01 · The stories
Myths & defining acts
Persecutes Heracles, driving him mad (Apollodorus 2.4.12); hates Troy after the Judgement of Paris (Iliad 24.25–30; Apollodorus, Epitome 3.2); in the Iliad borrows Aphrodite's girdle to deceive Zeus (book 14); in the Aeneid, drives Aeneas from the Trojan shore with her unrelenting anger (Aeneid 1.1–4); and the geese sacred to her are spared in the siege of the Capitol (Livy 5.47).
02 · Sacred lineage
Family & relations
In Greek genealogy, parents: Cronus and Rhea. Husband and brother: Zeus. Children include Ares, Hebe and Eileithyia. Hesiod makes Hera the mother of Hephaestus without a father; other accounts give Zeus as his father. Roman Juno has her own civic and religious identities.
Greek literary genealogies and Roman cult identities are not interchangeable. Explore the family tree and its traditions.
03 · Places of devotion
Abode & sacred sites
Mount Olympus; Argos, Mycenae and Samos, which modern reference works list as the major centres of her cult (Greek); in Homer she is 'Hera of Argos' (Iliad 4.8); in Rome, the Capitoline temple shared with Jupiter and Minerva, and the temple of Juno Moneta, vowed by a Roman dictator named Camillus (Livy 7.28).
04 · Two traditions
Greek & Roman perspectives
The Greek perspective
In Homer, Hera is a goddess hostile to Troy. In the Iliad, Hera, Poseidon and Athena persist in their hatred of Ilion because of the wrong done to them by Paris (24.25–30). In Apollodorus's account, Hera's jealousy drives Heracles mad (2.4.12).
The Roman perspective
Livy has Camillus address Juno 'who inhabits Veii' and ask her to follow the Romans to Rome (5.21). Livy also says the geese on the Capitol were spared, though the besieged were short of food, because they were sacred to Juno (5.47). A dictator named Camillus vowed a temple to Juno Moneta during a battle (7.28). The Capitoline Triad of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva is described in modern reference works as the central group of Roman state religion.
05 · Extensive analysis
A closer reading
Hera in Homer is a queen of Olympus who quarrels with Zeus and fights for the Greeks against Troy. Juno in Roman sources is invoked by Roman commanders (Camillus at Veii), has temples at Rome, and is one of the Capitoline gods. In Virgil, Juno is the enemy of the Trojan Aeneas.
06 · Primary sources
What the sources say
These are the main ancient passages behind this entry, with what each one actually says.
- Hesiod, Theogony lines 453–458
Rhea bears Hestia, Demeter, gold-shod Hera, Hades, the Earth-Shaker (Poseidon) and Zeus, so Hera is Zeus's sister as well as his wife.
Read the passage - Hesiod, Theogony lines 921–929
Hera is Zeus's last wife and bears Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia. Hesiod then says that, angry and quarrelling with her husband, she bore Hephaestus without union with Zeus.
Read the passage - Homer, Iliad book 1, lines 536–543
When Zeus returns to the gods after meeting Thetis, Hera sees that they have been planning something together and upbraids him for settling matters in secret behind her back.
Read the passage - Homer, Iliad book 5, lines 711–714
Seeing the Argives falling, Hera calls on Athena to go into the fight against Ares and the Trojans, reminding her of the promise made to Menelaus that Troy would be sacked.
Read the passage - Homer, Iliad book 14, lines 214–217
Aphrodite gives Hera the embroidered girdle in which love, desire and flattery are woven, which Hera uses in her plan to distract Zeus.
Read the passage - Pausanias, Description of Greece book 2, chapter 17, section 4
Pausanias describes the huge seated statue of Hera at her sanctuary near Argos, made of gold and ivory by Polycleitus, with a crown showing the Graces and Seasons, a pomegranate in one hand and a sceptre in the other.
Read the passage - Virgil, Aeneid book 1, lines 1–4
The Aeneid opens with Aeneas driven from the Trojan shore by fate and by the unrelenting anger of Juno, the Roman Hera.
Read the passage - Homer, Iliad book 4, line 8
Zeus teases Hera by naming Menelaus's two goddess friends, 'Hera of Argos' and Athena of Alalkomene.
Read the passage - Homer, Iliad book 24, lines 25–30
Only Hera, Poseidon and Athena persist in their hatred of Ilion, Priam and his people, because of the wrong done by Paris.
Read the passage - Apollodorus, Library book 2, chapter 4, section 12
After the battle with the Minyans, Heracles is driven mad through Hera's jealousy and throws his children into the fire.
Read the passage - Livy, Ab Urbe Condita book 5, chapter 21
Camillus calls on Juno, who inhabits Veii, to accompany the Romans as victors into Rome.
Read the passage - Livy, Ab Urbe Condita book 5, chapter 47
During the siege of the Capitol the geese, sacred to Juno, are spared although food is short.
Read the passage - Livy, Ab Urbe Condita book 7, chapter 28
During a battle the dictator Camillus vows a temple to Juno Moneta.
Read the passage - Wikipedia, Hera, a modern summary infobox
Lists Argos, Mycenae and Samos as her major cult centres; the cow, cuckoo and peacock as her animals; and the pomegranate, sceptre and crown as her symbols.
Read the passage - Wikipedia, Juno Moneta, a modern summary introduction
The name Moneta is the source of 'money' and 'mint' in English and the Romance languages.
Read the passage - Wikipedia, Capitoline Triad, a modern summary introduction
Jupiter, Juno and Minerva formed the central group of Roman state religion.
Read the passage
Where the sources differ
- Hesiod gives Hera three children by Zeus (Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia) and says Hephaestus was born to her alone (Theogony 921–929). Other sources make Zeus his father, so Hephaestus's parentage varies.
- Homer's Hera sides with the Greeks against Troy (Iliad 5.711–714). Virgil's Juno is the enemy of the Trojan Aeneas (Aeneid 1.1–4), so the Greek and Roman poems give her opposite roles in the Trojan story.
07 · Story & deeper insight
Hera, Juno and the struggle over Troy
In the Iliad, Hera works relentlessly against Troy. During a crucial battle she prepares an elaborate deception: she borrows Aphrodite's power of attraction, recruits Sleep and distracts Zeus while Poseidon assists the Greeks. The episode is comic in its staging but consequential on the battlefield. Hera acts as a political strategist inside a divided divine household.
Virgil's Juno similarly resists the Trojans, now because their descendants threaten Carthage and are destined for Italy. Her opposition makes Rome's foundation costly rather than inevitable in experience. Greek Hera and Roman Juno share a literary personality, but Juno's place in the Capitoline triad gives her a distinct role in the Roman state.