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 patroness of marriage, women, and childbirth, and her counterpart in Roman mythology is Juno. It seems likely that this affiliation with maternity led to the name of the title character in the 2007 movie, Juno. Both the peacock and the cow were sacred to her.
Hera is the wife of Zeus, and they had four children together. Their offspring were Hephaestus, the god of smiths 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 up to Olympus; and Eileithyia, mentioned by Hesiod, but not the focus of a myth, although she is mentioned in a Homeric hymn in relation to the birth of Artemis and Apollo.
According to the myths, Zeus approached Hera as he approached many of his other loves — on the spur of the moment and in disguise. One day, when she was in Argos, Zeus caught sight of her and in order to approach her easily, turned himself into a cuckoo and got drenched in a rain shower. When Hera sat after her walk, the little cuckoo sat on her lap for warmth and soon changed back to his true shape.
Zeus proved to be perpetually unfaithful, so it is not surprising that Hera has a reputation for jealousy. Her vengeance against the other women Zeus loved and their children took interesting forms. Zeus turned Io into a heifer to conceal her from Hera, but Hera knew and asked to have the heifer as a gift. When Zeus sent Hermes to steal Io back, Hera set a gadfly that stung Io and chased her across Europe.
Callisto, a companion of Artemis, was seduced by Zeus, and Hera changed her into a she-bear. Zeus turned her into the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. When Zeus, in the guise of a human, took up with Semele and she became pregnant with Dionysus, Hera convinced her to ask Zeus to see him in his divine form. He had to comply, but the sight killed Semele, although Zeus was able to rescue Dionysus.
Hera tried to stop Leto, another of Zeus’s consorts, from giving birth, by prohibiting a birth on any fixed earth. Leto searched the Earth, and finally found a floating island, which was immune from 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 at 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 serpents before any harm was done. Note that the Disney movie Hercules is simply 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 for Hera.
