The Gods of the Neokoroi - Hera
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Page maintained by Ravens Wands.
Euripedes Iphigena in Aulis, 739-740
Functions:
Hera is the Personification of Nomos, that is, both “order” and “tradition” (See Glossary of Athenian Legal Concepts). Her name may have once meant “time”-ly: from Horos, or meaning “Mistress” the feminine form of Hero. By Homeric Times she became the Woman’s Goddess, of the phases of a woman’s life, and as such is the only Classical Goddess with attributions of “Maiden, Mother and Crone” (see below). She is the Goddess of the Complete Woman, in all her phases.
As the Goddess of Nomos she is the Goddess of Family and its Traditions: Oikios (See Glossary of Athenian Legal Concepts) and Nomos both of which begin with the Marriage. She is the Goddess of the Home, in that sense, and in the very Mediterranean concept of Family, of which she is the Matriarch.
Epithets:
- Agreie “of Argos”
- Akraia “of the Heights”
- Boöpis “cow-eyed”
- Gamelia “of marriage”
- Khera “solitary/ the widow”
- Leukolenos “white-armed”
- Pais “maiden”
- Nympheuomene “led as a bride”
- Parthenos “virgin”
- Teleia “accomplished”
- Zygia “uniter”
Symbols:
The Sow, The Lioness, the Peacock, the Cuckoo, The Queen’s Scepter, The Queen’s Diadem, The Veil, The Pear, The Pomegranate.
Offerings:
Ancient: Hetacomb, Peacocks, The Fruits and Nuts from the Bridal Cornucopia, Pomegranates
Modern: poppies, star sapphire, myrrh, civet
Celebrate:
Respect marital vows, your own and those of others. Work hard at your relationships. Keep the romance alive. Don't fall into a routine, or take your family or loved ones for granted. Call your Mother! Buy and use a new cookbook, Clean your home. Celebrate the seasons through cooking, going out to nature, or decorating seasonally. Research your genealogy, revive a family tradition, archive Mom or Grandma's recipes.
Don't forget to pray to her when you're feeling stressed, frustrated with family or your loved ones. She often has really good advice! Appreciate the women in your life you take for granted!
Festivals:
- Athenian Month of Gamelion 27 (the Wedding Month of January)
- Midsummer (Hera's race, the Hereaa Woman’s Race, was held every 4 years at Olympia)
- Daedala: occurred every seven years (Little) and every sixty years (Great)
Temples:
Argos, Sparta, Mycenea (“The three cities I love best. . . ” Iliad iv)
Samos, Olympia, Corinth, Tirnys, Perachora, Delos, Magna Graeca, Stymphalia (as Triple Goddess)
References:
- Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound 590-601
- Aeschylus' Suppliants 291-309
- Apollodorus' Library 1.1.5, 1.3.2, 1.3.6, 1.4.3, 1.6.2, 1.7.4, 1.8.2, 1.9.8, 1.9.16, 1.9.23-26, 2.1.3, 2.2.2, 2.4.9, 2.4.12, 2.5.9-10, 2.7.2-8, 3.4.3, 3.5.1, 3.5.8
- Aristophanes' Women Celebrating the Thesmophoria 973
- Hesiod's Theogony 310, 326-332, 453-506, 901, 921-934
- Homer's Iliad 1.531, 1.568, 5.720, 5.764, 8.198, 8.381, 8.425, 11.270-271, 14.155, 14.193, 14.242, 14.270, 14.312, 14.352, 15.5, 15.34, 15.78, 16.430, 16.439, 19.95, 19.114,
- Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 5.33
- Homeric Hymn to Apollo 3b.3.95-101, 305-359
- Homeric Hymn to Hera 12
- Hyginus' Fabulae 5, 13, 22, 52, 102, 150
- Hyginus' Poetica Astronomica 2.3, 2.16, 2.23, 2.42-43
- Ovid's Metamorphoses 1.601-746, 2.466-533, 3.255-338, 3.362-369, 4.416-562, 6.90-97, 7.516-613, 9.280-323, 14.829-851
- Pindar: Olympian 6.88; Pythians 2.17, 2.21-41, 4.184, 8.80; Nemeans 1.33, 1.37 ,1.43, 7.2, 7.95, 10.2, 10.23, 10.36, 11.2; Isthmian 4.66
- Pausanias: 2.4.7, 2.13.3, 2.15.4; 2.17.2-4 ; 2.24.2; 2.25.10; 2.38.2-3; 3.13.8-10 ;3.15.9; 5.13.8-9;5.16.2-3; 5.17.1, 8.22.2, 8.3.6, 9.3.4-6, 9.11.3, 9.25.2
- Plato's Laws 672b
- Plato's Republic 390c
- Sappho's To Lady Hera
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