Hera

Lore & Background

In historical times, the majority of the Greeks recognized Hera as the consort of Zeus. Zeus was the protector of rights and mores, and his partner Hera became the protector of legal marriage and the rights of married women. Modern scholars suggest that Hera is not only the Olympian sky-goddess, but in some cults she may be identified as an earth-goddess. An inscription in Linear B on a tablet found at Pylos mentions offerings 'to Zeus-Hera-Drimios'; Drimios is the son of Zeus. Hera was the tutelary goddess of Argos and it is possible that she had Mycenean origin. Martin P. Nilsson suggested that Hera is mainly the 'Argeiē' (Ἀργείη), a name given by Homer which describes her not as Greek, but as an Argive goddess. She is the protectress of the citadel. In literature Argos is called 'dōma Hēras' (the house of Hera) and the Argives are called her people by Pindar. Homer's Iliad often uses the formula 'boōpis potnia Hērē' (cow-eyed, mistress Hera), which probably relates her to a form of the Mediterranean goddess of nature. The epithet Qo-wi-ja (boōpis) appears in a Linear B inscription. Walter Burkert notices that it is difficult to confirm that the epithet 'bowpis' corresponds to a Greek belief. However it is possible that Hera was conceived as a cow in her archaic cults.

In Their Own Story

Hera exists as a spouse of Zeus and their 'sacred marriage' was celebrated in many Greek festivals in a processional ceremony from ancient times. The myth of the premarital approach of Hera by Zeus is early mentioned by Homer. As Homer recounts: 'Hera moved quickly on to Ida’s peak, high Gargarus. Cloud-gatherer Zeus caught sight of her. As he looked, his wise heart became suffused with sexual desire, as strong as when they’d first made love together, lying on a bed without their parents’ knowledge. […] Then Kronos’ son took his wife in his arms. Underneath them divine Earth made fresh flowers grow—dew-covered clover, crocuses, and hyacinths, lush and soft, to hold the lovers off the ground. They lay together there covered with a cloud, a lovely golden mist, from which fell glistening dew. Then Zeus slumbered peacefully on Mount Gargarus, overcome with love and sleep, his wife in his embrace.' It is possible that the myth has its origins in an old custom of the European country population, the premarital intercourse of the engaged couple. According to Walter Burkert the 'Mediterranean goddess of nature' becomes the bride of the Greek sky-god. He notices that 'the disappearance and retrieval of Hera has parallels with other fertility cults'. Hera was originally a goddess of fertility in her 'Toneia' festival at Samos and at Knossos in Crete. At Samos the image of Hera was hidden bounted in willows and the participants tried to discover it. At Knossos, Zeus is mating with the earth goddess (finally named Hera) in a very ancient ritual. In her festival Daedala at Plataia there is an account of Hera's quarrel with Zeus and their reconciliation.

Reader's Guide

The worship of Hera was sparse in Thessaly, Attica, Phocis and Achaea. In Boeotia she is related to the Daedala festival. The main center of her cult was the northeastern Peloponnese, especially the Argolis region (Argos, Tiryns, Corinth, Sicyon, Epidaurus and Hermione). She was worshipped at the Arcadian cities Mantineia, Megalopolis, Stymphalus and at Sparta. The oldest temple at Olympia belonged to Hera. In the islands she was worshipped at Samos, Paros, Delos, Amorgos, Thera, Kos, Rhodes and Crete. The island Euboea was considered her holy place. A month was named after Hera at Delphi (Heraios), Olous, Laconia, Tinos (Heraiōn), Pergamos (Heraos). Hera is the Olympia, Queen (Anassa), the Queen of heaven. The royal quality of her was preserved by the monuments of Greek art. Hera may have been the first deity to whom the Greeks dedicated an enclosed roofed temple sanctuary, at Samos about 800 BCE. It was replaced later by the Heraion of Samos, one of the largest of all Greek temples (altars were in front of the temples under the open sky). There were many temples built on this site, so the evidence is somewhat confusing, and archaeological dates are uncertain. The temple created by the Rhoecus sculptors and architects was destroyed between 570 and 560 BCE. This was replaced by the Polycratean temple of 540–530 BCE. In one of these temples, we see a forest of 155 columns. There is also no evidence of tiles on this temple suggesting either the temple was never finished or that the temple was open to the sky. Earlier sanctuaries, whose dedication to Hera is less certain, were of the Mycenaean type called 'house sanctuaries'. Samos excavations have revealed votive offerings, many of them dated to the late 8th and 7th centuries BCE, which show that Hera at Samos was not merely a local Greek goddess of the Aegean. The museum there contains figures of gods and suppliants and other votive offerings from Armenia, Babylon, Iran.

Did You Know?

• The name Hera (Hḗrā or Hḗrē) is attested in Mycenaean Greek, written in Linear B syllabary as 𐀁𐀨 e-ra, appearing on tablets found in Pylos and Thebes.
• Homer's Iliad often uses the formula 'boōpis potnia Hērē' (cow-eyed, mistress Hera), which probably relates her to a form of the Mediterranean goddess of nature.
• Hera may have been the first deity to whom the Greeks dedicated an enclosed roofed temple sanctuary, at Samos about 800 BCE.
• The Polycratean temple of 540–530 BCE at Samos had a forest of 155 columns, with no evidence of tiles, suggesting it was either never finished or open to the sky.
• Many theophoric names, such as Heracles, Heraclitus, Herodotus and Herodicus, derive from Hera.