 04 Olympus queen
2
Tu- >1 08 Queen of Mount Olympus
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