Hera

Goddess of love and marriage, and the Queen of Heaven **__ Important Facts __** Symbols: Pomegranate, Cow, Peacock Feather
 * Hera **

[|Hera] was the given name by the Greeks and translates to mean "Great Lady". The equivalent deity to Hera for the Roman is Juno. Hera is the goddess of love and marriage, and ruled over the heavens and the earth. She was a firm protector of the purity of marriage and monogamy. Hera was responsible for every aspect of existence, including the seasons and weather. She had sacred animals, which was the cow, and the Peacock. The cow was chosen for its large and beautiful eyes, and it symbolizes her nurturing watchfulness over her subjects. The Peacock was also chosen for the feathers, which symbolized her immorality, luxury, and beauty.
 * __ Overview __**

Hera was the daughter of [|Chronos], the god of time, and [|Rhea], the goddess of Earth. She was the older sister and also the wife of [|Zeus], who happens to be the ruler of the Heavens. Hera and Zeus gave birth to only two children which were [|Ares], the god of water, and [|Hephaetus], the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, and volcanoes. All alone Hera had [|Hebe], the goddess of health, [|Eileithyia], the Cretan goddess of childbirth, and [|Typhon], the serpent of Delphi. Even though she had 5 children, two with Zeus and three alone, she continued to stay a virgin. Every year in order to restore her virginity; she bathed in Kanathos, which happens to be a sacred spring. It is said that her children were not conceived by men, and instead conceived by eating lettuce, or by slapping her hand on the ground, thus being born out of hatred and lust, instead of love. __**Deity in Roman**__ Hera was also worshiped as the Roman goddess, Juno, and believed to be married to Adam before Eve. Juno represents the wife, soul mate, and life partner. Juno was known to be one of the most powerful Roman goddesses. She was the daughter of [|Saturn], the god of agriculture and harvest, and the sister and wife of [|Juipter], the god of sky and thunder as well as the king of all the gods. Juno had three children, Juventas, which equivalent to Hebe, [|Mars], the god of war, and Vulcan, the god of beneficial and hindering fire. Just as Hera, Junos animal symbol was the Peacock. As the patron goddess, of Rome and the Roman empire she was called Regina, which means queen. One of the many things that Juno, also known as Hera, is honored for today is the month of June, which is for love and marriage, and numerous weddings take place during that month.
 * __ Family __**

Hera's parents were Rhea (mother) and Cronos (father). Cronos thought that he would be overthrown by a child and consequently swallowed each one of his children as they were born, including Hera. Some say that he changed his appearance, perhaps into a whale, in order to swallow the children. Later, he was given a drug which caused him to vomit the children he had swallowed. They survived due to their immortality.
 * __ Hera's Birth __**

**__Hera's Powers__** There was a core set of powers that the Olympian gods/goddesses possessed. These powers consisted of superhuman strength, vitality, longevity and resistance to injury. Hera was also able to fly at great speed, shape-change her form to manipulate her size or very appearance to that of another person, animal or object, and she could render herself and other beings invisible from mortal eyesight. Hera can cast spells to change the form of other beings or objects and is able to project mystic bolts with tremendous force and impact. She is also capable of teleporting between Olympus and Earth. Zeus was not faithful to Hera throughout their marriage. Hera used her powers on these women, both other goddesses and mortals, and sometimes their children.

Hera is perhaps remembered most for her cruelty to Hercules. "One of the greatest victims of Hera's anger was Hercules*, the son of Zeus and a mortal women named Alcmena. Hera hounded and punished Hercules throughout his life. Soon after his birth, she sent two snakes to kill him, but the infant Hercules, who would become known for his tremendous strength, strangled the snakes instead. Another time, Hera drove Hercules temporarily insane, causing him to kill his own wife and children. Once, when she raised a storm against Hercules' ship, Zeus retaliated by hanging Hera from Mount Olympus by her wrists, with anvils attached to her feet." []
 * __ Hera's Fame __**

**__Hera's Personality__** Hera was known for her raging temper and jealousy. This was not only directed at Zeus' lovers and their children, but Hera was known to strike out against those who disagreed with her or were thought to be more beautiful than her. Hera's anger and jealousy turned out to be flaws in her personality. They turned out to be flawed because if she was able to control her anger and jealousy then what you see next would not have happened. Watch this You Tube video to see what Hera did to Echo and Narcissus []. On the other hand, as the Godess of love and marriage, Hera reamined faithful to Zeus in spite of all his affairs. Despite Hera's rage and jealousy she was nice, and helped on a very famous quest called Jason and the Argonants, and since Hera had been overseeing the adventure, she knew that there was danger involved and discussed the matter with Aphrodite. To help the Argonauts, Aphrodite told Hera that she would send [|Cupid], Aphrodite's son, to the Colchis and would make the daughter of the Colchian king fall in love with Jason. Medea was the daughter of King Æetes. But Medea was a powerful magician and she could save the Argonauts if they ever were in trouble. While this was going on, the Argonauts made their way to the city to ask the king for the Golden Fleece. [|Hera] wrapped the Argonauts in a mist so they wouldn't be seen until they arrived at the palace. Hera's faithfulness was a perfection because no matter how many affairs Zeus had she stayed with him, and she showed her faithfullness in helping Jason with his quest for the Golden Fleece.

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**__ Works Cited __** "Wife of Zeus Queen of gods" [|www.myspace.com/ estrella1978] Testriffic. 2009. April 23rd 2009 [] Youtube. 2009. April 25th 2009 [] Marvuapp. 19 May 2008. April 25th 2009 [] Goddess Gift. 2002. 26 April 2009. [] About. 2009. 26 April 2009. [] Encyclopedia Mystica. 3 March 1997. 26 April 2009. [] About. [] Msnbc. 2009. 26 April 2009.  []