Hiera

The origin of the name admits a variety of etymologies. The theories include: 1) From the Ancient Greek “hṓrā (ὥρᾱ),” meaning “season.” 2) From the Ancient Greek “Eratṓ (Ἐρᾰτώ),” meaning “beloved.” 3) Her name may be connected with “hḗrōs (ἥρως),” meaning “hero.” Hera is the wife and one of Zeus’s three sisters in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the doctrine of ancient Rome was Juno. Hera was most known as the matron goddess, Hera Teleia, but she presided over weddings. In myth and cult, fragmentary references and old practices remain of the sacred marriage of Hera and Zeus. At Plataea, there was a sculpture of Hera seated as a bride by Callimachus, as well as the matronly standing Hera.