QUEEN OF MOUNT OLYMPUS - HERA! #BLOGCHATTERA2Z

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                                                                         Goddess Hera - Shutterstock

Here, the wife of Zeus, is considered the Queen of Mount Olympus. She is the goddess of wedlock, women and family. 
Hera was the daughter of the Titans, Cronus and Rhea, which also makes her the sister of  Zeus. Her siblings were, thus, Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia and Zeus himself. 
Hera was the watchful and possessive wife of a husband prone to myriad adulterous affairs and illegitimate children. She could be vindictive and dangerous.
According to Pausanias, Zeus fell in love with Hera. When she left him and set out on her own, he created a mighty storm, turned himself into a cuckoo and sat on her lap. Hera shielded him with her cloak and kept him as a pet. Once the storm abated, he turned back into his godlike form and proposed to her.
The wedding feast of Hera and Zeus is believed to have lasted for two hundred years, according to Callimachus. The entire galaxy of gods and humans were invited. Chelone, a nymph was reluctant to attend and an irate Zeus turned her into a tortoise.


A Heavenly Marriage - Zeus and Hera - Mythlok

The harmony did not last too long. Hera quarrelled with Zeus, and left him high and dry, determined not to let him change her mind. Zeus took a wooden statue of a woman, dressed her and pretended to marry her. Hera came back in a flaming rage and went on a rampage, tearing the clothes off the bride, only to discover it was all a ruse to get her back. The couple was reconciled, after the first of many quarrels to come.


Conflict between Zeus and Hera - Paleothea

The festival of Daedala commemorates this event where a wooden statue of Hera is chosen, bathed in the river, dressed as a bride, and finally burned.
Hera remained as high spirited and vindictive as ever, showing animosity towards all her step children who were born to Zeus from other women. The most famous of them was Heracles or Hercules, whom she tried to poison as a baby. She sent two venomous serpents to bite him when he was lying on his cot. However, Hercules had immense strength even as a baby. He strangled the serpents, and his nurse discovered him playing with their corpses as toys.
However, when Hercules was a man, Hera interfered with his life again, turning him mad. He ended up killing his family, for which he had to atone by doing twelve labours, each of which was made even more arduous by Hera, to further trouble him.


The 12 Labours of Hercules - shutterstock

Hera appears several times in Homer's Iliad, making her presence felt in various irritating ways. Though many of the gods and goddesses got involved, taking sides in the Trojan war, Hera was the most meddlesome of them all, even having a hand in the elopement of Helen with Paris. Likewise, in another myth, she induced Jason to kill his brother, Pelias. 
The symbols carried by Hera are the pomegranate, the sceptre and the crown. She is worshipped at temples in Corinth, Samos, Olympia, Corfu etc.

Trivia:

Hera's Roman counterpart is Juno. The cow is her sacred animal, as a result of which, she is often associated with Gaia, the earth goddess. She also has the figure of a serpent on her sceptre which make her akin to Eve, the first woman in the Bible, as well.

The word 'Olympus' comes from the ancient Greek word 'Olympos' which means 'the home of the gods'. Mount Olympus is also the highest peak in Greece, and the mythological dwelling of the Greek gods, headed by Zeus and Hera.

The earliest references to Hera come from Hesiod's Theogony and Homer's Iliad followed by Pausanias' Description of Greece.

Books:

A Goddess Scorned by Ava McEvitt


Hera by Jennifer Saint


The Hera of Zeus by Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge


Movies:

Clash of the Titans (2010)

Netflix Series: Kaos 

  This post is a part of Blogchatter A2Z Challenge 2026. 

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