Though Zeus is king of the gods, Hera has a longer history of worship.
Her “first temple in Olympia was dedicated, much earlier than the one
to Zeus” (Kerényi, 134) demonstrates the greater importance of Hera’s
role as a goddess of Earth, Spring, and Fertility among the people
rather than Zeus’s role as king of the gods. Because her
temple was created earlier than Zeus’ suggests that the Olympians
regarded Hera as a very influential goddess in their society.
Even though Zeus is assumed to be the most powerful among the gods,
Hera is the one who is more frequently and widely worshipped among the
people. This observation, drawn from the literary and historical research, fully portrays the values and virtues of the community.
By prioritizing Hera, goddess of marriage and fertility, over Zeus, god
of the heaven, reveals the society’s passionate belief and values on
the importance of marriage and procreation. Additionally,
the creation of Hera’s temple before Zeus’s further supports the belief
that the worshipping of Hera was before the worship of Zeus.
Despite the many different minor roles assigned to Hera, there were
three “stages” (names given) to her during her immortal life: “Pais,”
“Teleia,” and “Chera.” “Pais” referred to when she was a virgin, before
she married Zeus. “Teleia” referred to Hera as a married woman, after
she married Zeus. The final name given to Hera is “Chera,” which meant
“widow.” This name identified her when she and Zeus separated. These
labels were imitated for young women and classified their position in
society. However, instead of adopting a new name for them, the young
women would adopt a new label of status, a classification, of which
category of female (or at what period of their life) they were in,
excluding divorce.
During the ancient times, divorce was virtually nonexistent and
uncommon. Karl Kerényi applied this concept of detachment to Hera’s
divorce as a “separation from Zeus would have meant an intolerable
Statue Head of Herasituation for the goddess. For she would have become
nothing but the powerless half of a whole needed by her and not by Zeus”
(114). However, Kerényi then counters his assessment by arguing that a
“figure as dependent as this could not have been the object of a cult”
(114). Kerényi argues that this excessive dependency on Zeus contradicts
the fact that Hera is a well-known and worshiped goddess with cults and
sanctuaries: if Hera were such a dependent and pathetic goddess, why
would there be cults, sanctuaries and countless worshipers? This might
suggest that Hera was once considered a powerful goddess in practice and
in mythology, but eventually her role and character deteriorated and
reshaped in mythology, with the rise of patriarchy. Because women were
expected to be dependent on men in a society, it may be that the society
reconstructed Hera’s image to fit their customs. Therefore, we are
forced to conclude that there may have been some manipulation of the
images of Hera throughout the years. With the increasing image
manipulation of Hera, the earlier and original depictions of Hera may
have been lost as well as her secondary role as the goddess of marriage.
We might find the common stressing of Hera into the secondary role as
the goddess of marriage odd after discovering that fact the she
separated from Zeus, giving prominence to her third incarnation and
title of "Chera" which means "widow" - also an illumination into Zeus's
prophesied death. In ancient times the three aspects of Hera (Maiden,
Wife, and Widow) were cast directly onto women and helped to define
mortal roles within the ancient society. Yet, within these roles
fertility is still a very dominant sphere of influence for Hera and like
many other Goddess interpretations reflects within the seasons.
Hera was born in the Spring and as such was cast in the fertility
Goddess role. During her forced marriage to Zeus the abundance of Zeus's
sexual exploits and Hera's reactions to them might allude to the theory
of Zeus's being jealous of Hera's true power and influence over all and
that his persistent cheating was a measure of revenge for his own
inadequacy - in stark contrast of his being the king of the Gods. Still,
the repetitive situations arising in the ancient myths deal directly
with the "other edge of the sword", so to speak, when it comes to
fertility. In the "widow" aspect following Hera's separation from Zeus
fertility still comes into play and is illustrated within the mortal
realm during Hera's ancient winter rituals that reflected on the "lack
of life" in the world.
A final contradiction to many modern recounts of the Goddess Hera and
her supposed role as a "faithful wife" might be argued within certain
myths telling of sexual acts taking place between Hera and a handful of
mortal men or order to imbue them with certain powers she wished them to
have, most commonly to serve her own agenda. A handful of these myths
tell of sexual acts as a means of transference. Her kiss, breast milk,
blood, and even orgasm during oral sex have all appeared as acts within
the myths that inevitably led to the mortal male to be infused with
demigod-like power. Such as Achilles who was infused with Hera's rage
before the battle of Troy by drinking of her breast milk - giving him a
huge advantage in the war. But the power seems to have only last for a
certain period of time. It was not permanent nor did such transference
produce immortality. In fact, it seems to have shortened their life span
if anything. Especially when it was blood that was transferred because
the golden blood of the Gods (called Ichor) is poisonous to mortals.
In the original myth of King Ixion Zeus is said to have caught the
King performing oral sex on Hera and punished him by blasting him with a
lightning bolt and then bound Ixion to a winged fiery wheel that was
always spinning. Another variation of the myth recounts as Zeus found
out about his intentions and made a cloud in the shape of Hera and
tricked Ixion into coupling with it. From the union of Ixion and the
false-Hera cloud came the race of the Centaurs. The later is a far more
current version of the oldest known telling of the myth, casting Zeus's
into a more attentive and cunning light. Either way, Hera doesn't feign
innocents and since her separation from Zeus, as well as being able to
renew her virginity within a ritual bath, there is really no point in
her worrying over it.
