Friday, December 2, 2011

Greek Mythology: Hera

Goddess of married women and marriage
Daughter of Cronus and Rhea
Married to Zeus
Roman Name: Juno

Symbols: Peacocks, Cows, Pomegranates
Children:
               With Zeus: Hebe (Youth), Eileithyia (Childbirth), and Ares (War)
               Alone: Hephaestus (simply put and I will go into more detail later... blacksmiths and fire)


Hera Myths:
These are myths that I enjoyed that Hera had a part in...

First is the story of the birth of Athena:
Hera was furious that Zeus didn't need a woman to have children so Hera decided that she would have a child without a man. From this came the birth of Hephaestus he was ugly AND IN MY OPINION this says a lot about how Ancient Greek society thought about the idea of women having children alone... Hera was so disgusted by the his ugly appearance so she threw the baby off Mount Olympus breaking his legs and making him the only "lame" God.

As Zeus is known for his dalliances Hera in turn is known for her Vengeance:

Semele was a mortal woman Zeus was having an affair with so Hera tricked her into asking Zeus to see him in his true form. He didn't want to but she wouldn't stop asking, and when he finally did thunderbolts killed her.

Echo the Nymph that distracted Hera away from all Zeus' affairs: Cursed her to only repeat the last words that others spoke...

Lamia was a mortal woman that Zeus loved so Hera killed her children and turned her into a monster cursed so that she could never close her eyes so she would always dwell on her dead children... Zeus took pity on her and gave her the ability to take out her eyes to rest.

Leto a Titan Goddess was pregnant with Zeus' children so she convinced her daughter Eileithyia (Childbirth), and Gaia not to let her give birth

The story of how the peacock feathers got their eyes:
Hera almost caught Zeus with a mistress named Io, a fated avoided by Zeus by turning her into a beautiful white cow. However, Hera was not completely fooled and demanded that Zeus give her the cow as a present. Once Io was given to Hera, she placed her in the charge of Argus a one hundred eyed giant (who never had all his eyes closed) to keep her separated from Zeus. Zeus then commanded Hermes to kill Argus, which he did by lulling all his eyes to sleep and killing him. According to Ovid when Hera learned her servant Argus had been killed she took his eyes and placed them in the plumage of the peacock. That is why there is an eye pattern in its tail.


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