\paperw4890 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 \cf7 Hera, or Juno in the Latin world, was the daughter of \b \cf15 \ATXht10332 Cronus\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 and \b \cf15 \ATXht11800 Rhea\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 . She was swallowed by her father along with \b \cf15 \ATXht5 Poseidon\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , \b \cf15 \ATXht1 Hades\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , \b \cf15 \ATXht10818 Hestia\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , and \b \cf15 \ATXht11 Demeter\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 and liberat
ed by her brother \b \cf15 \ATXht8 Zeus\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , who also became her husband. There are various legends dealing with this union, the most common of which speaks of a secret marriage that took place on Mount \b \cf15 \ATXht10903 Ida\b0 \ATXht0 \cf7 in Troas or Mount \b \cf15 \ATXht10325 Cithaeron\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 in Boeotia. The inhabitants of \cf0 \b \cf15 \ATXht11900 Samos\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 claimed that the marriage was consummated on their island and lasted for three hundred years
before it was made public. Another version speaks instead of a magnificent ceremony held in the palace of\cf0 \b \cf15 \ATXht11501 Oceanus\b0 \ATXht0 \cf7 at the westernmost edge of the earth, attended by all the gods who brought gifts: \b \cf15 \ATXht10700 Gaea\b0 \ATXht0 \cf7 offered to Hera the golden apples kept in the garden of the\cf0 \b \cf15 \ATXht10817 Hesperides\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 . Some say that it was Hera who seduced her younger brother, having chosen him at the moment of his birth; others t
hat Zeus possessed the evasive Hera when, during a storm, she held him in her lap in the form of a frightened cuckoo.\par
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Hera fought at Zeus' side against the\b \cf15 \ATXht12014 Titans\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 and then against the \b \cf15 \ATXht10703 Giants\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , causing the death of \b \cf15 \ATXht11632 Porphyrion\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 who was seized by a violent passion for her. This later happened to\b \cf0 \ATXht1026 \cf15 \ATXht10917 Ixion \b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 as well, but he met an
even worse fate. When Zeus had established his sovereignty, Hera sat by his side at the councils and banquets of the gods. Rather than queen of the immortals, Hera was considered the consort of the king of the gods and men, to whom she owed unquestioning
obedience like all the other Olympians. She was a faithful and sensible wife, though jealous and petulant. From their union were born \b \cf15 \ATXht4 Ares\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 ,\b \cf0 \ATXht10905 \cf15 Ilithia\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , and\b \ATXht10804 \cf15 He
be\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 . As for her fourth son, \b \cf15 \ATXht7 Hephaestus\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , there is also the myth that Hera conceived him on her own without her husband's involvement to repay him for having given birth to \b \cf15 \ATXht6 Athena\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 from his own head instead of from a woman's womb. In fact, Hera was considered the protectress of brides and birth.\par
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Hera's relationship with her husband was not always straightforward. Zeus listened to her advice and made his own secret
thoughts known to her, but Hera sometimes behaved toward him like an independent deity and did not hesitate to oppose him and to act against his will. In such cases Zeus sometimes reacted with a heavy hand. Once he even suspended her among the clouds, wi
th her hands bound and two anvils tied to her feet. On that occasion, Hephaestus' defense of his mother aroused the anger of his father, who cast him down from \b \cf15 \ATXht11507 Olympus\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 . Prompted by her fierce ambition, Hera even orga
nized, with \b \cf15 \ATXht9 Apollo\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 and \b \cf15 \ATXht5 Poseidon\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , a mutiny against Zeus, in which all the gods of Olympus took part with the exception of Hestia. The master of the gods was tied to his bed with leather t
hongs, knotted a hundred times, but the rebellion was brought to an end by \b \cf15 \ATXht12011 Thetis\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 who, fearing a civil war over the succession, sent\cf0 \b \cf15 \ATXht10206 Briareus\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 to free him.\par
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He
ra's jealous, violent, and vindictive character resulted in some memorable clashes with her husband, whom she was unable to forgive for his numerous infidelities, which she took as personal insults. Her hatred was directed not just toward her husband's l
overs (willing or not), as\b \cf0 \ATXht1021 \cf15 Semele\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 discovered too late, but also at those who gave them succor, such as\cf0 \b \cf15 \ATXht10501 Echo\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , and even the children born from those liaisons. The mos
t famous of these was\b \ATXht301 \cf15 \ATXht10811 Heracles\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 whose mother,\b \ATXht10120 \cf15 Alcmene\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , had the misfortune of attracting Zeus. Numerous other legends in which Hera played a leading or secondary rol
e portrayed her along the same lines: she was responsible for the tragic fate of \b \cf0 \ATXht1003 \cf15 \ATXht10909 Io\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , drove \b \cf15 \ATXht10141 Athamas\b0 \ATXht0 \cf7 and \b \cf15 \ATXht10908 Ino\b0 \ATXht0 \cf7 out of their min
ds, incited \b \cf15 \ATXht13 Artemis\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 against \b \cf15 \ATXht10303 Callisto\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , and so on.\par
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The rages and revenges of Hera were also prompted by more petty motives, as was discovered by the soothsayer \b \cf15 \ATXht12012 Tiresias\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 who contradicted her, or by the Trojans who earned her undying enmity as a result of the preference that \b \cf0 \ATXht11606 \cf15 Paris\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 had given to the beauty of \b \cf15 \ATXht2 Aphrodite
\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 . Zeus, who was afraid of her, was obliged to deal with her anger and, when he could, correct her excesses.
