Hera ( Ήρα) is the Goddess of women, marriage, family, and childbirth in ancient Greek Religion. She is one of the Twelve Olympians and the sister-wife of Zeus, and She is the daughter of the Titans Cronos and Rhea. Hera rules over Mount Olympus as Queen of the Gods. A matronly figure, Hera serves as both the patroness and protectress of married women, presiding over weddings and blessing marital unions. One of Hera's defining characteristics is Her jealous and vengeful nature against Zeus' numerous lovers and illegitimate offspring, as well as against the mortals who cross Her.
Hera is commonly seen with Her sacred animals; these include the cow, the lion and the peacock. Portrayed as majestic and solemn, often enthroned, and crowned with the polos -a high cylindrical crown worn by several of the Great Goddesses- Hera may hold a pomegranate in her hand, emblem of fertile blood and death and a substitute for the narcotic capsule of the opium poppy.
According to Homeric Hymn III to Delian Apollo, Hera detained Eileithyia to prevent Leto from going into labor with Artemis and Apollo, since the father of the Twins was Zeus. The other Goddesses present at the labor on Delos sent Iris to bring Eileithyia. As she stepped upon the island, the divine birth began. In the story of the birth of Heracles, it is Hera Herself who sits at the door, delaying the birth of Heracles until her protégé, Eurystheus, had been born first.
The Homeric Hymn to Pythian Apollo makes the monster Typhaon the offspring of archaic Hera in her Minoan form, produced out of Herself, like a monstrous version of Hephaestus, and whelped in a cave in Cilicia. She gave the creature to Python to raise.
In the Temple of Hera, Olympia, Hera's seated cult figure was older than the warrior figure of Zeus that accompanied it. Homer expressed Her relationship with Zeus delicately in the Iliad, in which She declares to Zeus, "I am Cronos' eldest daughter, and am honourable not on this ground only, but also because I am your wife, and you are King of the Gods."
As we mentioned before,Hera is the daughter of Titan Cronos and his wife, Rhea. Cronos was fated to be overthrown by one of his children; to prevent this, he swallowed all of his newborn children whole until Rhea tricked him into swallowing a stone instead of her youngest child, Zeus. Zeus was raised hidden and protected, and when he grew up, he tricked his father into regurgitating his siblings, including Hera. Zeus then led the revolt against the Titans, banished them, and divided the dominion over the world with his brothers Poseidon and Hades.
Hera is known for Her jealousy; even Zeus, who is known to fear nothing, fears her tantrums. Zeus fell in love with Hera, but She refused his first marriage proposal. Knowing her love and empathy for animals and other beings, Zeus created a thunderstorm and transformed Himself into a little cuckoo. As a cuckoo, Zeus pretended to be in distress outside Her window. Hera, feeling pity towards the bird, brought it inside and held it to her breast to warm it. Zeus then transformed back into Himself and seduced her. All of nature burst into bloom for their wedding and many gifts were exchanged.
Zeus loves Hera, but he also loves Greece and often sneaked down to Earth in disguise to bear children with the mortals. He wanted many children to inherit His greatness and become great heroes and rulers of Greece. Hera's jealousy towards all of Zeus' lovers and children caused Her to continuously torment them and Zeus was powerless to stop His wife. Hera was always aware of Zeus' trickery and kept very close watch over Him and His excursions to Earth.
Hera presides over the right arrangements of the marriage and is the archetype of the union in the marriage bed. In Greek Religion, fragmentary references and archaic practices remain of the sacred marriage of Hera and Zeus. At Plataea, there was a sculpture of Hera seated as a bride by Callimachus, as well as the matronly standing Hera.
Hera is also worshipped as a Virgin: there was a tradition in Stymphalia in Arcadia that there had been a triple shrine to Hera the Girl (Παις), the Adult Woman (Τελεια), and the Separated (Χήρη )'Widowed', or 'Divorced'. In the region around Argos, the temple of Hera in Hermione near Argos was to Hera the Virgin.At the spring of Kanathos, close to Nauplia, Hera renews her virginity annually, in rites that were not to be spoken of . The Female figure, showing her "Moon" over the lake is also appropriate, as Hebe, Hera, and Hecate; new moon, full moon, and old moon in that order and otherwise personified as the Virgin of Spring, The Mother of Summer, and the destroying Crone of Autumn.
In Hellenistic imagery, Hera's chariot is pulled by peacocks. A bird that had been associated with Hera on an archaic level, where most of the Aegean Goddesses are associated with "their" bird, is the cuckoo, which appears in fragments concerning the first wooing of a virginal Hera by Zeus.
Hera bore several epithets in the Greek Religion, including:
Alexandros-Protector of Men
Akráia- (She) of the Heights
Basíleia- Queen
Bounáia-(She) of the Mound
Boṓpis- Cow-Eyed or Cow-Faced
Parthénos- Virgin
Teléia- as Goddess of marriage
Chḗrē- Widowed
SOURCE:Wikipedia
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