Hera
by CTCWeb Editors
Goddess of Womanhood
Hera, along with Artemis, is the goddess of childbirth. She also represents other positive and negative aspects of Greek womanhood. Students should investigate the “womanly” side of Hera to form an idea of what the ancient Greeks believed to be desirable traits for a woman to possess. Some things students should consider are: motherhood, skilled at the loom, wise, faithful. Students should also examine women likened to Hera in ancient Greek text. Below are some examples.
Site Description, Samos, Heraion - According to myth, Hera was born and married beside a sacred bush. At the Heraion, a festival was held every year to celebrate the marriage of Hera and Zeus.
Architecture Description, Poseidonia, “Basilica” - Figures of Hera, as terracotta votive figurine, were found near the Basilica and “dedications representing the sacred marriage of Hera to Zeus were also found, leading some scholars to propose that the temple housed both of their cult statues.”
Sculpture Description, Louvre Ma 686 - Often a Kore statue wore a veil and could be identified as Hera. The veil may represent the wedding and virginity of Hera.
Vase Description, London B 298 - It is thought that the bride and groom in this wedding procession are Zeus and Hera. Vase Description, Louvre CA 616 - The wedding procession on this vase has been interpreted to include the Horai, and Zeus and Hera as the groom and bride.
Aristophanes, Birds line 1741 - The chorus describes Eros leading the wedding chariot of Hera and Zeus.
Hesiod Theogony 12 - Hera is considered the queen of the gods and she walks on golden sandals. Hesiod Theogony 328 - Hesiod calls Hera the “goodly wife” of Zeus.
Homeric Hymn 5: To Aphrodite, line 44 - Hera is called Zeus’ chaste and careful wife. In this way she is the standard for all women to meet as a wife.
Pausanias 2.17.4 - This is the story of when Zeus was in love with Hera in her maidenhood he changed himself into this bird. Hera caught the bird, a cuckoo, to be her pet. Pausanias 2.38.2-3 - “Here, say the Argives, Hera bathes every year and recovers her maidenhood. [3] This is one of the sayings told as a holy secret at the mysteries which they celebrate in honor of Hera.” Pausanias 3.13.9 - Eurydice, the daughter of Lacedaemon and the wife of Acrisius, set up sanctuaries of Hera Hyperchemia when the river, Eurotas, flooded the land. In the sanctuary a wooden image appeared to which a mother would sacrifice before her daughter was married. Pausanias 5.16.2-3, 6.24.10 - At Scillus, a robe was woven for Hera every fourth year by the Sixteen women who also held games called Heraea. The games consist of foot-races ran by maidens. The races were run in heats based on age. When the maidens ran, they wore their hair to their knees and exposed their right shoulder to the breast. The winning maidens received crowns of olive and a portion of the cow sacrificed to Hera. The administers of the games were the Sixteen who were married. Pausanias 8.22.3 - It was said that Hera was reared by Temenus who established three sanctuaries of Hera. Temenus also gave Hera three surnames: as a maiden she was “Girl,” when she married Zeus she was “Grown-up,” and when she quarreled with Zeus and came back to Stymphalus she was “Widow.”
Plato, Cratylus 404c - Socrates translates ‘Hera’ as ‘lovely one,’“as indeed, Zeus is said to have married her for love.” Plato, Laws 744e ff. - On the duty of marrying for a male citizen, Plato’s Laws state that if a man should be “unpartnered in the State, and reach the age of thirty-five unmarried, an annual fine shall be imposed upon him, of a hundred drachmae if he be of the highest property-class, if of the second, seventy, if of the third, sixty, if of the fourth, thirty. [774b] This fine shall be consecrated to Hera.” In this context, Hera is the goddess of marriage.
Questions
1. As you read about the games [Pausanias 5.16.2-3] think about the feminine representations of weaving, health and marriage. How is Hera associated with each of these?
2. Why is the marriage of Zeus and Hera so important that it merited a festival honoring it?
3. Why is it important that Hera regain her virginity each year?
4. What three stages of womanhood does Hera represent?
