Hera

Hera is the goddess of marriage and childbirth rather more than of motherhood, and much of her mythology revolves around her marriage with her brother Zeus. She is charmed by him and she seduces him; he cheats on her and has many children by other goddesses and mortal women; she is intensely jealous and vindictive towards his children and their mothers; he is threatening and violent to her.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burkert |first1=Walter |title=Greek religion |date=1985 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=0674362810 |pages=131-135}}</ref>

Hera is the goddess of marriage and childbirth rather more than of motherhood, and much of her mythology revolves around her marriage with her brother Zeus. She is charmed by him and she seduces him; he cheats on her and has many children by other goddesses and mortal women; she is intensely jealous and vindictive towards his children and their mothers; he is threatening and violent to her.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burkert |first1=Walter |title=Greek religion |date=1985 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=0674362810 |pages=131-135}}</ref>

In the ”[[Iliad]]”, Zeus implies their marriage was some sort of elopement, as they lay secretly from their parents.<ref>[[Homer]], the ”[[Iliad]]” [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D14%3Acard%3D270 14.295-299]</ref> [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] records a tale of how they came to be married in which Zeus transformed into a [[cuckoo]] bird to woo Hera. She caught the bird and kept it as her pet; this is why the cuckoo is seated on her sceptre.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ”Description of Greece” [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.17.4&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160 2.17.4]</ref> According to a scholion on [[Theocritus]]’ ”Idylls”, when Hera was heading toward Mountain Thronax alone, he created a terrible storm and transformed himself into a cuckoo bird who flew down and sat on her lap. When Hera saw him, covered him with her cloak. Zeus then transformed back and took hold of her; because she was refusing to sleep with him due to their [[Rhea (mythology)|mother]], he promised to marry her.<ref>[[Scholia]] on [[Theocritus]]’ ”Idylls” [https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2021/08/21/explaining-the-cuckoo-women-know-everything-4/ 15.64]</ref>

In the ”[[Iliad]]”, Zeus implies their marriage was some sort of elopement, as they lay secretly from their parents.<ref>[[Homer]], the ”[[Iliad]]” [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D14%3Acard%3D270 14.295-299]</ref> [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] records a tale of how they came to be married in which Zeus transformed into a [[cuckoo]] bird to woo Hera. She caught the bird and kept it as her pet; this is why the cuckoo is seated on her sceptre.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ”Description of Greece” [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.17.4&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160 2.17.4]</ref> According to a scholion on [[Theocritus]]’ ”Idylls”, when Hera was heading toward Mountain Thronax alone, he created a terrible storm and transformed himself into a cuckoo bird who flew down and sat on her lap. When Hera saw him, covered him with her cloak. Zeus then transformed back and took hold of her; because she was refusing to sleep with him due to their [[Rhea (mythology)|mother]], he promised to marry her.<ref>[[Scholia]] on [[Theocritus]]’ ”Idylls” [https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2021/08/21/explaining-the-cuckoo-women-know-everything-4/ 15.64]</ref> In one account Hera refused to marry Zeus and hid in a cave to avoid him; an earthborn man named Achilles convinced her to give him a chance, and thus the two had their first sexual intercourse.<ref>[[Ptolemaeus Chennus]], ”New History” Book 6, as epitomized by [[Patriarch Photius I of Constantinople|Patriarch Photius]] in his ”[[Bibliotheca (Photius)|Myriobiblon]]” [https://topostext.org/work/237#190.47 190.47]</ref>

According to [[Callimachus]], their wedding feast lasted three thousand years.<ref>[[Callimachus]], ”[[Aetia (Callimachus)|Aetia]]” fragment [https://dcc.dickinson.edu/callimachus-aetia/untitled-48 48]</ref> The Apples of the [[Hesperides]] that [[Heracles]] was tasked by [[Eurystheus]] to take were a wedding gift by [[Gaia]] to the couple.<ref>[[Pseudo-Apollodorus]], ”Library” [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D5%3Asection%3D11 2.5.11]</ref>

According to [[Callimachus]], their wedding feast lasted three thousand years.<ref>[[Callimachus]], ”[[Aetia (Callimachus)|Aetia]]” fragment [https://dcc.dickinson.edu/callimachus-aetia/untitled-48 48]</ref> The Apples of the [[Hesperides]] that [[Heracles]] was tasked by [[Eurystheus]] to take were a wedding gift by [[Gaia]] to the couple.<ref>[[Pseudo-Apollodorus]], ”Library” [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D5%3Asection%3D11 2.5.11]</ref>