by Tim Harry

Created on: February 20, 2008   Last Updated: October 22, 2008

It is often said that behind every great man there is a great woman. The same is true of the Greek gods and goddesses as well. Zeus may have been the supreme ruler of the Olympian gods but there was still Hera sat by his side. Hera was both sister and wife to Zeus and through Greek mythology it is Hera who plays the matriarchal role, and thus becomes the goddess of women and marriage.

Whilst there are numerous differing versions of Greek myths, there are some basic agreed cornerstones for the stories. As the Queen of Olympus, Hera was the wife and older sister of Zeus, and eldest daughter of Kronus and Rhea. Upon her birth, Hera was promptly swallowed by the Titan Kronus, in order to fulfil a prophecy that one of Kronus' children would take over the throne. Zeus himself would have followed the same fate, had Rhea not substituted a stone wrapped in baby clothes for him. With Zeus safely hidden on the island of Crete, Rhea tricked Kronus into taking an invincibility' herb, that in fact made him regurgitate the other children; Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon. When Zeus grew older and more powerful, he banished Kronus to the deepest chasm of the underworld at Tartarus. In her position as Queen of Olympus, Hera's main role was that of goddess of birth and marriage, and it is told that her virginity is restored each year when she bathes in the Canathus well.

The worship of Hera though predates the worship of Zeus, and her role within what is now thought to be traditional Greek mythology is often seen a demotion. The oldest places of worship in ancient Greece are all dedicated to Hera, and much evidence for her worship dates back tens of thousand years. The worship of Hera dates back to a time when "God" was perceived to be a woman, an idea linked to Mother Earth', and in particular the visible miracle of childbirth. There is evidence that the earliest worship of Hera was therefore linked to the matriarchal society that inhabited Greece at that time.

It was the coming of the Hellenes people, from Indo-European roots, that the idea of the supreme female god was replaced by a male figure, Zeus. Whilst the new religion spread throughout Greece there is evidence that some areas, including Crete, continued to worship the Great Mother', but even in these enclaves eventually the traditional' mythology took over.

Even within traditional Greek mythology, Hera, though continued to be held in high esteem, with many of the largest temples consecrated to her, and a cult

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