Fairy tales, epics, myths, legends.. This is where every person’s knowledge of the world begins. Myths and legends of Ancient Greece are especially well known. At least that's how it was until recently. But the fact that in all these legends, the adventures of gods and heroes, their conclusion of love and friendly alliances, there are hidden deep meanings and the true background of many events, people have actively started talking, literally, in last years. The time has come when information from textbooks and official media sources about our past, about the history of mankind, ceased to satisfy too many. An increasing number of people are joining the processes of rethinking existing information, checking it for accuracy, including turning to epics and myths.
Nothing human is alien to me... I was listening here once series of lectures, dedicated to the mystery of the palladium, where the author devotes a lot of time to analyzing the myths that we habitually continue to call “ANCIENT Greek”, although tons of information have already accumulated that this is not entirely true, they are not that ancient.
And one moment caught my attention there. I'll share.
The case concerns the wives of the Supreme Ruler of the world of Ants, that is, Zeus.
Who interprets the origin of his name? Some people hear “Z = J” in the pronounced phonemes and discover similarities with Zhiva in the male form, some are close to the analogue - Zeus-Deus, and some, like V. Yashkardin, completely reduce the entire etymology of the word to a simple yawn. Like, when Rhea brought her royal husband Kron-Chronos a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes instead of a child, this was already the sixth time in a row, a matter that had become ordinary, not sacred, and Kron relaxed. Yawned. Yes, in a yawn, he swallowed the deception quickly slipped by Rhea. Yawning, he missed... Zeus... Well, and then, as it was supposed to be, according to the prediction, the grown-up, missed son overthrew his father, the ruler of the World, as in his time, he himself did the same. I missed it, I missed it.
Here is the theme, beloved by the Greeks, of the conflict between fathers and sons, the struggle for supreme power and more sacred layers... Kron-Chronos - Time, having become the Lord of the World, starts the process of movement of TIME as such? Before it, there was no time in the Universe? Or was it in a curled form - in the womb of the Mother of the entire material World, Gaia, the wife of Uranus, personifying the Cosmos?... Until it broke out of her and, hidden in a secluded place, grew up and overthrew the father, having previously castrated him.
Is time born in the material Universe and forms its own space? The same closed circuit of the space-time continuum that is now operated by official science? To single out something separate from Infinity and Timelessness, albeit huge, is, of course, to emasculate it...
But that’s not what I started talking about! Wives! Wives of Zeus. There were three of them – official ones.
1. Rhea brings Kronos a stone instead of a child The first was Metis. Cousin of mother Rhea, daughter of Oceanus and his wife Tethys (Tethys), Goddess responsible for WISDOM, who was assigned to Zeus on the island of Crete, where he grew up, under the thunder of the drums of the Curetes, so that his crowned father would not discover the deception and the cries of the last offspring would not heard. Under the wise supervision, Zeus quickly matured, and, due to the absence of other females in his environment, of course, became interested in the beautiful Metis. However, this happens quite often among ardent young men who fall in love at a tender age with much older girls. We must give her credit, Metis resisted for a long time... But the pressure was too great. I couldn't resist. And they got married. Everything would be fine, but then the Oracle intervened again. Nothing new. With the same prophecy.
2.Metis, first wife of Zeus; 3. Birth of Athena from the head of Zeus Zeus was predicted that Metis would give birth to two children: a daughter who would not yield to him in wisdom, and a son who would be so strong that he would overthrow his father from his throne. Having learned about this and consulted with Mother Gaia, the Supreme God decided to eliminate this unpleasant prospect “in his own way”: he lulled Metis with pleasant and flattering speeches, and when she fell asleep, he swallowed her. That is, he did not again rely on trust in the process, and did not take risks like his grandfather and father, knowing first-hand about their bitter experience. After some time, he himself, from his own head, gave birth to a daughter: the warlike Athena, who from now on took upon herself the attributes and aspects of the Goddess of Wisdom.
And when Zeus swallowed the bearer of Unconditional, Cosmic Wisdom, and Wisdom, in a new guise, came out of his head - what was it? Isn’t this an act of seizure by the Mind and its appropriation of the right to describe the World and what is considered reasonable and what is not? Is it from this moment that the Illusion begins? Matrix of Genesis?
Titanomachy, as the overthrow of the previous truths and controlling natural energies personified by the Titans, replacing them with Gods playing Games with Worlds and with Worlds, is not a reflection, a statement of the substitution that has occurred?
On the other hand, why is it bad for the SUPREME to have Wisdom within himself? Day and night. As they say, just what the doctor ordered. What is the Supreme without wisdom? And in this case, from now on, Zeus becomes two-wise. The first is the Wisdom of the Universe, as Unconditional Knowledge and understanding of Existence, now invariably with him. And the Wisdom of the Mind, to solve the current problems of managing the World, is also almost constantly at his fingertips, as a daughter, who is always nearby, and never even wants to get married.
4. All the illusions of the world are in your head; 5.Pallas Athena – Invincible Goddess of Wisdom Second wife and advisor Zeus became Themis. His own sister. Beginning of the World, whatever you want, there wasn’t much choice. Themis, or Themis, bore him seven daughters - three Moira, goddesses of fate: Lachesis (Giver of lots), Clotho (Spinning thread) and Atropos (Tearing thread); three Or, goddesses responsible for order in nature and society, as well as for the change of seasons - Eunomia (Goodness), Dike (Justice), Eirene (Peaceful Life); Nemesis, the goddess of fair and inevitable retribution for sins and, according to some versions, Prometheus, also very fair, who created the first people.
6. Goddesses of order - three sisters of Ora; 7. Goddesses of fate - three Moira sisters A strict, impartial goddess responsible for enforcing laws in human society, Themis becomes in its later versions, completely duplicating the divine aspects of her daughter Ora (Dike), adding a blindfold to her attributes - scales and sword. And this headband, an accessory of the latest version Themis, from Goddesses of Universal Order, opposing Chaos, responsible for op organizational functions everywhere and in everything, in all times and spaces, transformed into the Goddess of Law and Order (Justice). I'm also blind. Although there is an opinion that " The goddess does not need eyes at all to see the deeds and destinies of Souls - Jiv" By the way, some say that she did not always hold the sword in her hand. This attribute appeared on her instead of a cornucopia - a symbol retribution or non-retribution , appeared before the court.
8.Themis without a bandage, “Wisdom, Measure and Strength”, Raphael Santi (1483-1520); 9.Themis, without bandage in Frankfurt am Main, Germany And in principle, in the historical, real layer, the initial registration of aspects of human rights advocacy of a given Goddess could take place in Ancient Egypt. There, symbols of truth and justice were represented by the goddess Maat (Ma), who represents the eye of Osiris. It was believed that people live “thanks to Maat, in Maat and for Maat.”
Her figurine was a mandatory attribute of the attire of judges. And, although the judge has always been identified with a man, justice in many religions was personified by a woman - the daughter, wife or sister of God. The Egyptian Maat was usually depicted with a feather in her hair, which she placed on the scales at the afterlife judgment of Osiris. The scales were held by Anubis, the jackal-headed god, and the verdict was pronounced by the husband Maat, the god of Wisdom, Thoth. As you can see, in Egypt, Order and Wisdom went hand in hand. If Zeus entered into a marriage alliance with the bearers of these aspects in turn, then the Egyptian representatives carried it out among themselves. After all, Justice and Wisdom are a good pair.
10.The Judgment of Osiris. Figurine of Maat on scales; 11. Maat and Isis. But let's return to Themis, the second wife of the god Zeus.
According to Homer, Themis, in addition to all of the above, he performs the duties of the herald of the Supreme Olympian, convenes the gods for meetings, and presides over the feasts of the celestials. In the meaning of the adviser to the Thunderer, always sitting near the throne, on the right hand, she often appears in post-Hesiod poetic works.
Everything seems to be fine. Who, if not the Supreme Ruler, should look after and be responsible for order in all the abodes of Life under his control? Wise, Knowledgeable, Responsible, Fair. The best combination possible for a manager. Is not it so?
But at some point he began to look at Thetis. And not just to look at her, but to want to take her as a new wife. Thetis, sea nymph, daughter of Nereus and Doris, " The lower part of her body was thought to be scaly, like that of a fish.». ()
So, is Thetis the Tabiti (Api) of Taurida? Snake-footed Goddess of the Scythians? Is Dorida Doaria? Are we talking about the unification of the Western and Eastern worlds through a new matrimonial union? Is it really bypassing the existing Codes and Regulations?
12. Snake-footed goddess of the Scythians, Great Cymbalka Kurgan; 13. Api-Tabiti, Panticapaeum, 1st century BC. Of course, Themis did not like this arrangement. And she, known to everyone in addition to her love of order, also has a prophetic gift, since she received the Delphic Oracle from her mother Gaia, makes a prediction that is captivating with its novelty and ultimately upsets the union of Zeus with Thetis: Like, this marriage will lead to the birth of a son , who, as was customary in their family, would overthrow his father. To begin with, he reveals the secret only to his son Prometheus. Tricky. If you tell your husband about this yourself, he will understand that out of jealousy he will not believe it. But, nevertheless, very strange. How Zeus found out that the prophecy already existed and Prometheus knew, this is a great mystery. The myths are silent about this. However, it cost the hero to hide his mother’s message "thousand-year torment to which Zeus doomed him"(Aeschylus, Prometheus).
By the way, upon their completion, Prometheus, who, apparently, due to his innate qualities of justice, was bypassed by traditional prophecy, himself became the patron saint of the Aryan and Scythian tribes, having married Asia, the daughter of Ocean and his wife Tethys (Tethys), sister of the Goddess of Wisdom Metis, the first wife of Zeus. That's how it happens! But there is a question. And this is not an idle question.
Why didn’t Zeus torture his missus for interest, but subjected his own blood to terrible torture? How could a mother watch her son suffer for all these years? It's not clear at all. Truly, impartiality is its name! Moreover, due to ignorance of the secret, Zeus could still get married at that time... However, my heart senses that something else was at work. Perhaps, everything is in the same theme of the struggle between God the Father and God the Son... Didn’t the “star” bypass Prometheus?!
Already in the creation by him, Prometheus, of new creatures - people, and thereby in the discovery of new meanings of the existence of the Zeus world, there was a sufficient challenge. Maybe that's why he suffered?
14.Prometheus chained to the Caucasus mountains (Boris Vallejo); 15.Prometheus creating the first man After all, each of the Gods-Fathers, Kron-Chronos, Zeus, removing the ruler of the former World from the throne, opened a different page in the life of our Universe. Not just a page, a chapter - a new book.
And the World - before people and after their appearance, it seems to me, is more than just different chapters of a big novel, these are its separate volumes. Is not it so? Or a lot of honor?
Somehow this point, in my opinion, is very weakly emphasized in the “ancient Greek” myths... As well as the fact that the creator of people was primarily a patron.
And Thetis?.. What about Thetis? How many of them did Zeus have?!.. Those whom he looked at and not only... She was married to Peleus, and she bore him 7 children. According to Lycophron, testing six for immortality, she killed them to death - either in a fire, or in a cauldron of boiling water, or in the waters of the Styx. The seventh, Achilles, his father “managed to save.” I was in the right place at the right time. Source: Wikipedia (Here we recall the Scandinavian sagas, where heroines married to foreigners also loved to test their young children to see if their offspring would be a glorious Viking).
Achilles turned out to be one of his own, then he will prove himself in the Great Trojan War, participating in it as a mercenary. We will remember him again, perhaps in connection with all this.
By the way, or inappropriately, the history of the Trojan War itself begins with the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. It was at this wedding that the dispute between the goddesses Aphrodite, Athena and Hera flared up for the title of the most beautiful, and the poisonous apple of discord between them, playing the Worlds, was awarded for the promise - to give the Trojan prince Paris the love of the beautiful Spartan Helen. Her husband’s wife, by the way, is also the daughter of Zeus. From Leda.
17. Zeus and Hera-Hera, (Jupiter and Juno on Mount Ida - Jupiter and Juno, artist Barry, James); 18.Hera and her peacock; 19. Hera-Juno with a peacock and Lily, Joseph Paelinck Hera attracted the attention of Zeus in his mature years, when he had already defeated Kronos and the Titans and became the Supreme God of Olympus. Many say her name means "Great Lady", the feminine form of the Greek word hero. But she was given a name at birth! And who could have known then that she would become precisely the “mistress”, the main goddess of the Olympic “Areopagus”? V. Yashkardin traces the meaning of the name almost to gerontology (Greek. geron, gerontos - old man), meaning primogeniture, the antiquity of the goddess, her aspects of the Mother of the World. Well, at least she had two more sisters, each of whom, in her own way, was the Mother of the World. Besides, Hera, is listed in the pantheon of gods as eternally young, which is reflected in her name in the version - among the Romans.
In Greek mythology, Hera has two completely opposite aspects. She is registered everywhere and solemnly revered in rituals as a powerful goddess who patronizes family unions and protects mothers during childbirth, that is, as being practically responsible for obstetrics. And, at the same time, she is mentioned everywhere as vindictive, contentious, grumpy and jealous. That’s what they write: “Hera is distinguished by her power, cruelty and jealous disposition.” Moreover, Hera knows no bounds in jealousy and vindictiveness.
She sent poisonous snakes to the island where Aegina and her son from Zeus lived, Aeacus (in the future the father of Peleus and the grandfather of Achilles, called the fairest of people).
She destroyed Semele, the mother of Dionysus from Zeus, advising her to ask the Thunderer to appear in all his divine splendor. As a result, the girl died, incinerated. Semele's sister Ino, who took the baby into her care, became distraught, also not without the efforts of the illustrious Hera. She sent a cloud of gadflies to the cow who had been turned into a cow, and they chased her day and night. She cursed the nymph Echo, who began to repeat other people’s words endlessly. She did not allow Leto, who was pregnant by Zeus with Artemis and Apollo, to give birth on solid ground. Queen Lamia of Libya, daughter of Baal-Bel, granddaughter of Poseidon, was turned into a monster by her. She turned the nymph Callisto into a bear. How much suffering did Hera subject Hercules to? This list can be continued endlessly...
In addition, it was Hera who led mutiny against her crowned husband. One can, of course, say that her cup of patience ran out due to frequent adultery Zeus. We can say that the last straw was his cruelty towards his and Hera’s son, the newborn Hephaestus, who was born lame ( Zeus forced Hera to throw him off Olympus)... But the fact remains. The goddess, who is responsible for children and marital harmony, does not find words or opportunities to save her own child and does not get along with her husband at all... She does not share the worries and burdens of her husband in ruling the World. Moreover, he is betrayed.
But what about the motto of a real wife?
20.Motto Saves Zeus from overthrow and dishonor... Thetis. As, indeed, his son Hephaestus was thrown into the sea from heaven... And this, in my opinion, is also a very interesting moment. If you remember all the time about symbols and hidden true meanings. There is a clear connection Scythian Goddesses, as it became clear above, at least to me, are with masters in the art of blacksmithing (remember Scythian gold). Think of the rest of your thoughts yourself... They are on the surface.
The myths also say that Hephaestus, raised by Thetis, was very kind and skillful (he would then forge various attributes and simply gifts for all the Gods), and was also married to the Goddess of Love - Aphrodite. True, he is not very successful in this union: Aphrodite cheats on him all the time, including with the God of War Ares…
Do women love military men?
21. Hephaestus and Aphrodite, Antoine Wirtz (1806-1865), Antoine Wirtz; 22.23. Gold of Scythian burial mounds, Dnepropetrovsk region, Tolstaya Mogila. I think it will be very interesting for many to find out exactly how Thetis will free Zeus. She will call and send a hundred-armed, fifty-headed giant to his rescue. from Tartarus, Hecatoncheira Briareus... Tell me, am I the only one who heard in these sounds the northern wind Boreas and the tramp of a hundred-armed, fifty-headed cavalry... from Tartary? The ease with which Thetis turns to Tartarus removes the last doubts about her belonging to the Scythian Goddesses.
Conclusion along the way: Tartarus is not a dungeon. This is just something very distant for a heat-loving Hellene. And it's cold too. Like a basement.
24.Hun Empire: Atilla and his strength So what? Hera?
And with Hero- the cognitive dissonance.
We rubbed, I feel, not only historical documents, but also myths.
“...The worn saddle creaks again // And the wind cools the former wound // Where the hell have you gone, sir // Can’t you really afford peace?”
AND " A-la ger com A-la ger"(à la guerre comme à la guerre).. That is: “In war, as in war.”
Who and when reprogrammed the Goddess of Marriage to... The Goddess of War? Where did this hacker come from, what is in the name of the big-eyed Mother of the World Heqat turned it over, mirrored the letter “ q»?
Guerra - from Spanish - war, struggle, enmity, confrontation, rivalry, dispute. WELL??? This is a completely different matter!!! And this is exactly what HERA, according to myth, continuously demonstrates to us! Although... of course, the choice of such a lady as a wife is very curious... BUT IT IS EXTREMELY SYMBOLIC FOR THE DECODING OF OUR CIVILIZATION!!! Post-Flood time - under the leadership of New Gods, new hackers-programmers - is a continuous guerra!!! War, struggle, enmity, confrontation, rivalry, dispute... “for - the Spanish inheritance”...
Sound "H" very often the word is not pronounced at the beginning. Or pronounced aspirated . And then Hera- this is also era. The era of wars started by the Great Trojan War. A battle won through a series of deceptions. Forcing Odysseus and many other heroes to participate in it. Framing Achilles, who did not want to fight even for money. By giving the Trojans a horse... And so on. Re-read the Iliad again.
Hera, Hera of the Greek myths known to us is war. Era of wars. Hidden even in the word gerontos - old man, like the war of the body with death, which the body loses as it grows old. The one contained in the word is a hero. A hero is always fighting with someone. And even the Roman version of Hera’s name - Juno - does not contradict my “discovery”. How is it sung at Tsoi’s? “...War is a matter for the young, a cure for wrinkles...”
Zeus's first wife is Wisdom. The second wife of Zeus is Order and Justice. And the third wife is War.
25.Zeus and Hera on the building of the Austrian Parliament in Vienna, Austria
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Khasanzyanova Aisylu
Hera
Summary of the myth
Hera Ludovisi. Sculpture, 5th century. BC.
Hera(among the Romans - Juno) - in ancient Greek mythology, the queen of the gods, the patroness of marriage, conjugal love and childbirth, protects the holiness and inviolability of marital unions. The daughter of Kronos and Rhea, the wife and elder sister of Zeus, was his third and last legal wife. Kronos, fearing the birth of a son who would seize his power, swallowed his newborn children, so Hera, like her four brothers and sisters, was swallowed immediately after birth. Zeus, with the help of his wife Metis, forced his father to return them back. After being released from captivity, Hera, who had already become a young girl during this time, was given to the care of two deities of nature - Ocean and Typhis, who raised her at the end of the world, where she lived far from Olympus, in peace and quiet.
Hera's extraordinary beauty attracted Zeus, who had already become the supreme god of Olympus by that time, and he began to actively seek her favor. To achieve intimacy with the girl, Zeus turned himself into a motley cuckoo, trembling from the cold, over which Hera bent. In order to warm the frozen bird, the unsuspecting girl gently pressed it to her chest. But as soon as she did this, Zeus took on his true form and took possession of her. Due to the ban of Rhea's mother, their relationship was secret for three hundred years, until Zeus openly declared Hera as his wife and queen of the gods. The goddess bathed in the Cana stream near Argos and thus regained her virginity for the wedding.
The gods celebrated the wedding magnificently. Hera, dressed in luxurious clothes, shone with majestic beauty among the gods of Olympus, sitting on a golden throne next to her husband. All the gods sent their gifts to their wedding. Mother Earth Gaia gave Hera a tree with golden apples. Everything in nature praised Hera and Zeus.
Hera reigns on high Olympus, being an assistant and adviser to her husband. She, like her husband, commands thunder and lightning, at her word the sky is covered with dark rain clouds, and with a wave of her hand she raises menacing storms. Beautiful great Hera, from under her crown, wondrous curls fall in a wave, her eyes glow with power and calm grandeur. The gods honor Hera, and her husband, Zeus, honors her and often consults with her. But quarrels between Zeus and Hera are also common. She often objects to her husband and argues with him in the councils of the gods. Then the Thunderer gets angry and threatens his wife with punishment. Then Hera falls silent and restrains her anger. She remembers how Zeus scourged her, how he bound her with golden chains and hung her between the earth and the sky, tying two heavy anvils to her feet.
Juno, who caught Jupiter with Io. Pieter Lastman, 1618
Hera is powerful, there is no goddess equal to her in power. Majestic, in long luxurious clothes woven by Athena herself, in a chariot drawn by two immortal horses, she rides down from Olympus. The chariot is all made of silver, the wheels are made of pure gold, and their spokes sparkle with copper. Fragrance spreads across the ground where Hera passes. All living things bow before her, the great queen of Olympus.
Hera often suffers insults from her husband Zeus. This is what happened when Zeus fell in love with the beautiful Io and, in order to hide her from Hera, turned her into a cow. But the Thunderer did not save her with this. Hera saw the snow-white cow Io and demanded that Zeus give it to her. Zeus could not refuse. Hera, having taken possession of Io, gave her under the protection of the stoic Argus. Zeus saw Io suffering. Calling his son Hermes, he ordered him to kidnap her. Hermes quickly rushed to the top of that mountain. He put Argus to sleep with his speeches. As soon as his hundred eyes closed, Hermes drew his curved sword and cut off Argus’s head with one blow. Io was freed. But Zeus did not save her from the wrath of Hera. The goddess sent a monstrous gadfly to the unfortunate woman. With its terrible sting, the gadfly drove the sufferer from country to country, maddened by torment. She did not find peace anywhere. She ran everywhere, in what countries she visited! Finally, after long wanderings, she reached the rock in the country of the Scythians, to which the titan Prometheus was chained. He predicted to the unfortunate woman that only in Egypt would she get rid of her torment. Io rushed on, driven by the gadfly. She endured much torment before reaching Egypt. There, on the banks of the blessed Nile, Zeus returned her to her former image, and her son Epaphus was born.
Images and symbols of myth
The emergence of the Milky Way. Tintoretto, 1570
In myths, Hera is a model of marital fidelity. As a sign of this, she was depicted in her wedding attire. Hera on Olympus is the defender of her own family hearth, which is endlessly threatened by Zeus's amorousness. It seemed that not only was he the father of the gods, he wanted to become the parent of almost all the heroes. Therefore, Hera’s life is full of anxiety; she is ready to consider every removal of her divine spouse as evidence of his betrayal. Proudly independent Geru humiliated Zeus's numerous love affairs, since she considered their marriage sacred. Zeus's favor towards his mistresses and the children born from these relationships aroused in Hera hatred and a feeling of vengeance towards them. She is jealous and insidiously pursues her rivals, harbors hatred for the heroes - her husband's children from mortal women. Hera preferred evil intrigues, for example, she borrowed a belt woven from lust from Aphrodite in order to ignite passion in her husband and thereby weaken his will.
The main symbols associated with the goddess are the pomegranate apple, as a symbol of marital love, the cuckoo, as the harbinger of spring, the pores of love. In addition, her bird is considered to be a peacock with an iridescent bushy tail, whose eyes symbolized vigilance Hera. Not only ancient authors speak about the peacock as the sacred bird of Hera, but also images on coins and reliefs. Perhaps it was this bird that contributed to the formation of “peacock” vanity and arrogance in the goddess’s character.
Also symbols of Hera were the cow, the Milky Way and the lily. The sacred cow has been an image that has long been associated with the Great Mother - the nurse who provides food for everyone. The lily is seen as a symbol of purity, going back to the idea of milk flowing from the breast of the goddess Hera.
An important symbol associated with the goddess Hera is the Milky Way. According to myth, on the birthday of Hercules, Zeus, delighted that the most beautiful of mortal women, Alcmene, bore him a son, predetermined his fate - to become the most famous hero of Greece. In order for his son Hercules to receive divine power and become invincible, Zeus ordered the messenger of the gods, Hermes, to bring Hercules to Olympus so that he could be nursed by the great goddess Hera.
With the speed of thought, Hermes flew in his winged sandals. Unnoticed by anyone, he took the newly born Hercules and brought him to Olympus. The goddess Hera was sleeping under a magnolia tree strewn with flowers at that time. Hermes quietly approached the goddess and placed little Hercules on her breast, who greedily began to suck her divine milk, but suddenly the goddess woke up. In anger and rage, she threw the baby from her breast, whom she had hated long before his birth. Hera's milk spilled and flowed across the sky like a river. This is how the Milky Way was formed.
Communicative means of creating images and symbols
In Ancient Greece Geru highly respected. The main place of cult of the goddess Hera was the city of Argos in Greece in the Peloponnese, where her colossal statue, made by Polykleitos from gold and ivory, stood, and where holidays - Heraea - were held every 5 years. In addition to Argos, she was also honored in Mycenae, Corinth, Sparta, Samos, Plataea, Sikyon and other cities.
Art represents Hera as a tall, slender woman, with majestic posture, mature beauty, a rounded face with an important expression, a beautiful forehead, thick hair, large, widely open “ox-like” eyes. The most remarkable image of her was the above-mentioned statue of Polykleitos in Argos: here Hera sat on a throne, with a crown on her head, with a pomegranate apple in one hand, with a scepter in the other; at the top of the scepter is a cuckoo. On top of the long chiton, which left only the neck and arms uncovered, there is a himation thrown around the waist.
In literature, the XII hymn of Homer and the XVI Orphic hymn are dedicated to Hera. The protagonist of Aeschylus's tragedy "Semele, or the Water-Bearer", where she took the guise of a priestess from Argos collecting alms, as well as Seneca's tragedy "Hercules in Madness". In Phlius (a city in the northeastern part of the ancient Peloponnese) there was a sacred legend explaining the absence of a statue of Hera.
In architecture, the wonderful temples of Hera are known, most of them were built in Ancient Greece. Herodotus considered the temple on the island of Samos to be the most outstanding. The historian included it in the list of wonders of the world.
Social significance of the myth
Although Greek mythology emphasized Hera's humiliation and vindictiveness, but as a cult goddess - by contrast - Hera was greatly revered.
In rituals, Hera had three epithets and three corresponding sanctuaries where she was worshiped throughout the year. In the spring she was Hera-Virgo. In summer and autumn she was glorified as Hera Teleia, or Hera Perfect, and became the Widow Hero in winter. These three aspects of Hera represented the three states of a woman's life, played out again and again in various rites. In the spring, Hera was depicted taking a dip in a pond, symbolically restoring her virginity. In the summer she achieved perfection in marriage rituals. The winter ritual symbolized her disagreement with Zeus and her separation from him, which heralded the period of Hera the Widow during which she remained in hiding.
The cult of Hera was widespread especially in Mycenae, Argos - the temple of Heraion, Olympia, Tiryns, Corinth, Sparta and the islands (on Samos, where there was a temple of Hera of Samos and her ancient fetish in the form of a board). But in fact big island in Greece on the island of Crete, where the “sacred marriage” of Hera and Zeus was celebrated in Knossos.
Also in Crete, in Knossos, every spring the “sacred marriage” of Hera and Zeus was solemnly celebrated, which was seen as a connection between heaven and earth, fertilized by the fertile spring rain, recalling the greatness of the matriarchal female deity.
The messenger of this rain was the cuckoo, reputed to be the sacred bird of Hera. On Hera's holidays, suitors approached the altar of the goddess wearing cuckoo masks. The peacock, shining with the beauty of its plumage, was also considered the sacred bird of Hera.
For the guardian of marriage and the hearth, Hera, there are no competitors in power and authority. Only Hera dares to argue with Zeus the Thunderer, and sometimes even deceive him.
The Greek goddess Hera is distinguished by her noble, majestic beauty. Among the Olympians, she sits in the very center, next to her husband. Its obligatory attribute is like power - a diadem or crown.
Next to the throne of Zeus stands her throne, as if spouses are equal to each other. The Greek goddess Hera, like her husband, rules over thunder and lightning, and she is also subject to storms and fogs.
Patroness of the family
The Greek goddess Hera was the patroness of family and marriage. Her job was to take care of the inviolability of the bonds of marriage, of the connections between spouses, she also sends offspring to the human race and helps women in labor. According to legends, the pomegranate fruit was dedicated to Hera as a symbol of fertility. The Greek goddess Hera was the mistress of the starry sky, and one of her sacred birds, often depicted near her, was a peacock, whose numerous “eyes” on its tail symbolized the sky.
Hera was worshiped as the protector of women. Her cult was popular on mainland Greece, as well as on the islands of Samos and Crete. It is quite possible that Greek goddess Hera was the first in whose name a covered closed sanctuary was built. Later, the Heraion, one of the largest Greek temples in general, was erected in its place.
Hera is capricious and jealous. Because of this, she constantly has conflicts with her husband. However, she knows how to achieve her goal not only in quarrels and scandals. The beautiful Hera, when other methods do not help, uses her charm. Sometimes she “takes to wear” Aphrodite’s magic belt, and becomes especially irresistible. She appears before the eyes of her husband, and the Thunderer recalls the ancient days of matchmaking, when he tried to achieve the love of the proud goddess, and the night of their sacred marriage. Zeus remembers his irresistible love for his wife, and during his hours of solitude he is unable to refuse her anything.
Cuckoo
Hera was willful and proud. According to, for a long time she did not respond to the courtship and persuasion of Zeus. Finally, the Lord of Olympus could not stand it and resorted to a trick. During a walk, a beautiful motley cuckoo began to follow Hero. The goddess liked her, and she tried to catch her. The bird surprisingly easily fell into her hands, but when Hera pressed the cuckoo to her chest, it suddenly turned into Zeus - now it was not the goddess who was hugging the bird to herself, but Zeus, the beautiful Hera. Finding herself in the arms of the Thunderer, Hera could not refuse. After this, the cuckoo also became one of her sacred symbols and has been adorning her scepter ever since. The marriage of Zeus and Hera was solemnly celebrated by all the gods.
Alas, Hera often has to endure insults from her husband. The Greek goddess Hera guards the bonds of marriage and their inviolability on earth, and on Olympus she notices that her own husband often runs “to the left”, to mortal women. Hera is angry, terribly offended by her husband, but she can’t do anything about it. All that remains for the goddess to be content with is revenge on those women whom her loving husband has bestowed with his favor.
Conspiracy and Retribution
One day even Hera’s endless patience came to an end. She persuaded the other gods of Olympus to go against their aegis-powerful husband, everyone promised her support. They crept up to the sleeping Thunderer and tied him up. Despite all his power, Zeus could not break the shackles. Hera was triumphant. But, as they say, heavy footsteps were heard, and Olympus shuddered when a huge hundred-armed monster stepped on it - the giant Briareus, sent by the goddess Thetis. He easily freed Briareus Zeus from his chains. And for Hera, the time has come for reckoning.
Angry Jupiter was merciless! He hung his wife on golden chains between heaven and earth, and tied heavy copper anvils to her feet. No one dared to stand up for the queen of heaven. Except for Hephaestus, for which he was thrown to the ground by an enraged Zeus. Only then did Hera free herself from the chains, when she swore by the waters of the Styx - the river of the dead - that she would never again encroach on the power of her husband. She kept her word, but this did not stop her from reproaching her husband for his countless betrayals.
The power of Hera. Hera is the wife of Zeus, and therefore there is no goddess equal to her in power. She alone decides to argue with the Thunderer and even deceive him. Mighty Hera. Majestic, in long luxurious clothes, in a chariot drawn by two immortal horses, she rides down from Olympus. Fragrance spreads across the earth where Hera passes; all living things bow before her.
On Olympus, Hera has a golden throne next to the throne of Zeus, and, like her divine husband, she commands thunder and lightning; In addition, storms and fogs are in her power. [One of Hera’s sacred birds was the peacock, because the many “eyes” on its tail symbolized the starry sky, of which she was the mistress.]
Zeus lures Hera with a cuckoo. Hera has a very capricious character, and therefore Zeus had to spend a long time trying to get Hera to agree to become his wife. She refused all his entreaties, and then the father of gods and people resorted to a trick. One day, when Hera was walking, a beautiful motley cuckoo began to hover around her. Hera liked the bird and tried to catch it with a cheerful laugh. To her surprise, the bird fell easily into her hands; when she, caressing the cuckoo, pressed it to her chest, it suddenly turned into Zeus, and now it was no longer Hera who was hugging the bird to herself, but Zeus was hugging Hera.
Finding herself in the arms of the most powerful of the gods, Hera finally gave her consent. [Since the reason for this agreement was the cuckoo, this bird was henceforth considered the sacred bird of Hera, and even her scepter was decorated with the image of a cuckoo sitting on it.]
Wedding and gifts. The sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera was solemnly celebrated by all the gods. They gave them luxurious gifts, but the most valuable was the gift from Mother Earth, Gaia. She gave Hera a wonderful apple tree with golden apples that give eternal youth. Hera placed this tree at the very edge of the earth, in the garden of the Hesperides, the daughters of Night. She assigned the dragon Ladon to guard the tree, who was supposed to not let anyone near the wonderful fruits.
Hera is the patroness of the family.
Since the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera is an example of marriages concluded between people, Hera is the patroness of family and marriage. She connects spouses with each other, takes care of the inviolability of marriage bonds and fidelity in marriage, gives people offspring, and helps women in labor. Her daughter was Ilithyia, the helper goddess of women giving birth (some ancient writers even believed that Ilithyia was not a separate goddess, but one of the nicknames of Hera herself). As a goddess who provides numerous offspring, Hera was dedicated to the pomegranate fruit, a symbol of fertility.
Goddess Hera
Hera's jealousy. However, being the goddess of marriage and family, Hera often suffers insults from her husband Zeus. On earth, Hera protects the holiness and inviolability of family ties, but on Olympus she often discovers that Zeus is unfaithful to her and secretly marries mortal women. Hera then becomes terribly jealous and tries in every possible way to harm the women whom Zeus has bestowed with his favor. She achieved the death of Semele and persecuted her son in every possible way, she destroyed Ino, who dared to take Dionysus as her upbringer, she hated Hercules with fierce hatred and caused him a lot of suffering. One example of her indomitable vindictiveness towards women to whom she descended Olympus Zeus, serves as the story of the beautiful Io.
Hera and Io. One day Zeus fell in love with the beautiful Io, the daughter of the river god Inachus. To hide her from Hera's eyes, he turned Io into a beautiful snow-white cow. However, Hera guessed about her husband’s cunning and one day, when Zeus was in good mood, addressed him: “O my divine husband! Will you refuse to fulfill my little request? - “Of course, I will do whatever you want!” - “In that case, give me that cow over there, I have never seen such a beautiful animal!”
Zeus did not want to hand over Io to Hera, but there was nothing to do - after all, he gave his word. Hera ordered her servant, the hundred-eyed Argus, to guard poor Io; This vigilant watchman never slept; at least one pair of his eyes was constantly awake. Io could not tell anyone about her suffering. She spent a long time in the form of a cow, and finally Zeus sent his son Hermes to kidnap her. Hermes appeared to Argus, put him to sleep by playing the flute, and then cut off his head with one blow of his sword. After the death of Argus, Hera placed his eyes on the peacock’s tail, and since then it has shimmered with hundreds of multi-colored “eyes.”
Io was free again, but Hera did not leave her alone; she sent a monstrous gadfly to Io. With its terrible sting, the gadfly drove the unfortunate sufferer Io from one country to another; Every minute a sting pierced her body, burning like a hot iron, she endured terrible pain day after day.
The end of Io's suffering. Finally, she reached the Caucasus, where the Titan Prometheus was chained. He advised her to get to Egypt. “There will be an end to your suffering!” - said Prometheus. Io obeyed him and after long days of travel and many dangers she reached this country.
Here Zeus returned her human form. On the banks of the blessed Nile, Io married the hero Telegon, and her son Epaphus was born. He was the first king of Egypt, and later his descendants moved to Hellas and became the founders of a generation of heroes, to which two great heroes belonged - Perseus and Hercules.
Conspiracy against Zeus. Constantly experiencing humiliation from Zeus, Hera, of course, wanted to repay him in kind. One day she persuaded other gods to deprive the Thunderer of power, and everyone promised her help and support. And then one day the gods crept up to the sleeping Zeus and tied him up. All the might of the Father of gods and men could not help him break the shackles, and everyone decided that the job was done. But then a heavy footfall was heard, which shook the earth and sky, and a huge hundred-armed monster appeared on Olympus. It was the sea goddess Thetis, the same one who once took care of Hephaestus, who led the hundred-armed giant Briareus from the gates of Tartarus to Olympus. The gods were afraid, and Briareus, easily removing the shackles from Zeus, sat down next to him, and no one dared to approach him anymore.
Hera's punishment. Zeus's reprisal was swift and merciless. Hera, as the instigator of the rebellion of the gods, was suspended by her hands on golden chains between heaven and earth, and to make her hang heavier, Zeus tied heavy copper anvils to her feet. So she hung, and no one dared to stand up for her, fearing the wrath of the ruler of immortals and mortals. It was then that Hephaestus tried to put in a good word for his mother, for which he was thrown to the ground a second time. Zeus pardoned his wife only when she swore by the waters of the Styx that she would never again encroach on his power. And indeed, from then on, Hera no longer rebelled; she only sometimes gave free rein to her evil tongue, reproaching Zeus for his countless betrayals.
Attacks of irresistible love of Zeus for Hera. But it’s not only in quarrels and bickering with her husband that Hera gets her way. She can achieve the same by using her beauty and charm. She becomes especially beautiful and irresistible when she borrows Aphrodite’s magic belt. And so, appearing before Zeus, she makes him remember the days of matchmaking, how he sought her love, the night of their sacred marriage on the island of Samos, which lasted three hundred earthly years. Then an irresistible love for his wife embraces the Thunderer, the two of them retire away from all earthly and heavenly affairs, and the Earth itself grows herbs that serve as their bed, and a golden cloud hides them from prying eyes. At such moments, Hera can achieve anything from Zeus.
Temples of Zeus and Hera.
Hera's most beloved place on earth was the island of Samos, where, according to the Greeks, her sacred marriage with Zeus took place. In memory of this, a temple of Hera was built there. There were temples in her honor in other centers of the Hellenic world. Of course, in Olympia, where they honored the Father of gods and people, they could not help but honor his wife, and in addition to the temple of Zeus, there was a magnificent temple of Hera. In the temple of Hera in the city of Argos there was her most majestic image by the sculptor Polycletus. It was a statue of enormous size, like the statues of Olympian Zeus and Athena Parthenos, made of gold and ivory. The goddess was depicted sitting on a throne, on her head was a wreath with relief images of Horus and Charit, and in her hands she held a scepter with a cuckoo and a pomegranate fruit.
Hestia.
By age, Hestia was the oldest of the Olympian goddesses - after all, she was the first to be born by Kronos and Rhea. However, she was also the most peaceful goddess. The Greeks had almost no myths in which she took part, she was a maiden goddess, and therefore had no offspring either on Olympus or on earth, she had no temples, and almost no images of her have reached us. Does this mean that she was little revered? Not at all! The fact is that the meek Hestia was the goddess of the most sacred place in every home - the hearth. Therefore, every house seemed to be her temple, and the flame burning in the hearth was considered her embodiment.
The hearth was such a sacred place that any person who entered the house and sat next to it was under its protection. Such a person should have been given shelter and assistance, even if it was yours. worst enemy. Since the state is something like a large family, the fire of Hestia burned in the buildings of state councils, so that she was considered not only the goddess of the hearth, but also the patroness of states.
In every home, the fire of Hestia was sacred. It was forbidden to burn anything unclean or throw garbage in it; it was heated only with wood. When the family gathered at the table, sacrifices were made to Hestia at the beginning and end of the meal - a little wine was splashed into the fire, dedicating it to the goddess. And people had something to honor this goddess for! After all, she was not only the goddess of the hearth, on which food was prepared and which warmed homes on cold days, but was also considered the goddess who taught people how to build these homes. In general, Hestia was considered the kindest, fairest and most merciful of the goddesses, which is why the honor that both people and gods showed her was so great.
*3 Hera (Juno among the Romans) - goddess of the sky, patroness of marriage, guardian of the mother during childbirth; was especially revered in Sparta, Corinth, Olympia and Argos, where the famous temple was located.
The myths about Hera also reflected the position of women in Greece. Just as a Greek woman did not enjoy equal rights with a man and was largely subordinate to her husband, so Hera is subordinate to her husband Zeus. Traces of totemism have been preserved in the cult of Hera; we have information that she was sometimes depicted, for example, with the head of a horse. This already indicates that Hera is one of the most ancient goddesses of Greece.
The great goddess Hera, the wife of the aegis-power Zeus, patronizes marriage and protects the holiness and inviolability of marriage unions. She sends the spouses numerous offspring and blesses the mother during the birth of the child.
The great goddess Hera, after she and her brothers and sisters were spewed out of her mouth by the defeated Zeus, was carried by her mother Rhea to the ends of the earth to the gray Ocean; Hera was raised there by Thetis. Hera lived for a long time away from Olympus, in peace and quiet. The great thunderer Zeus saw her, fell in love and kidnapped her from Thetis. The gods celebrated the wedding of Zeus and Hera magnificently. Iris and the Charites clothed Hera in luxurious clothes, and she shone with her youthful, majestic beauty among the host of gods of Olympus, sitting on a golden throne next to the great king of gods and people, Zeus. All the gods presented gifts to the queen Hera, and the goddess Earth-Gaia grew from her bowels a wondrous apple tree with golden fruits as a gift to Hera. Everything in nature glorified Queen Hera and King Zeus.
Hera reigns on high Olympus. She, like her husband Zeus, commands thunder and lightning, at her word the sky is covered with dark rain clouds, and with a wave of her hand she raises menacing storms. The great Hera is beautiful, hair-eyed, lily-armed, from under her crown a wave of wondrous curls fall, her eyes glow with power and calm majesty. The gods honor Hera, and her husband, the cloud suppressor Zeus, honors her, and often consults with her. But quarrels between Zeus and Hera are also common. Hera often objects to Zeus and argues with him at the councils of the gods. Then the Thunderer gets angry and threatens his wife with punishment. Then Hera falls silent and restrains her anger. She remembers how Zeus subjected her to scourging, how he bound her with golden chains and hung her between the earth and the sky, tying two heavy anvils to her feet.
Hera is powerful, there is no goddess equal to her in power. Majestic, in long luxurious clothes woven by Athena herself, in a chariot drawn by two immortal horses, she rides down from Olympus. The chariot is all made of silver, the wheels are made of pure gold, and their spokes sparkle with copper. Fragrance spreads across the ground where Hera passes. All living things bow before her, the great queen of Olympus.
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