Hera andZeus

The Sacred Marriage

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“Nothing exists without music, for the

universe itself is said to have been

framed by a kind of harmony of sounds

and the heaven itself revolves under the

tone of that harmony.”

—Isadore of Seville

The myth of Hera and Zeus, the Queen and King of the Olympians, is very

operatic, fi lled as it is with love affairs, seductions, incestuous relationships,

revenge, deceit and murder. The saga of the Olympians is a great deal like

Wagner’s Ring Cycle only with Greek gods instead of Norse gods. Hera’s story can’t

be told without Zeus, for she was the goddess of marriage, and felt that her life wasn’t

complete without her husband. She was a powerful queen in her own right, having the

capacity to nurture the world. Theirs was considered a sacred marriage between a sky god

and the heaven itself revolves under the

tone of that harmony.”

—Isadore of Seville Hera andZeus

The Sacred Marriage

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and an earth goddess, just as Gaia and Uranus, and Rhea and Cronus

before them.

Hera’s name translates as “Great Lady,” and the word galaxy is derived

from the Greek word gala, meaning “mother’s milk.” Legend has it that

the Milky Way was formed from the milk from her breasts, and where

the drops fell to earth, fields of lilies sprang forth. So you can see where

two of her symbols—the Milky Way and lilies—came from. By the way,

lilies, because of their shape, have often been considered a feminine

symbol. Just look at the sensual paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe.

She was reputed to have beautiful large “cow” eyes that, along with

her nurturing nature made the cow her sacred animal. The peacock

represents her beauty, and with its many eyes, her eternal watchfulness.

Hera represented all the stages of a woman’s life. Every year she is said

to have restored her virginity by bathing in Kanathos, a sacred stream by

her home in the forest. So in the Spring, she was once again the Korae,

the maiden; in the Summer and Fall, she was the “fulfilled one;” in the

Winter, she was the “Wise Woman” or “Widow.” She was revered as the

only goddess who accompanied a woman through every step of her life.

It was Hera’s uncommon beauty that attracted Zeus. He tricked her into

taking him to her breast by changing himself into a small, frightened,

wounded cuckoo. Hera, nurturer that she was, took pity on the bird and

warmed it under her gown. The cuckoo is another of her sacred symbols.

Once he was embraced, Zeus changed back into his godly shape and

tried to seduce her. However, she insisted on marriage. Gaia, the pre-

era was the goddess of

marriage, and her wedding to

Zeus was considered a sacred

union, that of the sky god and the

earth goddess. Her jealousy and

vindictiveness towards Zeus’s lovers

were that of a woman protecting

her home. Hera embodies all the

stages of a woman’s life. Every

year she would restore her virginity

by bathing in Kanathos, a sacred

stream. In the Spring she would

reappear as Hera the Maiden, in

the Summer and Fall she was Hera

the Fulfilled, and in the Winter she

was Hera the Widow. The peacock

represents her uncommon beauty

and the eyes in its tail feathers, her

eternal watchfulness.

H

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Olympian earth goddess, gave her golden apples in

honor of her marriage. Looking at this art piece, I

realized that I had made the image of a Chuppah,

the Jewish wedding canopy, which is traditionally

made of trees and flowers woven together and

yet open to the sky, under which Jewish wedding

ceremonies take place. No matter how meaningful

their rite was, after their honeymoon—which was

incredibly long—Zeus went back to his old playboy

ways, which humiliated Hera greatly.

The one time she tried to give him a taste of his

own medicine, she gave birth as the sole parent

to Hephaestus, god of the forge. Not only did he

work, which no god ever did, but he was also born

lame with a twisted leg. Hera threw him out of

heaven, and when he finally landed, he lived under

the sea with Thetis, a sea deity. I think this is an

extreme case of what happens when a child doesn’t

measure up to his parent’s expectations. Anyhow,

while there, he fashioned a magnificent golden

throne encrusted with fabulous jewels which he

sent up to his mother. She of course was thrilled and

delighted at such a glorious gift, and immediately

sat down in it. Unfortunately, he must have learned

a little about revenge from her, because she couldn’t

rise from the chair. No matter what she did, she

was stuck. No matter what any of the gods said,

he refused to release her. Finally, Hephaestus set

the terms of what was really a ransom demand. He

would free his mother if he were given the hand

of Aphrodite in marriage. To keep peace on Mt.

Olympus, Aphrodite agreed. Marriage didn’t stop

her from her other love affairs, but that’s a story for

the goddess herself.

Now that she was free, the ever-watchful Hera had

a lot of watching to do with Zeus, who not only had

affairs with goddesses but also with mortals. He

either raped them or used devious means to seduce

them. He was a very busy guy. To seduce the Spartan

queen, Leda, he transformed himself into a beautiful

swan, and from the eggs which Leda produced, two

sets of twins were born: Castor and Pollux, and

Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy. He visited princess

Danae as a shower of gold, and from this union the

hero Perseus was born. He abducted the Phoenician

princess Europa disguised as a bull, and rode off with

her upon his back. Antiope, daughter of a river god,

was loved by him in the form of a satyr. You’ve got to

hand it to Zeus. He was never boring.

The interesting thing is, Hera never was able to

exact revenge on Zeus, but she always went after

his lovers and their children. He seduced Semele,

coming to her as an invisible presence, and then

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at Hera’s instigation, Semele begged him to show

himself as he truly was. Of course, as the storm

god, with the red lightning shooting from around

his head, he burned her to death. But he rescued his

child, Dionysus, from her womb by sewing him into

his thigh until he was ready to be born. Hera sent

two serpents to kill the baby Heracles (Hercules),

that Zeus had fathered with Alcmene, but the baby

strangled them both, and is often shown holding

a snake in each hand, much like the pictures of

the Minoan snake goddess. Leto, daughter of

two Titans, gave birth to the twins Artemis and

Apollo on the magical fl oating island of Delos, also

symbolized by the swan, and later Hera sent a giant

serpent to kill them. It seems obvious to me that you

didn’t want to get on the wrong side of this lady.

The Greeks and Romans invested their gods with

human characteristics. We would have liked those we

looked up to as gods to be shining examples of good

behavior. But the reality was different. Our idols

had feet of clay. Though they had immense divine

power, they also were petty and foolish. None of

the gods was totally good or bad, but like mankind,

they combined both positive and negative traits.

These pictures that I’ve created and stories that I

tell could be the subject of a reality TV show or an

HBO miniseries, the saga of a truly dysfunctional

family.

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