Wikipedia Tour: Greek Mythology (3 of 35)

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GREEK MYTHOLOGY (CONT’D)

HERA

In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hera, (pronounced /ˈhɪərə/ or /ˈhɛrə/, Greek Ήρα, or Here (Ήρη in Ionic and Homer) was the wife and older sister of Zeus. Her chief function was as goddess of women and marriage. Her equivalent in Roman mythology was Juno. The cow and later the peacock were sacred to her. Hera was born of Cronos and Rhea, and was almost swallowed but stopped due to a prophecy. Because of this, she broke the prophecy that one of Cronos's children would take over his throne. Zeus was not swallowed because of a plan hatched by Rhea and Gaia. Rhea wrapped a stone into baby clothes and gave that to Cronos for he tried to eat his kids.. Zeus was then moved to a cave on Crete. Rhea later gave Cronos an herb which she told him could make him completely invincible. The herb actually made him regurgitate the five other Olympians: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, as well as the previously ingested stone.
When Zeus grew older, he banished Cronos to Tartarus, the deepest chasm in the underworld, because the Titans were immortal and could not be killed.

Portrayed as majestic and solemn, often enthroned and crowned with the polos, the high cylindrical crown worn by several of the Great Goddesses, Hera may bear in her hand the pomegranate, emblem of fertile blood and death and a substitute for the narcotic capsule of the opium poppy. "Nevertheless, there are memories of an earlier, aniconic representation, as a pillar in Argos and as a plank in Samos". Hera was well-known for her jealous and vengeful nature, most notably against Zeus's paramours or their offspring, but also against other mortals who crossed her, such as Pelias or arguably even Paris, who had offended her by choosing Aphrodite as the most beautiful of goddesses, and thus earned Troy Hera's hatred.

"The name of Hera, the Queen of the gods, admits a variety of mutually exclusive etymologies; one possibility is to connect it with hora, season, and to interpret it as ripe for marriage." So begins the section on Hera in Walter Burkert, Greek Mythology In a note he records other scholars' arguments "for the meaning Mistress as a feminine to Heros, Master." Furthermore, A.J. van Windekens, offers "young cow, heifer", which is consonant with Hera's common epithet βοώπις (boôpis) (cow-eyed). E-ra appears in Mycenaean tablets.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hera

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