Hera

Queen of the gods, wife of Zeus, goddess of marriage, the sky, stars, and protector of women.

Epithets

• Pais: Girl
• Nympheuomenê: Betrothed Bride
• Teleia: Adult Woman
• Khêra: Widow
• Gamêlia: Of Marriage
• Autorôtê: Virginal
• Zugia: Married
• Hêniokhê: Of the Chariot
• Antheia: Of Flowers
• Hyperkheiria: Whose Hand is Above
• Akraiê: Of Heights
• Aigophagos: Goat-eater

Offerings

• Pomegranates
• Lilies
• Peacock feathers
• Goat products

Prayers and Hymns

“I sing of golden-throned Hera whom Rhea bare. Queen of the Immortals is she, surpassing all in beauty: she is the sister and wife of loud-thundering Zeus,--the glorious one whom all the blessed throughout high Olympos reverence and honour even as Zeus who delights in thunder.”

-Homeric Hymn 12

“O royal Hera, of majestic mien, aerial-formed, divine, Zeus' blessed queen, throned in the bosom of cerulean air, the race of mortals is thy constant care. The cooling gales they power alone inspires, which nourish life, which every life desires. Mother of showers and winds, from thee alone, producing all things, mortal life is known: all natures share thy temperament divine, and universal sway alone is thine, with sounding blasts of wind, the swelling sea and rolling rivers roar when shook by thee. Come, blessed Goddess, famed almighty queen, with aspect kind, rejoicing and serene.”

-Orphic Hymn 16