FRE-LHERA DE ZEUS

In dictionaries of mythology, the goddess Hera is an irascible wife and imperfect mother, confronted with a frivolous Zeus who populates the Greek world with his “bastards.” Indeed, since The Iliad, Mount Olympus has resonated with Hera’s tantrums: countless narrative traditions spotlight the goddess’ fury, the infidelities of her reigning spouse, and the persecutions to which she subjects his illegitimate offspring, including Heracles and Dionysus. Yet how can this image be reconciled with the cultural influence of the sovereign goddess in her sanctuaries of Argos, Samos, and others? Should this be deemed proof that Greek myths and cults form two heterogeneous and irreconcilable wholes – respectively, imaginary fantasy and earnest practices of the religious life? By tackling such questions, this study of Zeus’ Hera provides us new perspectives to better understand the society of gods, the destiny of heroes and the lives of mortals. As spouse and queen, Hera shares the king’s throne and bed. As Zeus’ intimate enemy, she is also the fierce guardian of the Olympian family’s legitimacy and integrity. In refraining from projecting moralizing rhetoric and anachronic categories of interpretation onto the Greek gods’ world, the author allows the features of Zeus’ Hera to emerge in more subtle and complex detail, thus challenging the concept of power in ancient Greece with all of its tensions, as well as the workings of polytheism.