Hera In Greek Mythology

Greek Mythology has been around for centuries and the Gods and Goddesses in the myths themselves were worshipped for many years. One of the most important Goddesses was Hera, queen of the Gods and Goddesses. She was married to the Supreme Ruler, Zeus, who was also her brother. One of the many theories surrounding the personalities of the Greek deities is that they are exaggerated symbolic representations of characteristics that humans themselves possess. Whether this is true or not Hera was painted as an extremely jealous woman who spent every waking moment plotting the destruction and torment of those who were the source of her envy. What many seem to overlook though is why she would behave so childishly if she is in fact the queen of the …show more content…
This plethora of infidelities are what ultimately lead Hera to be depicted as some jealous hag when in reality she is doing what any woman would do. Zeus is already a God and there isn’t much she can do to him so naturally she goes after the women he cheated on her with and his bastard children. There are many stories that express Hera’s wrath and add to her vengeful character. A famous story relating this is the story of Io. The myth is explained in the Bibliotheca “Zeus seduced Io while she was a priestess of Hera. When Hera discovered them, Zeus touched the girl, changed her into a white cow, and swore that he had not had sex with her. Hera demanded the cow from Zeus, and assigned Argos Panoptes as its guard. Argos tied the cow to an olive tree in the grove of the Mykenaians. Zeus instructed Hermes to steal her, and Hermes killed Argos with a stone. Hera then inflicted the cow with a gadfly.” (Apollodorus) The gadfly tormented Io until she was finally able to shift back to her human form. Did Hera kill Io? No. Did Hera maim Io? No. Zeus turned Io into a calf. All Hera did was have the calf guarded to make sure her husband didn’t cheat on her again. The worst thing she did was have a fly attack the girl who ultimately betrayed Hera and deserved much worse. Readers should see that this act doesn’t make Hera a mean, vengeful Goddess, it makes her relatable, it showcases the fact that even though she is Queen of the Heavens she still has feelings and acts on