Hera was the queen of Olympus and wife and older sister of Zeus. She was the goddess of marriage and birth. Her Roman counterpart, Juno, gave her name to the month of June, making it popular for weddings.

Hera is usually portrayed as stately and majestic, often veiled and crowned with the polos diadem worn by the great goddesses. She is often pictured with the cow and peacock sacred to her, and may have a pomegranate in her hand.

Mythology

The daughter of Cronus and Rhea, Hera was swallowed at birth by Cronus because of a prophecy that one of Cronus’s children would one day usurp his throne. Cronus regurgitated Hera (as well as Demeter, Hestia, Hades, and Poseidon) when Rhea tricked him into eating an herb that she said would make him invincible.

The children of Hera and Zeus are the god of war Ares, the smith Hephaestus, and the goddess of youth Hebe. Hera and Zeus were said to have been married in the Garden of the Hesperides, near the Atlas Mountains. Gaia gave Hera golden apples as a gift; Hera then planted them in her garden. One of the tasks Hera set Heracles was to find the garden of the Hesperides and pluck three golden apples from the magic tree. Hera also set a dragon who never slept to guard the garden.

Hera had a jealous and vengeful nature. Anyone who crossed her, particularly Zeus’s many paramours and their children, whether goddesses or mortals, suffered her wrath. Zeus often hid his children as a result or changed them into animals.

Her most famous and bitter enemy was Heracles, son of Zeus and Alcmene, who was named “Hera-famous” in her honor. She put a pair of snakes in his cradle, but the infant throttled both snakes and then played with the dead bodies as if they were toys. Later, she forced Heracles to labor for King Eurystheus of Mycenae. Each of the twelve labors was considered impossible to accomplish.

Io was a mistress of Zeus whom Hera tormented. Zeus turned her into a white heifer. Hera made Zeus give her the heifer and set the hundred-eyed giant Argus to keep her away from Zeus. Hermes lulled all hundred eyes to sleep, and Io escaped, but Hera sent a gadfly to sting Io repeatedly.

Dionysus was a son of Zeus by the mortal Semele. Hera disguised herself and persuaded Semele to insist that Zeus show himself to her as a god. Unfortunately, that killed Semele. Afterwards, Hera drove Dionysus’ foster parents insane.

Hera in Popular Culture

• In the DC Comics original version of Wonder Woman, Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons, prayed to Hera for a daughter, who turned out to be Princess Diana, also known as Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman frequently says “Great Hera!

• Hera was a character in the Walt Disney animated film Hercules. But the storyline didn’t hew to the usual legends of Hercules; for instance, Hera was Hercules’s mother, not his nemesis.

• Hera appeared in the 1990s television program Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. As in the myths, Hera tormented and tried to kill Hercules. In the show’s spinoff, Xena: Warrior Princess, Zeus killed Hera for siding with Hercules against Zeus.

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