Hera

Hera’s name appears on a Linear B tablet from Pylos as e-ra. Her cult at the Heraion of Samos was one of the oldest and richest in the Greek world. The temple there, rebuilt multiple times, was one of the largest Greek temples ever constructed. At Argos, her cult was the dominant religion of the city. She was no minor figure.

The Marriage

Hera was Zeus’s wife and sister. Their marriage was the divine template for mortal marriage in Greek society, which makes it significant that the marriage was a disaster. Zeus was unfaithful with mortals, nymphs, and other goddesses on a scale that Homer treats as both fact and running joke. Hera’s response was consistent: she punished the women, not Zeus.

The Vengeance

Io was turned into a cow and set wandering across the earth. Leto was barred from giving birth on any land, until the floating island of Delos offered refuge. Semele was tricked into asking Zeus to reveal his true form and burned to ash. Echo was cursed to repeat only the last words spoken to her. Heracles, Zeus’s son by the mortal Alcmene, was Hera’s primary target: she sent serpents to his cradle, drove him mad so that he killed his own children, and imposed the twelve labors that defined his life.

The Name

Heracles means “Glory of Hera.” The hero she hated most carried her name. Some scholars read this as evidence that Heracles was originally Hera’s champion before the mythology shifted. Others read it as a permanent irony: the man who suffered most from Hera’s wrath earned his immortality through the suffering she caused. Either way, her name is inseparable from the greatest hero in Greek mythology.