For Kay's Seven Deadly Sins meme this week, I'm inclined toward both art and mythology. I thought Hera would be a good subject for the theme of wrath and vengeance.
Hera Wrath
Hera Wrath
HERA was the Queen of the gods, and goddess of the sky, women and marriage. These pages (click on link above) describes the wrath of the goddess, which in myth, was mostly directed against the mistresses of Zeus and his bastard sons. (N.B. Quotes for this section are still being compiled.)
click on the image for an interesting link to tales of Hera WrathBoth sister and wife of Zeus, Hera is queen of the gods. The Greeks revered her as protector of marriage, especially married women. This may be because she had such a difficult marriage herself. Zeus was not the least bit faithful, always succumbing to his lust for other women - mortal as well as immortal. Hera herself, however, was always faithful despite the repeated attentions of others trying to take her away.
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 to HeraThe gods were so emotional and dramatic, weren't they? I love it.
(Headless Hera (not its real title, of course)with apologies to Bobbie ;-)The headless, marble statue of the ancient Greek goddess Hera dates back to the 2nd century B.C. and was discovered last year during excavations in the town of Dion, near Mt Olympus in northern Greece. Click on photo for the story on this amazing find
Hera could certainly teach 'scorned women' a thing or two about wrath. She really knew how to make her feelings known!
ReplyDeleteI love mythology.
Hera, had every right to be very angry! Zeus played around with every young goddess that came his way... :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Mine will be up shortly.
This was great! Thank P.S. ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting meme. As always, you have done a fantastic job with it.
ReplyDeleteAs your resident Xenaphile (that is, fan of the "World's Greatest TV Show Ever!", Xena: Warrior Princess :-D), I commend the portrayal of Hera by Meg Foster (seen here w/ Charles Keating as Zeus), on the show, as seen here.
ReplyDeleteWell, hell, JCF. I clicked on the link and got a message that says "forbidden". Leave it to you...Is there some other means by which you could alert me to this? :-)
ReplyDeleteBobbie: this one was lots of fun.
Mary: right but instead of taking her wrath out on Zeus or his women, she often terrorized and killed off his illegitimate offspring. Nice gal, huh?
Dusty: hey! Glad you enjoyed it, Sister!
Bob-kat: indeed. Imagine having that much power...
Very cool!
ReplyDeleteHera was such a badass woman.... I do think it is interesting that her anger was more of a vengeance sort of emotion, thus wrath, not just say bitterness.
And Bobbie... feel free to come play along!
Not a goddess to be trifled with, that's certain.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if any of the DV organizations have adopted her as a symbol... seems like they should.
love the post. always wondered why, hera and human women so often get pissed at the other woman but rarely take out their emotions on the hubby. after all, he isn't dealing fairly with those ladies either.
ReplyDeleteI don't know as much about Juno, Hera's Roman counterpart but from the little I remember and just read on wiki, she was a lot less ferocious than Hera.
ReplyDeleteThose Greeks!
Ack. Sorry, Gina (got too clever by half, I'm afraid).
ReplyDeleteIf you go to this page, it's the 4th picture on the grid (top row, 4th from the left).