The goddess Hera - the patroness of marriage bonds and legitimate children

One of the most revered goddesses of antiquity was the power-hungry beauty of Hera. The Romans knew her as Juno, the goddess of marriage bonds and legitimate children. Goddess Hera - in mythology, the character is ambiguous and quite complex. She was highly esteemed as a powerful and all-powerful goddess of marriage, and at the same time Homer in her Iliad introduced her as a cruel, vindictive and very quarrelsome wife.

The goddess Hera is the sixth lawful wife of the great thunderer Zeus, the ruler of Olympus and the father of revered gods and great heroes. The daughter of Kronos and Rhea, she was absorbed by her father after birth, like the other four of her brothers and sisters. By the time Zeus defeated the Titans and occupied Olympus, Hera grew up as a beautiful young girl. But she was very modest, she led the right way of life and did not look at men. With her beauty, purity and inaccessibility, she attracted the attention of the thunderer. Zeus was distinguished by his indomitable passion and was known as a great seducer and rapist. His first victim was his own mother, Ray, who forbade him to marry. Furious, he caught up with her in the form of a snake and mastered it. So do not be surprised that he liked his own sister. But the goddess Hera was in no hurry to give in, in every way avoiding his close attention. Then Zeus resorted to another trick, knowing that he desired a good-hearted maiden heart, he turned into a small feeble bird. Hera bent down and picked it up. To warm the frozen ptahu, she placed it on her chest. Then Zeus and took his true identity, rushed to the poor bewildered goddess. But all his attempts to master her by force were unsuccessful. She resisted until he swore to take her into lawful wives.

According to myths, their honeymoon lasted as long as three hundred years. But as soon as it ended, Zeus again returned to his vicious, disorderly way of life. Hera, the goddess of pure and strong marriage bonds, could not tolerate her husband's numerous infidelities and brought down all her anger at lovers and their illegitimate children. Of course, as a woman, she shifts all her resentment not to her husband, but to others. To the pain of a scolded marriage, she responds with fury and actions, and not the depression typical of Persephone, Demeter or Aphrodite. It is excessive vindictiveness that allows her to feel strong, not rejected.

The goddess Hera had several children, but she did not give birth to any of her from her husband. After the birth of Athena, whose only parent was Zeus, she in retaliation gave life to Hephaestus, the god of fire and blacksmithing. But, in comparison with the beautiful and perfect Athena, Hephaestus was a frail baby with a disfigured foot. In a fit of anger, Hera dropped him from Mount Olympus to the foot of the mountain. This is by no means the only story associated with the vindictive malice of the supreme goddess. She wanted to kill Dionysus, sent insanity to his tutor. She put two snakes into the crib to the newborn Hercules. The unfortunate nymph Callisto, seduced by Zeus, Hera turned into a big she-bear and tried to force her son to kill her.

This is how the goddess Hera appeared to the ancient Greeks, photos of the surviving statues can be seen in many galleries. On them the great patroness of marriage and childbirth looks beautiful, stately and proud woman, with such grandeur who has endured all offensive adventures of her loving spouse.