5.
Hera: Goddess of Marriage and the Queen of Olympus
Archetype: The Queen and Wife
Hera was an Olympian Goddess before marrying Zeus as his first wife. For 300 years, he courted her without success, Hera rejecting his advances every time One day, in a desperate attempt to woo her, he shaped-shifted into a shivering little bird. He got the sympathy of Hera, but when he tried to take advantage of her, Hera held her ground and would not let Zeus have his way with her unless he married her. And that is how she became his wife.
Hera was a powerful goddess in her own right but through her marriage to Zeus, she ascended as the Queen of Olympus. However, after 300 years of happy marriage, Zeus began courting other goddesses or worse, took advantage of mortals as mistresses. For Hera, this was a betrayal that hurt and angered her greatly. To Hera, marriage was a sacred commitment that was not to be taken lightly.
In many myths, Hera is depicted as a vindictive and angry woman, but one must consider that the Greek mythologies were written at a time when the patriarchal culture had taken over the matriarchy. Despite the fact that goddesses were the first deities being worshipped since the beginning of mankind, by the time Greek mythologies were fully formed, goddesses were side-by-side with the male gods at best, and most of the time, beneath them. Hera may have often been written as a negative character to glorify Zeus’ actions – but when you really look at her story, she was a powerful, dignified woman who stood her ground and demanded the respect she deserved.
A Hera woman stands out in a crowd. She radiates when she walks into a room. Hera is confident and conscious. She is queenly and thrives within a partnership. A Hera would like to get married, even at a young age, and many Hera women maintain a healthy and strong marriage all their lives. To a Hera, marriage is never trivial: it is a partnership of strength and loyalty, entered with consideration and dedication, and fiercely defended.
The Hera archetype provides the capacity to bond, to be faithful, to endure and go through difficulties with a partner. When Hera is a motivating force, a woman’s commitment is not conditional. Once married, she means to stay so, “for better or worse.” Many successful men have a Hera wife because of her own capacities and loyalty. If Hera is an active archetype in a woman's psyche, but she is not married or in a partnership, there is always a void.
However, if for whatever reason a marriage or partnership doesn’t last, it can be very challenging for a Hera. That said, it is also an opportunity for her to grow and shine in her own right, which can often lead to finding a new career, developing a new passion in life, or becoming more independently established.
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