Editing Hera (section)

===Importance===
According to [[Walter Burkert]], both Hera and Demeter have many characteristic attributes of Pre-Greek [[Great Goddess]]es.<ref>"The goddesses of Greek polytheism, so different and complementary"; [[Greek mythology]] scholar [[Walter Burkert]] has observed, in ''Homo Necans'' (1972) 1983:79f, "are nonetheless, consistently similar at an earlier stage, with one or the other simply becoming dominant in a sanctuary or city. Each is the Great Goddess presiding over a male society; each is depicted in her attire as [[Potnia Theron]] "Mistress of the Beasts", and Mistress of the Sacrifice, even Hera and Demeter."</ref>

In the same vein, British scholar [[Charles Francis Keary]] suggests that Hera had some sort of "[[Mother goddess|Earth Goddess]]" worship in ancient times,<ref>Keary, Charles Francis. ''Outlines of primitive belief among the Indo-European races''. New York: C. Scibner's Sons. 1882. p. 176.</ref><ref>Renehan, Robert. ''HERA AS EARTH-GODDESS: A NEW PIECE OF EVIDENCE''. In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 
Neue Folge, 117. Bd., H. 3/4 (1974), pp. 193-201. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/41244783]</ref><ref name="sacred-texts.com">[https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/mgr/mgr05.htm Harrison, Jane Ellen. ''Myths of Greece and Rome''. 1928. pp. 12-14]</ref> connected to her possible origin as a Pelasgian goddess (as mentioned by Herodotus).<ref>Keary, Charles Francis. ''Outlines of primitive belief among the Indo-European races''. New York: C. Scibner's Sons. 1882. p. 176 (footnote nr. ii).</ref><ref name="sacred-texts.com"/> In Greece the Mediterranean goddess of nature  is the bride of the Greek sky-god . In her fest [[Daedala]] Hera is related to the nymph Plataia (consort of [[Zeus]]), an old forgotten form of the Greek earth-goddess.<ref name="Burkert17"/> Plataia may be related to [[Gaia]] who is occasionally identified with Hera.<ref name=Kirk/><ref name="174-175">West (2007) "Indoeuropean poetry and myth" [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXrJA_5LKlYC&pg=PA174 174-175]</ref>

According to [[Homeric Hymn]] II to [[Delian Apollo]], Hera detained [[Eileithyia]] to prevent [[Leto]] from going into labor with Artemis and [[Apollo]], since the father was [[Zeus]]. The other goddesses present at the birthing on [[Delos]] sent [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]] to bring her. As she stepped upon the island, the divine birth began. In the myth of the birth of [[Heracles]], it is Hera herself who sits at the door, delaying the birth of Heracles until her protégé, [[Eurystheus]], had been born first.<ref name="Hom. Il. 19.95">[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Il.+19.95 19.95ff.]</ref>

The Homeric Hymn to [[Pythian Apollo]] makes the monster [[Typhon|Typhaon]] the offspring of archaic Hera in her ancient form, produced out of herself, like a monstrous version of [[Hephaestus]], and whelped in a cave in [[Cilicia]].<ref>''Iliad'', ii. 781-783)</ref> She gave the creature to [[Python (mythology)|Python]] to raise.

[[Image:Hera Barberini Chiaramonti Inv1210.jpg|thumb|upright|Roman copy of a Greek 5th century Hera of the "[[Barberini Hera]]" type, from the [[Museo Chiaramonti]]]]

In the [[Temple of Hera, Olympia]], Hera's seated cult figure was older than the warrior figure of Zeus that accompanied it. Homer expressed her relationship with Zeus delicately in the ''Iliad'', in which she declares to Zeus, "I am [[Cronus]]' eldest daughter, and am honourable not on this ground only, but also because I am your wife, and you are king of the gods."<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Homer |first=751? BCE-651? BCE |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2199 |title=The Iliad |date=2000-06-01 |language=English |translator-last=Butler |translator-first=Samuel}}</ref>