HERA was the wife of Zeus and, in literature, the most prominent Greek goddess, although her cultic importance was limited. Hera was an ancient goddess, whose name is already attested in Mycenaean times. Etymologically, a relation with the word heros seems probable. As the latter most likely means something like "Lord," Hera's name may be interpreted as "Lady," even if certainty is not attainable.

Zeus's first wife was called Dione, who survived only at the margins of the Greek world, yet Hera had already supplanted her in Mycenaean times—a Linear-B tablet of Pylos mentions the combination "Zeus, Hera, Drimios, the son of Zeus." The role of Hera in Homer's Iliad, the oldest and most detailed source in the Archaic Age, is threefold. First, she is the wedded wife of Zeus (she was also his eldest sister). Hera sits "on the golden throne" and holds the scepter, and...