Facts About Hera

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Hera is known as the goddess of Family and Marriage and she is famous for her role to protect the sanctity of married women.  She was married to Zeus, who was the powerful king of the Olympian gods. Myth says that the beautiful goddess and even more powerful queen, had power and control over heavens and the earth. She also controlled seasons and the weather.

Let us read more about the mysterious Hera!

1) Titled as The Great Lady:
Hera had a compassionate and motherly nature and she tended to the needs of everyone. Her maternal instincts and her need to nurture the world earned her the title of the Great Lady, as this is what her name literally means. Rumor has it, that the Milky Way was created by the milk which spurted from the breasts of Hera, the Greek goddess. Myth had it that Hera was the accompanied each woman through several stages of her womanhood. Hera brought good luck to a woman by making her fertile, by nurturing her children and helping the woman through thick and thin.

2) Physical Appearance:
Hera’s beauty was phenomenal. Her exquisiteness even put shame to the legendary Aphrodite’s beauty. Hera has been portrayed as a beautiful young woman and she is one of the most gorgeous Greek goddesses. Peacock is the symbol of her attribute.

3) Parents:
Rhea and Kronos parented Hera.

4) Siblings:
Zeus , Hestia, Demeter, Hades, and Poseidon were Hera’s siblings, while Zeus was her spouse as well.

5) Children:
Hera mothered Ares and Hephaestus through her marriage with Zeus. Hebe was Hera’s daughter and she is known as the goddess of Health while Eileithyia was another daughter, who is known as the goddess of childbirth. Legend says that Hera was born at Argos or maybe on the island of Samos.

6) Strengths:
Hera was renowned as the protagonist of defending the sanctity of marriage. Hera was also shown reverence to as the Roman goddess Juno. The month June, has been named after her, as an honor. June is the one month in which most weddings take place. Thus, due to her strong stance on the sanctity of marriage, June has been named after her.

7) Weaknesses:
Despite her strong stance regarding the sanctity of marriage, Hera ended up marrying her brother Zeus, and fell in love with him due to his charming beauty. She went out of her way to keep her marriage with Zeus and often adopted rather cruel means.

8) Prominent Temple Sites:
To keep her marriage intact and to keep the spark alive, Hera engaged Zeus in the longest honeymoon on record. It lasted for three hundred years and is said to have taken place on the island of Samos.

9) Symbolism:
It is said that Hera had big beautiful eyes. This trait of hers associates her to the beautiful eyes like pattern found on the feathers of peacocks. Hera is also associated with cow, the sacred animal. The cow is a symbol of Hera’s nurturing and motherly nature, while her association with peacock is symbolic of her eternal beauty and luxury.

10) Hera’s Relationship With Zeus:
It is said that each year Hera restored her virginity by taking a bath in Kanathos which is a sacred spring in the Argolid area of Greece. Myth says that Hera forcefully tied knot with Zeus by using magic and asking persuading him to keep their marriage a secret. Some tales suggest that Zeus seduced Hera by appearing as a damp cuckoo and taking refuge in Hera’s lap while pretending to get damp during a storm.

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