Editing Hera (section)

=== Minor stories ===
[[File:Statue of a female deity (Academy of Athens) on May 22, 2022.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Hera in the pediment of the [[Academy of Athens (modern)|Academy of Athens]].]]

====The Golden Fleece====
Hera hated [[Pelias]], king of [[Iolcus]], because he had killed [[Sidero]], his step-grandmother, in one of her temples. She later convinced his nephew [[Jason]] to kill Pelias. The [[Golden Fleece]] was the item that Jason needed to get his mother Alcimide freed, which he obtained with the help of the sorceress [[Medea]], who was influenced by the goddess. At the request of Hera, [[Aeolus (son of Hippotes)|Aelous]] calmed all the winds but the "steady" west wind, to aid their crew, the [[Argonauts]], on their journey home.<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes]], [https://archive.org/details/argonautica00apoluoft/page/346/mode/2up?view=theater 4.757–769], [https://archive.org/details/argonautica00apoluoft/page/346/mode/2up?view=theater 4.757–769] & [https://archive.org/details/argonautica00apoluoft/page/350/mode/2up?view=theater 4.818–822]</ref>

==== Cydippe ====
[[Cydippe]], a priestess of Hera, was on her way to a festival in the goddess's honor. The oxen which were to pull her cart were overdue and her sons, [[Kleobis and Biton|Biton]] and [[Cleobis]], pulled the cart the entire way (45 [[stadia (length)|stadia]], 8 kilometers). Cydippe was impressed with their devotion to her and Hera, and so asked Hera to give her children the best gift a god could give a person. Hera ordained that the brothers would die in their sleep. This honor bestowed upon the children was later used by [[Solon]] as proof when trying to convince [[Croesus]] that it is impossible to judge a person's happiness until they have died a fruitful death after a joyous life.<ref>Herodotus' ''History'', Book I</ref>

====Ixion====
When [[Zeus]] had pity on [[Ixion]] and brought him to Olympus and introduced him to the gods, instead of being grateful, Ixion grew lustful for Hera. Zeus found out about his intentions and made a cloud in the shape of Hera, who was later named [[Nephele]], and tricked Ixion into coupling with it. From their union came [[Centaurus (Greek mythology)|Centaurus]]. So Ixion was expelled from Olympus and Zeus ordered [[Hermes]] to bind Ixion to a winged fiery wheel that was always spinning. Therefore, Ixion was bound to a burning solar wheel for all eternity, first spinning across the heavens, but in later myth transferred to [[Tartarus]].<ref>Kerenyi 1951, p.160</ref>

==== Olympian Rebellion ====
In the ''Iliad'', Homer tells of another attempted overthrow, in which Hera, Poseidon, and Athena conspire to overpower Zeus and tie him in bonds. It is only because of Thetis, who summons Briareus, one of the [[Hecatoncheires]], to Olympus, that the other Olympians abandon their plans (out of fear for Briareus).<ref>Gantz, p. 59; Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA82 p. 82]; [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.386-1.427 1.395&#x2013;410].</ref>

==== Aëtos ====
According to the myth, Aëtos was a beautiful boy born of the [[Gaia|earth]]. While Zeus was young and hiding in [[Crete]] from his father [[Cronus]] who had devoured all of Zeus's siblings, Aëtos became friends with the god and was the among the first beings to swear fealty to him as new king. But years later, after Zeus had overthrown his father and become king in his place, Zeus's wife Hera turned Aëtos into an eagle, out of fear that Zeus loved him. Thus the eagle became the sacred bird of Zeus, and a symbol of power and kingship.<ref>[[Sophocles]] frag 320.</ref><ref name=":serv">[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], ''Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0053%3Abook%3D1%3Acommline%3D394 1.394]</ref>

====Tiresias====
[[Tiresias]] was a priest of Zeus, and as a young man, he encountered two snakes mating and hit them with a stick. He was then transformed into a woman. As a woman, Tiresias became a priestess of Hera, married, and had children, including [[Manto (mythology)|Manto]]. After seven years as a woman, Tiresias again found mating snakes; depending on the myth, either she made sure to leave the snakes alone this time, or, according to [[Fabulae|Hyginus]], trampled on them and became a man once more.<ref>Hygini, ''[[Fabulae]]'', LXXV</ref>

As a result of his experiences, Zeus and Hera asked him to settle the question of which sex, male or female, experienced more pleasure during [[Sexual intercourse|intercourse]]. Zeus claimed it was women; Hera claimed it was men. When Tiresias sided with Zeus, Hera struck him blind.<ref name=":3" /> Since Zeus could not undo what she had done, he gave him the gift of prophecy.

An alternative and less commonly told story has it that Tiresias was blinded by [[Athena]] after he stumbled onto her bathing naked. His mother, [[Chariclo]], begged her to undo her curse, but Athena could not; she gave him a prophecy instead.
[[File:Figino.jpg|left|thumb|''[[Io (mythology)|Io]] with [[Zeus]]'' by [[Giovanni Ambrogio Figino]], 1599]]

==== Io and Argus ====
The myth of Io has many forms and embellishments. Generally, Io was a priestess of Hera at the [[Heraion of Argos]]. Zeus lusted after her and either Hera turned Io into a heifer to hide her from Zeus, or Zeus did so to hide her from Hera but was discovered. Hera had Io tethered to an olive-tree and set [[Argus Panoptes]] ({{lit|all-seeing}}) to watch over her, but Zeus sent Hermes to kill him.<ref name="OCD_Io3">{{cite book |last1=Dowden |first1=Ken |title=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-866172-X |editor1-last=Hornblower & Spawforth |edition=Third |location=Oxford |pages=762–763 |chapter=Io}}</ref> Infuriated, Hera then sent a gadfly (Greek {{lang|grc|oistros}}, compare [[Estrus cycle|oestrus]]) to pursue and constantly sting Io, who fled into Asia and eventually reached Egypt. There Zeus restored her to human form and she gave birth to his son [[Epaphus]].<ref name="OCD_Io3" />

====Gerana====
[[Gerana]] was a queen of the [[Pygmies]] who boasted she was more beautiful than Hera. The wrathful goddess turned her into a crane and proclaimed that her bird descendants should wage eternal war on the Pygmy folk.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 6.89 - 91</ref>

====Lamia====
[[Lamia (mythology)|Lamia]] was a lovely queen of [[Libya]], whom Zeus loved; Hera in jealousy robbed Lamia of their children, either by kidnapping and hiding them away, killing them, or causing Lamia herself to kill her own offspring.<ref name="johnston">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=57MwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA174 |title=Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece |publisher=Univ of California Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-520-28018-2 |editor-last=Johnston |editor-first=Sarah Iles |page=174}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Ogden|2013b|p=98}}: "Because of Hera ... she lost [''or'': destroyed] the children she bore".</ref> Lamia became disfigured from the torment, transforming into a terrifying being who hunted and killed the children of others.<ref>[[Duris of Samos]] (d. 280 B. C.), ''Libyca'', quoted by {{harvp|Ogden|2013b|p=98}}</ref>