Hera in Folklore | The Faeries and Folklore Podcast

Episode 202: Irascible Immortals: Hera

The folklore of Hera in a nutshell and how I reimagined it for my writing.

Transcript

You’re listening to the Faeries and Folklore podcast by Ronel.

I’m dark fantasy author Ronel Janse van Vuuren. With nearly a decade of digging around in dusty folklore books, researching creatures of imagination that ignited my curiosity, I’m here to share the folklore in a nutshell and how I reimagined it for my writing in an origin of the fae.

This is the Faeries and Folklore podcast.

Hi, I’m your host Ronel Janse van Vuuren. You can just call me Ronel. In today’s episode, we’re continuing our exploration of the fae realm.

This episode is brought to you by my Irascible Immortals series, available in ebook, paperback, hardback and audiobook. They’ve been alive forever. They’ve been bored for some time. And now they’re showing it. Go to ronelthemythmaker.com/my-books/the-irascible-immortals-series for more.

We’re continuing our exploration of the Immortals.

Today’s immortal: Hera

Folklore in a nutshell by Ronel

Hera is the Greek goddess of marriage, women and family. She’s sometimes also seen as the goddess of childbirth. Looking at the various myths surrounding her, it is clear she presides over all aspects of female life. As the sister-wife of Zeus, she is also worshipped as the queen of heaven. She was worshipped throughout the ancient Greek world. The Romans identified her with Juno, who gave her name to the month June, which is a popular month to get married in the Northern Hemisphere. Hera is one of the twelve Olympians who reside on Mount Olympus, daughter of the Titans Kronus and Rhea, and the mother of Ares, Hebe, Ilithiya and Hephaestus.

Like so many goddesses, she had no interest in Zeus. But he tricked her into marrying him – much like in a Regency romance where any kind of unwanted sexual advance was rewarded with marriage – and she stayed a faithful, if vengeful, wife. Zeus was never faithful, of course. Though some say that she was jealous of Zeus having these many affairs, resulting in over a hundred children, and taking out her rage on the women – Leto’s labour was prolonged by months – it can be argued that she was merely acting out as a woman wronged so many times by the same man. And as marriage is about fidelity, it was her duty to make sure others respected it.

Hera is a bold, clever, powerful woman who is usually dressed in a fine robe, holding a sceptre and wearing a crown. She is sometimes seen holding a pomegranate, the emblem of fertility.

Her sacred animals are the cow and peacock, though she’s also connected with horses, lions and cuckoos.

Time, and a lot of stories about her vengeful nature – especially regarding Hercules – has left her as merely the pretty and petty wife of Zeus. But clearly there’s much more to her.

Origin of the fae: Hera

Hera is the goddess of the heavens, wife of Zeus, mother of few, adversary of many, and worshipped by thousands – especially women needing her aid. She doesn’t tolerate fools, those who don’t respect marriage, or anyone who abuses women and children. She is fond of peacocks and have many living in her private garden. She’s still faithful to her irascible husband, though she prefers distance between them – time has made her think of murder plenty of times.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this episode of the faeries and folklore podcast and that you’ve learned something new about faeries.

Remember that you can get a transcript of this episode in the description. If you’re new to the podcast, why not go and grab your free copy of Unseen, the second book in the Faery Tales series, on my website ronelthemythmaker.com? Loads of folklore, magic and danger await! Take care!

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