Hera is a Greek goddess and wife of Zeus, with whom she had four children. She is associated with marriage, motherhood, and childbirth. Hera was known for her jealousy and revenge against Zeus’ other lovers and their children. Her name has been used for astronomical sites.
In Greek mythology, Hera, along with Demeter, Hades, Hestia, Poseidon and Zeus, is one of the children of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. She is considered the patroness of marriage, women and childbirth and her counterpart in Roman mythology is Juno. It seems likely that this affiliation with motherhood led to the name of the title character in the 2007 film, Juno. Both her peacock and cow were sacred to her.
Hera is the wife of Zeus and together they had four children. Their progeny was Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths and fire and husband of Aphrodite; Ares, the god of war; Hebe, the goddess of youth and spring, who became the bride of Hercules when he was taken to Olympus; and Eileithyia, mentioned by Hesiod, but not the focus of a myth, although she is mentioned in a Homeric hymn in connection with the birth of Artemis and Apollo.
According to myths, Zeus approached Hera as he approached many of his other loves – on the spur of the moment and in disguise. One day, while he was in Argos, Zeus saw her and to get close to her easily he transformed himself into a cuckoo and got soaked in a rain. When Hera sat down after her walk, the little cuckoo sat on her lap to warm up and soon reverted to her true form.
Zeus was perpetually unfaithful, so it’s no surprise that Hera has a reputation for jealousy. Her revenge against the other women Zeus loved and their children took interesting forms. Zeus turned Io into a heifer to hide her from Hera, but Hera knew about it and asked to have the heifer as her gift. When Zeus sent Hermes to steal Io from him, Hera planted a gadfly that stung Io and chased her across Europe.
Callisto, a companion of Artemis, was seduced by Zeus, and Hera transformed her into a she-bear. Zeus transformed her into the constellation Ursa Major, Ursa Major. When Zeus, in human guise, took Semele and she became pregnant with Dionysus, Hera convinced her to ask Zeus to see him in her god form. She had to obey, but the sight of her killed Semele, though Zeus was able to save Dionysus.
Hera tried to prevent Leto, another of Zeus’ consorts, from giving birth, by forbidding a birth on any fixed land. Leto searched for Earth and eventually found a floating island, which was immune to Hera’s ban. Alcmene, seduced by Zeus when he appeared disguised as her husband, became the mother of Hercules or Heracles, but not without Hera’s interference, as usual. In this case, she directed her wrath against the child. She sent two snakes to kill Hercules and his brother Iphicles in their cradles, but Hercules was so strong and precocious that he strangled the snakes before he hurt himself. Note that the Disney movie Hercules is just plain wrong in portraying Hercules as the son of Zeus and Hera.
As with other mythological figures, Hera’s name has been used for several astronomical sites. Both a ridge and a chasm – Juno Chasma and Juno Dorsa – on Venus are named after Hera.
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