Hera - Hera (English spelling)

In Greek mythology, she is the patron saint of women, marriage, and family life, and the wife of Zeus and queen of the gods. In Roman mythology, she is identified with Juno. She was the daughter of the Titan gods Cronus and Rhea, and became the wife of her brother Zeus. She gave birth to Ares, Eileitheia (the goddess of childbirth), and Hebe, but in response to Zeus giving birth to Athena without his wife's help, she gave birth to Hephaestus on her own. In mythology, she is portrayed as a jealous wife who always persecutes her husband's lovers. When Leto was about to give birth to Zeus' children Apollo and Artemis, she forbade all countries and islands from providing a place for the birth, and did not allow Eileitheia to attend the birth. When her husband fell in love with Io, he transformed Io into a cow and had the hundred-eyed monster Argos watch over her, releasing horseflies to confuse her. He also persecuted Hercules, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, throughout his life, and when Semele became the mother of Dionysus, he tempted her by saying, "Show me proof that the man sneaking up on you is Zeus," causing her to be struck by lightning and killed.

Meanwhile, Hera was a devoted protector of the crew of the Argo, especially Jason, and sided with the Greeks in the Trojan War. She was a great goddess whose center of worship was in the Argos region, but it seems that she was eventually made the spouse of the chief god of the newly arrived Greeks. In Arcadia, she was worshiped with three titles: "maiden," "wife," and "widow," and it is said that she renewed her virginity every year by bathing in the springs of Argos, which shows her character as the patron deity of women. Mock ceremonies of the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera were also held in various places.

[Tetsuro Nakatsuka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ギリシア神話で、女性、結婚、家庭生活の守護神であり、またゼウスの正妻で神々の女王。ローマ神話ではユノと同一視される。ティタン神クロノスとレアの娘で、弟のゼウスの妻となり、アレス、エイレイテイア（産の女神）、ヘベを生んだが、さらにゼウスが妻の手を借りずにアテネを生んだのに対抗し、独力でヘファイストスを生んだ。神話のなかでは、つねに夫の愛人を迫害する嫉妬(しっと)深い妻として現れる。レトがゼウスの子アポロンとアルテミスを生もうとするときには、すべての国や島にお産の場を提供することを禁じ、エイレイテイアにも助産に行かせなかった。また夫がイオを愛したときには、牛に変身したイオに百眼の怪物アルゴスを監視につけ、虻(あぶ)を放って悩乱させた。このほかゼウスとアルクメネの子ヘラクレスを一生迫害し続けたり、ディオニソスの母となったセメレに対し「忍んでくる男がゼウスである証拠を見せてもらいなさい」と唆(そそのか)して、セメレが雷火に撃たれて死ぬように仕向けたりした。

　一方、ヘラはアルゴ船の乗組員、ことにイアソンを庇護(ひご)すること篤(あつ)く、トロヤ戦争ではギリシア方に味方した。彼女はアルゴス地方に崇拝の中心地をもつ大女神であったが、やがて新来のギリシア人の主神の配偶者にされたらしい。アルカディアでは「童女」「妻」「寡婦」なる三つの称号で崇拝され、またアルゴスの泉で沐浴(もくよく)しては毎年処女性を更新したとも伝えられるが、これらは女性の守り神としての性格を示している。ゼウスとヘラの神聖婚の模擬儀礼も各地で行われた。

［中務哲郎］

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