Hera vs Juno - Zoe

Hera vs Juno 

Today we will be looking at the similarities and differences between the Greek god Hera and the Roman equivalent Juno.  The Roman religion was heavily influenced by the Ancient Greek religion.  Unlike most religions now which are monotheistic (the belief in a single god) like Christianity and Sikhism, these Ancient religions were polytheistic (the belief in many gods) like Hinduism and Taoism.  The culture of the Greek people is known as Hellenism.  The Roman culture ‘adopted’ (steal) the Greek culture when the Romans attacked and took over Greece but decided that they liked Hellenism.  

The two are goddesses are quite similar, like I said before the Romans sto-adopted the Greek religion.  Hera was the queen of the gods but also the goddess of marriage whilst Juno was just the queen of the gods.  They were both considered the second most powerful deities after their husbands (and brothers) Zeus/Jupiter (equivalent) who were considered the king of the gods … of course men get all the power.  Visually, they were very similar and almost indistinguishable.  You wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.  They were seen wearing flowing robes, a crown (polos), and holding a lotus sceptre. Yes, the two goddesses are very alike but have differences in their tales and beliefs about them.

 

Hera

Hera, the daughter of Cronus and Rhea, goddess of marriage and protector of women was married to Zeus (who was her brother) who took a while to win here over until disguising as a peacock, also her sacred animal.  Hera was often associated with the pomegranate which symbolises life and rebirth.  Hera’s personality is quite to different to Juno’s as she was more jealous, definitely vengeful, a very protective calm mother, yet she was portrayed immensely majestic. Zeus was extremely disloyal who committed countless acts of adultery.  This led to Hera hating all of Zeus’ mistresses and illegitimate children. She especially disliked Hercules who she tried to kill by raising a storm.  This resulted in a very hot-tempered Zeus and hung her in the clouds with a gold chain. Hey, at least it was gold.  

 

Juno

Juno, her name translates to Regina, meaning queen, the daughter of Saturn and Ops (Roman equivalent of Hera’s parents), married to Jupiter (also her brother, equivalent to Zeus), worshipped as the light giver, often associated with the moon unlike Hera and was also celebrated on full moon nights.  Contrary to Hera, she was also related to politics and war who was believed to protect the nation from attacks etc.  As the goddess of marriage, the month June was named after her as most marriages occurred in that special month.  Contrasting to Hera, Juno was surprisingly completely fine with her husband’s multiple affairs and the result of them.  I don’t know how she could be okay with that.  Juno committed herself to bring the heroes of Olympus together unlike Hera who wasn’t bothered to.

Between the two deities, Juno may look like the ‘better goddess’ as she is was more encouraging and calm but we really should give credit to Hera for standing up to Zeus for being a bit of a jerk. 

Next week we will be comparing their husbands/brothers: Zeus and Jupiter!  Stay tuned.