Goddess of Marriage
Hera protects the institution of marriage, the rights of married women, and the sanctity of oaths between spouses.
The Meaning of Goddess of Marriage
Hera was the eldest daughter of Kronos and Rhea and the sister-wife of Zeus, making her queen of the Olympians. Zeus courted her by transforming into a shivering cuckoo bird; Hera took pity on it and held it to her breast, whereupon Zeus revealed himself. Their wedding was celebrated by all the gods, and Gaia gave Hera a tree of golden apples as a gift, which she planted in the Garden of the Hesperides. Despite her position, Hera's marriage was plagued by Zeus's constant infidelities. She pursued his lovers and illegitimate children with relentless fury: she sent serpents to kill the infant Heracles, drove Dionysus's foster parents mad, and transformed Io into a cow. Yet Hera also represented loyalty and the endurance of the marital bond through hardship.
Parents
Kronos and Rhea
Children
Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe, Eileithyia
Symbols
Fun Fact
Hera bathed in the spring at Kanathos each year to magically renew her virginity, symbolizing the annual renewal of the marriage bond.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Judgement of Paris
💭 conceptNarrative
The Trojan prince's fateful choice among three goddesses that set in motion the Trojan War
Goddess of Love
💭 conceptLove, beauty, desire, fertility
Aphrodite governs romantic love and physical beauty, wielding an influence that even Zeus cannot resist.
Wedding of Peleus and Thetis
💭 conceptNarrative
The divine wedding feast where gods and mortals celebrated together, unknowingly setting the Trojan War in motion
Judgement of Paris
💭 conceptbeauty, causation
The beauty contest between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite judged by Paris of Troy, whose choice of Aphrodite triggered the Trojan War.
Goddess of the Hearth
💭 conceptHearth, home, domesticity, sacred flame
Hestia keeps the sacred hearth fire burning on Olympus and in every mortal home, representing domestic stability.
Oath of Tyndareus
💭 conceptoath, alliance
The pact sworn by all of Helen's suitors to defend whichever man won her hand, later invoked by Menelaus to assemble the Greek coalition against Troy.
Eris
💭 conceptGoddess of strife and discord
The goddess of strife and discord who threw the golden apple that started the chain of events leading to the Trojan War.
Hera
⚡ godQueen of the gods, marriage, family, childbirth
Queen of the Olympian gods and goddess of marriage. Known for her jealous rages against Zeus's lovers and their children.
Niobe's Punishment
💭 conceptNarrative
The destruction of a queen's fourteen children by Apollo and Artemis for her boast of superiority to the goddess Leto
Hera
⚡ godQueen of the gods and guardian of marriage
The queen of Olympus and goddess of marriage who defended the institution of matrimony with a wrath that shaped half the myths.
Peitho
💭 conceptRhetoric and Desire
The Greek goddess and concept of persuasion, worshipped as a divine force in both politics and love.
Creation of Pandora
💭 conceptNarrative
The crafting of the first woman by the gods as a punishment for humanity after Prometheus's theft of fire