Hera, known in latin term as Juno

AESCHYLUS, FRAGMENTS, Fragment 211, translated by H. W. SMYTH

Scholiast on Pindar, Nemean 10. 31 (18).
Hera, the Perfecter, wedded wife of Zeus

AESCHYLUS, PROMETHEUS BOUND, translated by H. W. SMYTH

PROMETHEUS -[589] How can I fail to hear the maiden frenzied by the gadfly, the daughter of Inachus? It is she who fires the heart of Zeus with passion, and now, through Hera's hate, is disciplined by force with interminable wandering.

IO - [593] Why do you call my father's name? Tell me, the unfortunate maid, who you are, unhappy wretch, that you thus correctly address the miserable maiden, and have named the heaven-sent plague that wastes and stings me with its maddening goad. Ah me! In frenzied bounds I come, driven by torturing hunger, victim of Hera's vengeful purpose. Who of the company of the unfortunate endures—aah! aah!—sufferings such as mine? Oh make it clear to me what misery I am fated to suffer, what remedy is there, what cure, for my affliction. Reveal it, if you have the knowledge. Oh speak, declare it to the unfortunate, wandering virgin.

AESCHYLUS, SUPPLIANT WOMEN, translated by H. W. SMYTH

CHORUS - [292] Is there a report that once in this land of Argos Io was ward of Hera's house?

KING - [294] Certainly she was; the tradition prevails far and wide.

[CHORUS OF HANDMAIDENS] - [1034] Yet there is no disdain of Cypris in this our friendly hymn; for she, together with Hera, holds power nearest to Zeus, and for her solemn rites the goddess of varied wiles is held in honor. And in the train of their mother are Desire and she to whom nothing is denied, winning Persuasion; and to Harmonia has been given a share of Aphrodite, and to the whispering touches of the Loves.

AESCHYLUS, EPITOME OF LIBRARY, translated by J. G. FRAZER

[E.1.20] Ixion fell in love with Hera and attempted to force her; and when Hera reported it, Zeus, wishing to know if the thing were so, made a cloud in the likeness of Hera and laid it beside him; and when Ixion boasted that he had enjoyed the favours of Hera, Zeus bound him to a wheel, on which he is whirled by winds through the air; such is the penalty he pays. And the cloud, impregnated by Ixion, gave birth to Centaurus.

[E.3.2] For one of these reasons Strife threw an apple as a prize of beauty to be contended for by Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite; and Zeus commanded Hermes to lead them to Alexander on Ida in order to be judged by him. And they promised to give Alexander gifts. Hera said that if she were preferred to all women, she would give him the kingdom over all men; and Athena promised victory in war, and Aphrodite the hand of Helen. And he decided in favour of Aphrodite; and sailed away to Sparta with ships built by Phereclus.

[E.3.3] For nine days he was entertained by Menelaus; but on the tenth day, Menelaus having gone on a journey to Crete to perform the obsequies of his mother's father Catreus, Alexander persuaded Helen to go off with him. And she abandoned Hermione, then nine years old, and putting most of the property on board, she set sail with him by night.

[E.3.4] But Hera sent them a heavy storm which forced them to put in at Sidon. And fearing lest he should be pursued, Alexander spent much time in Phoenicia and Cyprus. But when he thought that all chance of pursuit was over, he came to Troy with Helen.

[E.6.29] Menelaus, with five ships in all under his command, put in at Sunium, a headland of Attica; and being again driven thence by winds to Crete he drifted far away, and wandering up and down Libya, and Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Egypt, he collected much treasure. And according to some, he discovered Helen at the court of Proteus, king of Egypt; for till then Menelaus had only a phantom of her made of clouds. And after wandering for eight years he came to port at Mycenae, and there found Orestes, who had avenged his father's murder. And having come to Sparta he regained his own kingdom, and being made immortal by Hera he went to the Elysian Fields with Helen.

APOLLONIUS RHODIUS, ARGONAUTICA, Book 1, translated by R. C. SEATON

[5] Such was the oracle that Pelias heard, that a hateful doom awaited him to be slain at the prompting of the man whom he should see coming forth from the people with but one sandal. And no long time after, in accordance with that true report, Jason crossed the stream of wintry Anaurus on foot, and saved one sandal from the mire, but the other he left in the depths held back by the flood. And straightway he came to Pelias to share the banquet which the king was offering to his father Poseidon and the rest of the gods, though he paid no honour to Pelasgian Hera. Quickly the king saw him and pondered, and devised for him the toil of a troublous voyage, in order that on the sea or among strangers he might lose his home-return.

APOLLONIUS RHODIUS, ARGONAUTICA, Book 3, translated by R. C. SEATON

[6] Thus the heroes, unobserved, were waiting in ambush amid the thick reed-beds; but Hera and Athena took note of them, and, apart from Zeus and the other immortals, entered a chamber and took counsel together; and Hera first made trial of Athena: Do thou now first, daughter of Zeus, give advice. What must be done? Wilt thou devise some scheme whereby they may seize the golden fleece of Aeetes and bear it to Hellas, or can they deceive the king with soft words and so work persuasion? Of a truth he is terribly overweening. Still it is right to shrink from no endeavour.

[17] Thus she spake, and at once Athena addressed her: I too was pondering such thoughts in my heart, Hera, when thou didst ask me outright. But not yet do I think that I have conceived a scheme to aid the courage of the heroes, though I have balanced many plans.

[22] She ended, and the goddesses fixed their eyes on the ground at their feet, brooding apart; and straightway Hera was the first to speak her thought: Come, let us go to Cypris; let both of us accost her and urge her to bid her son (if only he will obey) speed his shaft at the daughter of Aeetes, the enchantress, and charm her with love for Jason. And I deem that by her device he will bring back the fleece to Hellas.

[30] Thus she spake, and the prudent plan pleased Athena, and she addressed her in reply with gentle words: Hera, my father begat me to be a stranger to the darts of love, nor do I know any charm to work desire. But if the word pleases thee, surely I will follow; but thou must speak when we meet her.

p>[55] And to her Hera replied: Thou dost mock us, but our hearts are stirred with calamity. For already on the river Phasis the son of Aeson moors his ship, he and his comrades in quest of the fleece. For all their sakes we fear terribly (for the task is nigh at hand) but most for Aeson's son. Him will I deliver, though he sail even to Hades to free Ixion below from his brazen chains, as far as strength lies in my limbs, so that Pelias may not mock at having escaped an evil doom -- Pelias who left me unhonoured with sacrifice. Moreover Jason was greatly loved by me before, ever since at the mouth of Anaurus in flood, as I was making trial of men's righteousness, he met me on his return from the chase; and all the mountains and long ridged peaks were sprinkled with snow, and from them the torrents rolling down were rushing with a roar. And he took pity on me in the likeness of an old crone, and raising me on his shoulders himself bore me through the headlong tide. So he is honoured by me unceasingly; nor will Pelias pay the penalty of his outrage, unless thou wilt grant Jason his return.

[76] Thus she spake, and speechlessness seized Cypris. And beholding Hera supplicating her she felt awe, and then addressed her with friendly words: Dread goddess, may no viler thing than Cypris ever be found, if I disregard thy eager desire in word or deed, whatever my weak arms can effect; and let there be no favour in return.

[83] She spake, and Hera again addressed her with prudence: It is not in need of might or of strength that we have come. But just quietly bid thy boy charm Aeetes' daughter with love for Jason. For if she will aid him with her kindly counsel, easily do I think he will win the fleece of gold and return to Iolcus, for she is full of wiles.

[90] Thus she spake, and Cypris addressed them both: Hera and Athena, he will obey you rather than me. For unabashed though he is, there will be some slight shame in his eyes before you; but he has no respect for me, but ever slights me in contentious mood. And, overborne by his naughtiness, I purpose to break his ill-sounding arrows and his bow in his very sight. For in his anger he has threatened that if I shall not keep my hands off him while he still masters his temper, I shall have cause to blame myself thereafter.

[100] So she spake, and the goddesses smiled and looked at each other. But Cypris again spoke, vexed at heart: To others my sorrows are a jest; nor ought I to tell them to all; I know them too well myself. But now, since this pleases you both, I will make the attempt and coax him, and he will not say me nay.

[106] Thus she spake, and Hera took her slender hand and gently smiling, replied: Perform this task, Cytherea, straightway, as thou sayest; and be not angry or contend with thy boy; he will cease hereafter to vex thee.

[111] She spake, and left her seat, and Athena accompanied her and they went forth both hastening back. And Cypris went on her way through the glens of Olympus to find her boy. And she found him apart, in the blooming orchard of Zeus, not alone, but with him Ganymedes, whom once Zeus had set to dwell among the immortal gods, being enamoured of his beauty. And they were playing for golden dice, as boys in one house are wont to do. And already greedy Eros was holding the palm of his left hand quite full of them under his breast, standing upright; and on the bloom of his cheeks a sweet blush was glowing. But the other sat crouching hard by, silent and downcast, and he had two dice left which he threw one after the other, and was angered by the loud laughter of Eros. And lo, losing them straightway with the former, he went off empty handed, helpless, and noticed not the approach of Cypris.

[210] And as they went Hera with friendly thought spread a thick mist through the city, that they might fare to the palace of Aeetes unseen by the countless hosts of the Colchians. But soon when from the plain they came to the city and Aeetes' palace, then again Hera dispersed the mist. And they stood at the entrance, marvelling at the king's courts and the wide gates and columns which rose in ordered lines round the walls; and high up on the palace a coping of stone rested on brazen triglyphs.

[1131] Thus he spake; and her soul melted within her to hear his words; nevertheless she shuddered to behold the deeds of destruction to come. Poor wretch! Not long was she destined to refuse a home in Hellas. For thus Hera devised it, that Aeaean Medea might come to Ioleus for a bane to Pelias, forsaking her native land.

APOLLONIUS RHODIUS, ARGONAUTICA, Book 4, translated by R. C. SEATON

[11] But into Medea's heart Hera cast most grievous fear; and she trembled like a nimble fawn whom the baying of hounds hath terrified amid the thicket of a deep copse. For at once she truly forboded that the aid she had given was not hidden from her father, and that quickly she would fill up the cup of woe. And she dreaded the guilty knowledge of her handmaids; her eyes were filled with fire and her ears rung with a terrible cry. Often did she clutch at her throat, and often did she drag out her hair by the roots and groan in wretched despair. There on that very day the maiden would have tasted the drugs and perished and so have made void the purposes of Hera, had not the goddess driven her, all bewildered, to flee with the sons of Phrixus; and her fluttering soul within her was comforted; and then she poured from her bosom all the drugs back again into the casket. Then she kissed her bed, and the folding-doors on both sides, and stroked the walls, and tearing away in her hands a long tress of hair, she left it in the chamber for her mother, a memorial of her maidenhood, and thus lamented with passionate voice: I go, leaving this long tress here in my stead, O mother mine; take this farewell from me as I go far hence; farewell Chalciope, and all my home. Would that the sea, stranger, had dashed thee to pieces, ere thou camest to the Colchian land!

[241] Swiftly the wind blew, as the goddess Hera planned, so that most quickly Aeaean Medea might reach the Pelasgian land, a bane to the house of Pelias, and on the third morn they bound the ship's stern cables to the shores of the Paphlagonians, at the mouth of the river Halys. For Medea bade them land and propitiate Hecate with sacrifice. Now all that the maiden prepared for offering the sacrifice may no man know, and may my soul not urge me to sing thereof. Awe restrains my lips, yet from that time the altar which the heroes raised on the beach to the goddess remains till now, a sight to men of a later day.

[507] But when the Colchians learnt the death of their prince, verily they were eager to pursue Argo and the Minyans through all the Cronian sea. But Hera restrained them by terrible lightnings from the sky. And at last they loathed their own homes in the Cytaean land, quailing before Aeetes' fierce wrath; so they landed and made abiding homes there, scattered far and wide.

[627] Thence they entered the deep stream of Rhodanus which flows into Eridanus; and where they meet there is a roar of mingling waters. Now that river, rising from the ends of the earth, where are the portals and mansions of Night, on one side bursts forth upon the beach of Ocean, at another pours into the Ionian sea, and on the third through seven mouths sends its stream to the Sardinian sea and its limitless bay. And from Rhodanus they entered stormy lakes, which spread throughout the Celtic mainland of wondrous size; and there they would have met with an inglorious calamity; for a certain branch of the river was bearing them towards a gulf of Ocean which in ignorance they were about to enter, and never would they have returned from there in safety. But Hera leaping forth from heaven pealed her cry from the Hercynian rock; and all together were shaken with fear of her cry; for terribly crashed the mighty firmament. And backward they turned by reason of the goddess, and noted the path by which their return was ordained. And after a long while they came to the beach of the surging sea by the devising of Hera, passing unharmed through countless tribes of the Celts and Ligyans. For round them the goddess poured a dread mist day by day as they fared on. And so, sailing through the midmost mouth, they reached the Stoechades islands in safety by the aid of the sons of Zeus; wherefore altars and sacred rites are established in their honour for ever; and not that sea-faring alone did they attend to succour; but Zeus granted to them the ships of future sailors too. Then leaving the Stoechades they passed on to the island Aethalia, where after their toil they wiped away with pebbles sweat in abundance; and pebbles like skin in colour are strewn on the beach; and there are their quoits and their wondrous armour; and there is the Argoan harbour called after them.

[749] Thus she spake, and measureless anguish seized the maid; and over her eyes she cast her robe and poured forth a lamentation, until the hero took her by the hand and led her forth from the hall quivering with fear. So they left the home of Circe.

[753] But they were not unmarked by the spouse of Zeus, son of Cronos; but Iris told her when she saw them faring from the hall. For Hera had bidden her watch what time they should come to the ship; so again she urged her and spake: Dear Iris, now come, if ever thou hast fulfilled my bidding, hie thee away on light pinions, and bid Thetis arise from the sea and come hither. For need of her is come upon me. Then go to the sea-beaches where the bronze anvils of Hephaestus are smitten by sturdy hammers, and tell him to still the blasts of fire until Argo pass by them. Then go to Aeolus too, Aeolus who rules the winds, children of the clear sky; and to him also tell my purpose so that he may make all winds cease under heaven and no breeze may ruffle the sea; yet let the breath of the west wind blow until the heroes have reached the Phaeacian isle of Alcinous.

[770] So she spake, and straightway Iris leapt down from Olympus and cleft her way, with light wings outspread. And she plunged into the Aegean Sea, where is the dwelling of Nereus. And she came to Thetis first and, by the promptings of Hera, told her tale and roused her to go to the goddess. Next she came to Hephaestus, and quickly made him cease from the clang of his iron hammers; and the smoke-grimed bellows were stayed from their blast. And thirdly she came to Aeolus, the famous son of Hippotas. And when she had given her message to him also and rested her swift knees from her course, then Thetis leaving Nereus and her sisters had come from the sea to Olympus to the goddess Hera; and the goddess made her sit by her side and uttered her word: Hearken now, lady Thetis, to what I am eager to tell thee. Thou knowest how honoured in my heart is the hero, Aeson's son, and the others that have helped him in the contest, and how I saved them when they passed between the Wandering rocks, where roar terrible storms of fire and the waves foam round the rugged reefs. And now past the mighty rock of Scylla and Charybdis horribly belching, a course awaits them. But thee indeed from thy infancy did I tend with my own hands and love beyond all others that dwell in the salt sea because thou didst refuse to share the couch of Zeus, for all his desire. For to him such deeds are ever dear, to embrace either goddesses or mortal women. But in reverence for me and with fear in thy heart thou didst shrink from his love; and he then swore a mighty oath that thou shouldst never be called the bride of an immortal god. Yet he ceased not from spying thee against thy will, until reverend Themis declared to him the whole truth, how that it was thy fate to bear a son mightier than his sire; wherefore he gave thee up, for all his desire, fearing lest another should be his match and rule the immortals, and in order that he might ever hold his own dominion. But I gave thee the best of the sons of earth to be thy husband, that thou mightest find a marriage dear to thy heart and bear children; and I summoned to the feast the gods, one and all. And with my own hand I raised the bridal torch, in return for the kindly honour thou didst pay me. But come, let me tell a tale that erreth not. When thy son shall come to the Elysian plain, he whom now in the home of Cheiron the Centaur water-nymphs are tending, though he still craves thy mother milk, it is fated that he be the husband of Medea, Aeetes' daughter; do thou aid thy daughter-in-law as a mother-in-law should, and aid Peleus himself. Why is thy wrath so steadfast? He was blinded by folly. For blindness comes even upon the gods. Surely at my behest I deem that Hephaestus will cease from kindling the fury of his flame, and that Aeolus, son of Hippotas, will check his swift rushing winds, all but the steady west wind, until they reach the havens of the Phaeacians; do thou devise a return without bane. The rocks and the tyrannous waves are my fear, they alone, and them thou canst foil with thy sisters' aid. And let them not fall in their helplessness into Charybdis lest she swallow them at one gulp, or approach the hideous lair of Scylla, Ausonian Scylla the deadly, whom night-wandering Hecate, who is called Crataeis, bare to Phoreys, lest swooping upon them with her horrible jaws she destroy the chiefest of the heroes. But guide their ship in the course where there shall be still a hair's breadth escape from destruction.

[833] Thus she spake, and Thetis answered with these words: If the fury of the ravening flame and the stormy winds cease in very deed, surely will I promise boldly to save the ship, even though the waves bar the way, if only the west wind blows fresh and clear. But it is time to fare on a long and measureless path, in quest of my sisters who will aid me, and to the spot where the ship's hawsers are fastened, that at early dawn the heroes may take thought to win their home-return.

[842] She spake, and darting down from the sky fell amid the eddies of the dark blue sea; and she called to aid her the rest of the Nereids, her own sisters; and they heard her and gathered together; and Thetis declared to them Hera's behests, and quickly sped them all on their way to the Ausonian sea. And herself, swifter than the flash of an eye or the shafts of the sun, when it rises upwards from a far-distant land, hastened swiftly through the sea, until she reached the Aeaean beach of the Tyrrhenian mainland. And the heroes she found by the ship taking their pastime with quoits and shooting of arrows; and she drew near and just touched the hand of Aeaeus' son Peleus, for he was her husband; nor could anyone see her clearly, but she appeared to his eyes alone, and thus addressed him: No longer now must ye stay sitting on the Tyrrhenian beach, but at dawn loosen the hawsers of your swift ship, in obedience to Hera, your helper. For at her behest the maiden daughters of Nereus have met together to draw your ship through the midst of the rocks which are called Planctae, for that is your destined path. But do thou show my person to no one, when thou seest us come to meet time, but keep it secret in thy mind, lest thou anger me still more than thou didst anger me before so recklessly.

[1128] And straightway they mingled a bowl to the blessed ones, as is right, and reverently led sheep to the altar, and for that very night prepared for the maiden the bridal couch in the sacred cave, where once dwelt Macris, the daughter of Aristaeus, lord of honey, who discovered the works of bees and the fatness of the olive, the fruit of labour. She it was that first received in her bosom the Nysean son of Zeus in Abantian Euboea, and with honey moistened his parched lips when Hermes bore him out of the flame. And Hera beheld it, and in wrath drove her from the whole island. And she accordingly came to dwell far off, in the sacred cave of the Phaeacians, and granted boundless wealth to the inhabitants. There at that time did they spread a mighty couch; and thereon they laid the glittering fleece of gold, that so the marriage might be made honoured and the theme of song. And for them nymphs gathered flowers of varied hue and bore them thither in their white bosoms; and a splendour as of flame played round them all, such a light gleamed from the golden tufts. And in their eyes it kindled a sweet longing; yet for all her desire, awe withheld each one from laying her hand thereon. Some were called daughters of the river Aegaeus; others dwelt round the crests of the Meliteian mount; and others were woodland nymphs from the plains. For Hera herself, the spouse of Zeus, had sent them to do honour to Jason. That cave is to this day called the sacred cave of Medea, where they spread the fine and fragrant linen and brought these two together.

CALLIMACHUS, Hymn to Delos, translated by A. W. MAIR

[55] And thou didst not tremble before the anger of Hera, who murmured terribly against all child-bearing women that bare children to Zeus, but especially against Leto, for that she only was to bear to Zeus a son dearer even than Ares. Wherefore also she herself kept watch within the sky, angered in her heart greatly and beyond telling, and she prevented Leto who was holden in the pangs of childbirth. And she had two look-outs set to keep watch upon the earth. The space of the continent did bold Ares watch, sitting armed on the high top of Thracian Haemus, and his horses were stalled by the seven-chambered cave of Boreas. And the other kept watch over the far-flung islands, even the daughter of Thaumas seated on Mimas, whither she had sped. There they sat and threatened all the cities which Leto approached and prevented them from receiving her.

[205] So didst thou speak, and she gladly ceased from her grievous wandering and sat by the stream of Inopus, which the earth sends forth in deepest flood at the season when the Nile comes down in full torrent from the Aethiopian steep. And she loosed her girdle and leaned back her shoulders against the trunk of a palm-tree, oppressed by the grievous distress, and the sweat poured over her flesh like rain. And she spake in her weakness: “Why, child, dost thou weigh down thy mother? There, dear child, is thine island floating on the sea. Be born, be born, my child, and gently issue from the womb.” O Spouse of Zeus, Lady of heavy anger, thou wert not to be for long without tidings thereof: so swift a messenger hastened to thee. And, still breathing heavily, she spake – and her speech was mingled with fear: “Honoured Hera, of goddesses most excellent far, thine am I, all things are thine, and thou sittest authentic queen of Olympus, and we fear no other female hand; and thou, O Queen wilt know who is the cause of thine anger. Leto is undoing her girdle within an island. All the others spurned her and received her not; but Asteria called her by name as she was passing by – Asteria that evil scum of the sea: thou knowest it thyself. But dear lady, - for thou canst – defend thy servants who tread the earth at thy behest.”

[228] So she spake and seated her beside the golden throne, even as a hunting hound of Artemis, which, when it hath ceased from the swift chase, sitteth by her feet, and its ears are erect, ever ready to receive the call of the goddess. Like thereto the daughter of Thaumas sat beside her throne. And she never forgetteth her seat, not even when sleep lays upon her his forgetful wing, but here by the edge of the great throne with head a little bent aslant she sleeps. Never does she unloose her girdle or her swift hunting-boots lest her mistress give her some sudden command. And Hera was grievously angered and spake to her: “So now, O shameful creatures of Zeus, may ye all wed in secret and bring forth in darkness, not even where the poor mill-women bring forth in difficult labour, but where the seals of the sea bring forth, amid the desolate rocks. But against Asteria am I no wise angered for this sin, nor can I do to her so unkindly as I should – for very wrongly has she done a favour to Leto. Howbeit I honour her exceedingly for that she did not desecrate my bed, but instead of Zeus preferred the sea.”

CLAUDIAN, RAPE OF PROSEPINE, Book 2, translated by M. PLATNAUER

[95] What fleece so dyed in the rich juice of the murex where stand the brazen towers of Tyre? Not the wings of Juno’s own bird display such colouring. Not thus do the many-changing hues of the rainbow span young winter’s sky when in curved arch its rainy path glows green amid the parting clouds.

CLEMENT, EXHORTATIONS, Book 2, translated by G. W. BUTTERWORTH

But perhaps in the case of the gods, it is the males only who rush eagerly after sexual delights while

Each in her own home for shame the lady goddesses rested. [Homer, Odyssey 8,.324]

as Homer says, because as goddesses they modestly shrank from the sight of Aphrodite taken in adultery. Yet these are more passionately given to licentiousness, being fast bound in adultery; as, for instance, Eos with Tithonus, Selene with Endymion, Nereis with Aeacus, Thetis with Peleus, Demeter with Iasion and Persephone with Adonis. Aphrodite, after having been put to shame for her love of Ares, courted Cinyras, married Anchises, entrapped Phaëthon and loved Adonis. She, too, entered into a rivalry with [Hera] the “goddess of the large eyes,” in which, for the sake of an apple, the goddesses stripped and presented themselves naked to the shepherd, to see whether he would pronounce one of them beautiful.

Polemon says that Athena too was wounded by Ornytus; yes, and even Hades was struck with an arrow by Heracles, according to Homer [Iliad 5.395]; and Panyasis further relates that Hera, the goddess of marriage, was wounded by the same Heracles, “in sandy Pylos.” [Panyasis, Heracleia, Frag 6]

CLEMENT, RECOGNITIONS, Book 10, translated by R. T. SMITH

FABLE 20 [DOINGS OF JUPITER] But by way of example, omitting the rest, I shall detail the wicked deeds of him only whom they hold to be the greatest and the chief, and whom they call Jupiter. For they say that he possesses heaven, as being superior to the rest; and he, as soon as he grew up, married his own sister, whom they call Juno, in which truly he at once becomes like a beast. Juno bears Vulcan; but, as they relate, Jupiter was not his father. However, by Jupiter himself she became mother of Medea [Hebe];.

FABLE 34 [OTHER ALLEGORIES] Hera – that is, Juno – is said to be that middle air which descends from heaven to earth.

FABLE 41 [EXPLANATION OF MYTHOLOGY] Thus they make Peleus and the nymph Thetis to be the dry and the moist element, by the admixture of which the substance of bodies is composed. They hold that Mercury is speech, by which instruction is conveyed to the mind; that Juno is chastity, Minerva courage, Venus lust, Paris the understanding. If therefore, say they, it happens that there is in a man a barbarous and uncultivated understanding, and ignorant of right judgment, he will despise chastity and courage, and will give the prize, which is the apple, to lust; and thereby, ruin and destruction will come not only upon himself, but also upon his countrymen and the whole race.

COLLUTHUS, RAPE OF HELEN, translated by A. W. MAIR

[59] And now she bethought her of the golden apples of the Hesperides. Thence Strife took the fruit that should be the harbinger of war, even the apple, and devised the scheme of signal woes. Whirling her arm she hurled into the banquet the primal seed of turmoil and disturbed the choir of goddesses. Hera, glorying to be the spouse and to share the bed of Zeus, rose up amazed, and would fain have seized it. And Cypris, as being more excellent than all, desired to have the apple, for that it is the treasure of the Loves. But Hera would not give it up and Athena would not yield. And Zeus, seeing the quarrel of the goddesses, and calling his son Hermaon, who sat below his throne, addressed him thus: If haply, my son, thou hast heard of a son of Priam, one Paris, the splendid youth, who tends his herds on the hills of Troy, give to him the apple; and bid him judge the goddesses’ meeting brows and orbèd eyes. And let her that is preferred have the famous fruit to carry away as the prize of the fairer and ornament of the Loves.”

[86] The contest is at hand, dear children! embrace your mother that nursed you. To-day it is beauty of face that judges me. I fear to whom this herdsman will award the apple. Hera they call the holy nurse of the Graces, and they say that she wields sovereignty and holds the sceptre. And Athena they ever call the queen of battles. I only, Cypris, am an unwarlike goddess. I have no queenship of the gods, wield no warlike spear, nor draw the bow. But wherefore am I sore afraid, when for spear I have, as it were, a swift lance, the honeyed girdle of the Loves! I have my girdle, I ply my goad, I raise my bow: even that girdle, whence women catch the sting of my desire, and travail often-times, but not unto death.”

[146] So cried Athena of many counsels, and white-armed Hera thus took up the tale: If thou wilt elect me and bestow on me the fruit of the fairer, I will make thee lord of all mine Asia. Scorn thou the works of battle. What has a king to do with war? A prince gives command both to the valiant and to the unwarlike. Not always are the squires of Athena foremost. Swift is the doom and death of the servants of Enyo!”

[154] Such lordship did Hera, who hath the foremost throne, offer to bestow. But Cypris lifted up her deep-bosomed robe and bared her breast to the air and had no shame. And lifting with her hands the honeyed girdle of the Loves she bared all her bosom and heeded not her breasts. And smilingly she thus spake to the herdsman: Accept me and forget wars: take my beauty and leave the sceptre and the land of Asia. I know not the works of battle. What has Aphrodite to do with shields? By beauty much more do women excel. In place of manly prowess I will give thee a lovely bride, and, instead of kingship, enter thou the bed of Helen. Lacedaemon, after Troy, shall see thee a bridegroom.”

[167] Not yet had she ceased speaking and he gave her the splendid apple, beauty’s offering, the great treasure of Aphrogeneia, a plant of war, of war an evil seed. And she, holding the apple in her hand, uttered her voice and spake in mockery of Hera and manly Athena: Yield to me, accustomed as ye be to war, yield me the victory. Beauty have I loved and beauty follows me. They say that thou, mother of Ares, didst with travail bear the holy choir of the fair-tressed Graces. But to-day they have all denied thee and not one hast thou found to help thee. Queen but not of shields and nurse but not of fire, Ares hath not holpen thee, though Ares rages with the spear: the flames of Hephaestus have not holpen thee, though he brings to birth the breath of fire. And how vain is thy vaunting, Atrytone! whom marriage sowed not nor mother bare, but cleaving of iron and root of iron made thee spring without bed of birth from the head of thy sire. And how, covering thy body in brazen robes, thou dost flee from love and pursuest the works of Ares, untaught of harmony and wotting not of concord. Knowest thou not that such Athenas as thou are the more unvaliant -- exulting in glorious wars, with limbs at feuds, neither men nor women?”

[190] Thus spake Cypris and mocked Athena. So she got the prize of beauty that should work the ruin of a city, repelling Hera and indignant Athena. And unhappy Paris, yearning with love and pursuing one whom he had not seen, gathered men that were skilled of Atrytone, queen of handicraft, and led them to a shady wood.

DIODORUS SICULUS, LIBRARY OF HISTORY, Book 4, translated by C. H. OLDFATHER

[4.69.4] But when afterward Ixion would not pay over the gifts of wooing to his wife, Eïoneus took as security for these his mares. Ixion thereupon summoned Eïoneus to come to him, assuring him that he would comply in every respect, but when Eïoneus arrived he cast him into a pit which he had filled with fire. Because of the enormity of this crime no man, we are informed, was willing to purify him of the murder. The myths recount, however, that in the end he was purified by Zeus, but that he became enamoured of Hera and had the temerity to make advances to her.

DIODORUS SICULUS, LIBRARY OF HISTORY, Book 5, translated by C. H. OLDFATHER

[5.72.4] Men say also that the marriage of Zeus and Hera was held in the territory of the Cnosians, at a place near the river Theren, where now a temple stands in which the natives of the place annually offer holy sacrifices and imitate the ceremony of the marriage, in the manner in which tradition tells it was originally performed.

DIODORUS SICULUS, LIBRARY OF HISTORY, Book 6, translated by C. H. OLDFATHER

[6.1.9] There were born to him by his wife Hestia two sons, Titan and Cronus, and two daughters, Rhea and Demeter. Cronus became king after Uranus, and marrying Rhea he begat Zeus and Hera and Poseidon. And Zeus on succeeding to the kingship, married Hera and Demeter and Themis, and by them he had children, the Curetes by the first named, Persephonê by the second, and Athena by the third.

FULGENTIUS, MYTHOLOGIES, Book 1, translated by L. G. WHITBREAD

FABLE OF SATURN - [1.2] Apollophanes also in his epic poem writes that Saturn is for sacrum nun, because nus in greek means sense, or for satorem nun, as for he divine intelligence as it creates all things. Along with him they add four other children, that is first Jove, second Juno, third Neptune, fourth Pluto. Pollus they explain as poli filium, the father of the four elements.

JOVE AND JUNO - [1.3] That is, first Jove, for fire, whence he is called Zeus in Greek, for Zeus by interpretation of the Greek can be called either life, or explained because they say, as Heraclitus claims, that everything is animate through life-giving fire, or because this element give heat. Second is Juno, for air, whence she is called Hera in Greek. Although they should take air as masculine, yet she is also Jove’s sister, because the two elements are truly akin; and she is Jove’s wife, because air joined to fire grows hot. For both Theopompus in his Cyprian poem and Hellanicus in the Dios politia written by him declare that Juno was bound by Jove with golden chains and weighed down with iron fetters, by which they mean no less than that air joined to heaven’s fire produces a union of the two elements down below, that is water and earth, which are denser elements than their two counterparts above.

GREEK EPIC CYCLE, FRAGMENTS, translated by H. G. EVELYN-WHITE

THE CYPRIA, FRAGMENT 1 - Proclus, Chrestomathia, i:

This is continued by the epic called Cypria which is current is eleven books. Its contents are as follows. Zeus plans with Themis to bring about the Trojan war. Strife arrives while the gods are feasting at the marriage of Peleus and starts a dispute between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite as to which of them is fairest. The three are led by Hermes at the command of Zeus to Alexandrus on Mount Ida for his decision, and Alexandrus, lured by his promised marriage with Helen, decides in favour of Aphrodite. Then Alexandrus builds his ships at Aphrodite's suggestion, and Helenus foretells the future to him, and Aphrodite order Aeneas to sail with him, while Cassandra prophesies as to what will happen afterwards. Alexandrus next lands in Lacedaemon and is entertained by the sons of Tyndareus, and afterwards by Menelaus in Sparta, where in the course of a feast he gives gifts to Helen. After this, Menelaus sets sail for Crete, ordering Helen to furnish the guests with all they require until they depart. Meanwhile, Aphrodite brings Helen and Alexandrus together, and they, after their union, put very great treasures on board and sail away by night. Hera stirs up a storm against them and they are carried to Sidon, where Alexandrus takes the city. From there he sailed to Troy and celebrated his marriage with Helen.

THETIS - ZEUS - Volumina Herculan, II. viii. 105:

The author of the Cypria says that Thetis, to please Hera, avoided union with Zeus, at which he was enraged and swore that she should be the wife of a mortal.

HESIOD, THEOGONY, translated by H. G. EVELYN-WHITE

[8] Thence they arise and go abroad by night, veiled in thick mist, and utter their song with lovely voice, praising Zeus the aegis-holder and queenly Hera of Argos who walks on golden sandals

[306] Men say that Typhaon the terrible, outrageous and lawless, was joined in love to her, the maid with glancing eyes. So she[Echidna] conceived and brought forth fierce offspring; first she bare Orthus the hound of Geryones, and then again she bare a second, a monster not to be overcome and that may not be described, Cerberus who eats raw flesh, the brazen-voiced hound of Hades, fifty-headed, relentless and strong. And again she bore a third, the evil-minded Hydra of Lerna, whom the goddess, white-armed Hera nourished, being angry beyond measure with the mighty Heracles. And her Heracles, the son of Zeus, of the house of Amphitryon, together with warlike Iolaus, destroyed with the unpitying sword through the plans of Athene the spoil-driver. She was the mother of Chimaera who breathed raging fire, a creature fearful, great, swift-footed and strong, who had three heads, one of a grim-eyed lion; in her hinderpart, a dragon; and in her middle, a goat, breathing forth a fearful blast of blazing fire. Her did Pegasus and noble Bellerophon slay; but Echidna was subject in love to Orthus and brought forth the deadly Sphinx which destroyed the Cadmeans, and the Nemean lion, which Hera, the good wife of Zeus, brought up and made to haunt the hills of Nemea, a plague to men. There he preyed upon the tribes of her own people and had power over Tretus of Nemea and Apesas: yet the strength of stout Heracles overcame him.

[453] But Rhea was subject in love to Cronos and bare splendid children, Hestia, Demeter, and gold-shod Hera and strong Hades, pitiless in heart, who dwells under the earth, and the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker, and wise Zeus, father of gods and men, by whose thunder the wide earth is shaken. These great Cronos swallowed as each came forth from the womb to his mother's knees with this intent, that no other of the proud sons of Heaven should hold the kingly office amongst the deathless gods.

[921] Lastly, he[Zeus] made Hera his blooming wife: and she was joined in love with the king of gods and men, and brought forth Hebe and Ares and Eileithyia.

[924] But Zeus himself gave birth from his own head to bright-eyed Tritogeneia, the awful, the strife-stirring, the host-leader, the unwearying, the queen, who delights in tumults and wars and battles. But Hera without union with Zeus -- for she was very angry and quarrelled with her mate -- bare famous Hephaestus, who is skilled in crafts more than all the sons of Heaven.

[950] And mighty Heracles, the valiant son of neat-ankled Alcmena, when he had finished his grievous toils, made Hebe the child of great Zeus and gold-shod Hera his shy wife in snowy Olympus. Happy he! For he has finished his great works and lives amongst the dying gods, untroubled and unaging all his days.

HOMER, ILIAD, Book 1, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[56] For nine days Apollo rained death down upon the troops. On the tenth, Achilles summoned an assembly. White-armed Hera put that thought into his mind, concerned for the Danaans, seeing them die.

[204] As Agamemnon spoke, Peleus' son, Achilles, was overwhelmed with anguish, heart torn two ways, debating in his shaggy chest what he should do: Should he draw out the sharp sword on his thigh, incite the crowd, kill Atreus' son, or suppress his rage, control his fury? As he argued in his mind and heart, he slid his huge sword part way from its sheath. At that moment, Athena came down from heaven. White-armed Hera sent her. She cherished both men, cared for them equally.

[440] For often I have heard you boast in father's house that you[Thetis] alone of all the deathless gods saved Zeus of the dark clouds from disgraceful ruin, when other Olympians came to tie him up, Hera, Pallas Athena, and Poseidon. But you, goddess, came and set him free, by quickly calling up to high Olympus that hundred-handed monster gods call Briareos, and men all name Aigaion, a creature whose strength was greater than his father's.

[577] Cloud gatherer Zeus, greatly troubled, said: “A nasty business. What you say will set Hera against me. She provokes me so with her abuse. Even now, in the assembly of immortal gods, she's always insulting me, accusing me of favouring the Trojans in the war. But go away for now, in case Hera catches on. I'll take care of this, make sure it comes to pass.

[614] Ox-eyed queen Hera then replied to Zeus: “Most dread son of Cronos, what are you saying? I have not been overzealous before now, in questioning you or seeking answers. Surely you're quite at liberty to plananything you wish. But now, in my mind, I've got this dreadful fear that Thetis, silver-footed daughter of the Old Man of the Sea, has won you over, for this morning early, she sat down beside you, held your knees. I think you surely nodded your agreement to honour Achilles, killing many soldiers, slaughtering them by the Achaean ships.”

[639] Zeus finished speaking. Ox-eyed queen Hera sat down, in fear, silently suppressing what her heart desired. In Zeus' home the Olympian gods began to quarrel. Then that famous artisan, Hephaestus, concerned about his mother, white-armed Hera...

HOMER, ILIAD, Book 2, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[181] Heaven echoed with the din. At that point, the Argives might well have gone back—contravening what Fate had proposed for them— if Hera had not spoken to Athena: “Alas, unconquerable child of Zeus, who bears the aegis, the Argives will flee, go back home to their dear native land, cross the wide sea, abandoning Helen, an Argive woman, leaving in triumph Priam and his Trojans. On her account, many Achaeans have perished here in Troy, far from the homes they love. So now, come on, go down to the bronze-clad Achaean troops, use your persuasive power to stop the men hauling their curved ships down into the sea.” So Hera spoke. Bright-eyed goddess Athena obeyed.

HOMER, ILIAD, Book 4, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[1] The gods all sat assembled in the golden courtyard, with Zeus there, too. Gracious Hebe went among them, pouring nectar. They toasted each other in golden cups, as they looked out on Troy. Then Zeus, son of Cronos, wishing to irk Hera with a sarcastic speech, addressed them in deviously provoking words: “Menelaus has two goddesses assisting him, Hera of Argos and Athena of Alalcomene. But they sit far away, looking on, enjoying themselves, while Aphrodite, who loves laughter, helps Paris all the time, protecting him from death. Now, for instance, she's just rescued him from certain death. For war-loving Menelaus was the victor, no doubt of that. But why don't we discuss how this warfare is going to finish up— whether we should re-ignite harsh combat, this horrific strife, or make both sides friends. If this second option pleases all of us, if we find it sweet, then king Priam's city remains inhabited, and Menelaus takes Argive Helen home with him.”

[24] Athena and Hera sat together muttering, plotting trouble for the Trojans. Angry at Zeus, her father, Athena sat there silently, so enraged she didn't say a word. But Hera, unable to contain her anger, burst out:74“Most fearful son of Cronos, what are you saying? How can you wish to undermine my efforts, prevent them from achieving anything? What about the sweat which dripped from me, as I worked so hard, wearing my horses out, gathering men to wipe out Priam and his children. Go ahead then. But all we other gods do not approve of what you're doing...”

[61] ...Ox-eyed Hera then said in reply to Zeus: “The three cities I love the best by far are Argos, Sparta, and Mycenae, city of wide streets. Destroy them utterly, if you ever hate them in your heart. I won't deny you or get in your way. If I tried disagreeing with such destruction, my hostile stance would be quite useless. For you are far more powerful than me. But my own work must not be wasted, worth nothing. I'm a god, the same race as you— I'm crooked-minded Cronos' eldest daughter. Another thing—in addition to my birth— I'm called your wife, and you rule all immortals. In this matter, then, let's both support each other's wishes—you mine, I yours...

HOMER, ILIAD, Book 5, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[494] Dione, queen among the goddesses, replied: ...Hera suffered, as well, when Hercules, the powerful son of Amphitryon, hit her right breast with a three-barbed arrow. She was wracked by pain beyond all cure...

[896] In that place Hera, white-armed goddess, stood up, looking just like Stentor, a great-hearted, loud-throated man, whose voice could shout with the strength of fifty men. Hera cried out: “Shame on you, you Argive warriors. You're a disgrace, good only for display. When lord Achilles used to go to battle, the Trojans didn't dare to venture out beyond the Dardanian gates. They feared his mighty spear. But now they're fighting well outside the city, by our hollow ships.” With these words, she roused each man's heart and spirit.

[1017] Scowling at him[Ares], cloud-gatherer Zeus replied: “You hypocrite, don't sit there whining at me. Among the gods who live on Mount Olympus, you're the one I hate the most. For you love war, constant strife and battle. Your mother, Hera, has an implacable, unyielding spirit...

HOMER, ILIAD, Book 8, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[229] So Hector bragged. That made queen Hera angry. She shook with fury, sitting on her throne, making high Olympus tremble. Then she spoke out to great god Poseidon: “Alas, great Earthshaker, don't you feel any anguish in your heart, as Danaans are destroyed? After all, they bring you presents, many pleasing gifts, to Helice and Aegae. Don't you want them to win? Now, if all those of us who protect Danaans were to agree to drive the Trojans back, we'd leave wide-seeing Zeus up there by himself, sulking where he sits alone on Ida” Mighty Earthshaker Poseidon, very angry, answered Hera: “Hera, you fearless talker, What are you saying? That's not what I want, the rest of us to war on Zeus, son of Cronos.For he is much more powerful than us.”

[246] As the two gods talked together in this way, horses and shield-bearing troops were jammed together, crammed into the space encircled by the ditch, from ships to wall, pinned down there by Hector, Priam's son,like swift Ares, now that Zeus was giving him the glory. And then he would've burned those well-balanced ships with searing fire on the spot, if queen Hera had not set a plan in Agamemnon's mind to rouse Achaeans with all speed on his own.

HOMER, ILIAD, Book 11, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[304] But once that wound began to dry and blood stopped flowing, then sharp pain started to curb Agamemnon's fighting spirit. Just as a sharp spasm seizes women giving birth, a piercing labour pain sent by the Eilithyiae, Hera's daughters, who control keen pangs of childbirth, that's how sharp pain sapped Agamemnon's fighting strength.

HOMER, ILIAD, Book 14, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[185] As this was happening, on a peak of Mount Olympus Hera of the golden throne was standing watching. She recognized her brother-in-law at once, as he kept busy in the war where men win glory, for he was her brother and her husband's, too. Hera's heart was pleased. She looked across at Zeus, sitting on the highest peak on top of Ida, with its many fountains. Hatred filled her heart. So ox-eyed queen Hera then began considering how she might deceive the mind of aegis-bearing Zeus. In her heart the best course of action seemed to be to make herself look most attractive, go to Ida, then see if Zeus would want to lie down with her, embrace her, and make love. Then she could pour out on his eyelids and his crafty mind a deep warm sleep. She went off to her bedroom, which Hephaestus, her dear son, had made for her, with close-fitting doors set against their posts, secured with a secret lock, which no other god could open. She went in there, then closed the shining doors. First, with ambrosia she washed from her lovely body all the stains, then rubbed her skin with fragrant oil, divinely sweet, made specially for her. If this perfume were merely stirred inside Zeus' bronze-floored house, its scent would then diffuse throughout heaven and earth. She used this perfume all over her fair body, then arranged her hair. With her own hands she combed her shining locks in braids, a stunning style for an immortal goddess. Then she wrapped around herself a heavenly robe, which Athena made for her from silky fabric, adorning it with gorgeous embroidery. She pinned the robe around her breast with golden brooches. On her waist she put a belt with a hundred tassels. Hera then fixed earrings in her pierced ear lobes, each with three gemstones, an enchanting glitter.Next the queen of goddesses placed on her head a fine new dazzling shawl, white as the sun. She then slipped lovely sandals over her sleek feet.

[224] Once Hera had dressed her body in this finery, she left the room and summoned Aphrodite. Some distance from the other gods, she said to her: “My dear child, will you agree to do what I ask of you, or will you refuse, because you're angry with me in your heart, since I help Danaans and you aid the Trojans?” Zeus' daughter Aphrodite answered her: “Hera, honoured goddess, daughter of great Cronos, say what's on your mind. My heart tells me I should do what you ask, if I can, if it's something that can be carried out.” Then queen Hera, with her devious mind, replied: “Then give me Love and Sexual Desire, which you use to master all immortals, and mortal men as well. I'm going to visit the limits of this all-nourishing earth, to see Oceanus, from whom the gods arose, and mother Tethys, the two who reared me, taking good care of me inside their home, once they got me from Rhea, that time Zeus, who sees far and wide, forced Cronos underground, under the restless seas. I'm going to visit them. And I'll resolve their endless quarrel.

[264] Aphrodite put this in Hera's hands, then said: “Take this garment. Tie it round your breasts. Everything is interwoven in the cloth. I don't think you'll come back unsuccessful in getting what it is your heart desires.” Aphrodite finished. Ox-eyed queen Hera smiled, and, as she did so, put the garment round her breasts. Then Aphrodite, Zeus' daughter, went back home. Hera sped off, leaving the crest of Mount Olympus.

[393] Queen Hera with her cunning mind then said in reply: “Most fearsome son of Cronos, what are you saying? If you now want us to make love lying here, on Ida’s peaks, where anyone can see, what if one of the immortal gods observes us, as we sleep, then goes and tells the other gods? I could not get up from this bed and go into your home. That would be scandalous. But if that's your wish, if your heart's set on it, you have that bedroom your own son Hephaestus had built for you. It has close-fitting doors fixed into posts. Let's go and lie down there, since you're so keen for us to go to bed.” Cloud-gatherer Zeus then answered her: “Hera, don't be afraid that any god or man will glimpse a thing. I'll cover you up in a golden cloud. Even sun god Helios will not see the two of us, and his rays are the most perceptive spies of all. Zeus finished. Then Cronos' son took his wife in his arms. Underneath them divine Earth made fresh flowers grow—dew-covered clover, crocuses, and hyacinths, lush and soft, to hold the lovers off the ground. They lay together there covered with a cloud, a lovely golden mist, from which fell glistening dew. Then Zeus slumbered peacefully on Mount Gargarus, overcome with love and sleep, his wife in his embrace. Sweet Sleep rushed to the Achaean ships, to inform Poseidon, the Encircler and Shaker of the Earth. Coming up to him, Sleep spoke—his words had wings: “Poseidon, you could now assist the Argives quite readily and give them glory, if only for a while—Zeus is fast asleep. I’ve covered him with a delicious sleep. Hera has seduced him on a bed of love.”

HOMER, ILIAD, Book 15, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[4] At that point Zeus, lying on the peaks of Ida alongside Hera of the golden throne, woke up. He stood up quickly, looked at Trojans and Achaeans, saw Trojans running off with Argives driving them from the back, among them god Poseidon.

[14] Looking at Hera with a fearful scowl, Zeus said: “You're impossible to deal with, Hera, devising such deceitful tricks to get lord Hector from the fight and make the army run away. But I think you may be the first to get rewarded for your wretched scheme, when I flog you with my whip. Don't you recall the time I strung you up on high, putting two anvils on your feet, tying your wrists with unbreakable gold rope? You hung there, in the air among the clouds. Other gods, all through Olympus, were very anxious, but just stood there, unable to untie you. If I'd caught one trying, I'd have grabbed him, tossed him from the threshold so he hit ground, his strength all gone. But even with all that, I couldn't ease the constant pain I felt for god-like Hercules. You and North Wind drove him with storm blasts over restless seas. Your evil scheming later carried him to well-settled Cos. I rescued him from there and brought him back to horse-breeding Argos, but only after he'd endured too much. I'll remind you of these things once more, so you'll stop your malicious trickery, so you'll see the advantages you get from this seduction, this couch where you lay to have sex with me, when you came from the gods intending to deceive me.”

[44] Ox-eyed queen Hera trembled as she answered—her words had wings: “Let earth and wide heaven above be witnesses, with the flowing waters of the river Styx, on which the most binding, most fearful oaths are made by blessed gods—let your sacred head, our marriage bed as well, stand witnesses, things on which I'd never swear untruthfully— the harm that Earthshaker Poseidon did to Hector and the Trojans, to help Argives— in all that I had no part. His own heart pushed and drove him on. He saw Achaeans being beaten by their ships and pitied them. I'd not advise him to go against you, lord of the dark cloud, but to follow you, wherever you might lead.”

[95] White-armed goddess Hera obeyed him, leaving Mount Ida for high Olympus. Just as the mind races in a man who's voyaged to many lands, when in his fertile head he recalls everything, and thinks “I wish I were here! I wish I were there!”— that's how fast queen Hera hurried in her eagerness. Reaching steep Olympus, she found immortal gods together at Zeus' palace in a meeting. Seeing her, they all stood up and offered her their cups in welcome. Ignoring all the others, Hera took the cup of fair-cheeked Themis, the first who came running up to meet her.

HOMER, ILIAD, Book 18, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[199] Just as shepherds are unable to drive off from their farmyard a tawny ravenous lion by some carcass— so the two warrior Ajaxes could not push Hector, Priam's son, back from that body. And now Hector would have seized that corpse, winning infinite glory, if swift Iris with feet like wind had not come down, speeding from Olympus to the son of Peleus, with a message that he should arm himself for war. Hera had sent her, unknown to Zeus and other gods. Standing by Achilles, Iris spoke—her words had wings: “Rouse yourself, son of Peleus, most feared of men. Defend Patroclus. For on his behalf a deadly conflict rages by the ships— men are butchering each other, some trying to protect the dead man's corpse, while others, the Trojans, charge in to carry it away to windy Ilion.

[294] Then ox-eyed queen Hera made the unwearied sun, against his will, go down into the stream of Ocean. So the sun set. Godlike Achaeans now could pause for some relief from the destructive killing of impartial war.For their part, once Trojans drew back from that harsh fight, they untied swift horses from their chariots and then, before they thought of food, called for a meeting. There everyone stayed standing. No one dared sit down, all terrified because Achilles had appeared, after his long absence from that savage conflict.

[443] Then Zeus spoke to Hera, his sister and his wife: “You've got what you wanted, ox-eyed queen Hera. Swift-footed Achilles you've spurred into action. From your own womb you must have given birth to these long-haired Achaeans

[448] Ox-eyed queen Hera then replied to Zeus: “Most dread son of Cronos, what are you saying? Even a human man, though mortal and ignorant of what I know, can achieve what he intends for someone else. And men say I'm the finest of all goddesses in a double sense—both by my lineage and my marriage to the ruler of the gods. So why should I not bring an evil fortune on these Trojans when they've made me angry?”

HOMER, ILIAD, Book 19, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[117] Even Zeus, who they say is the greatest of the gods and men, was blinded by her, when Hera, a mere female, with her cunning tactics, deceived him that very day Alcmene was to give birth to mighty Hercules, in Thebes, city with the splendid walls. Zeus then boasted openly to all the gods, 'Listen to me, you gods and goddesses, so I can say what the heart inside me bids. The goddess of childbirth, Eileithyia, today brings into the sun's light a man who will rule all those who live around him, one of the race of men with my blood in them.' But then that deceitful lady Hera said to Zeus, 'You're not being candid. You don't really mean what you now say. So come, Olympian, swear a binding oath for me that the man who falls out today between a woman's feet will, in fact, rule those who live around him, one of the race of men with your blood in them.' That's what she said. Zeus didn't see the trick. He swore a binding oath in his great blindness. Hera then left that peak on Mount Olympus. Darting off, she quickly came to Argos, in Achaea, where she knew the strong wife of Sthenelus, Perseus' son, was pregnant with a son, in her seventh month. This child Hera induced into the light before its term. She then delayed Alcmene's childbirth, getting the Eileithyiae to hold it back. Then she brought the news to Zeus, Cronos' son, saying, 'Father Zeus, lord of bright lightning, I'll tell you my heartfelt news. Just now, a noble man was born who'll rule the Argives, Eurystheus, son of Sthenelus, Perseus' son, of your own lineage. So it's fitting he should become king of all the Argives.' When Hera said that, sharp pain seized Zeus deep in his heart. He seized Ate at once by the shining hair wound round her head. His heart was furious. He swore a great oaththat Ate, who blinds everyone, would no more come to Olympus or to starry heaven.

[485]From under the yoke, his swift-footed horse called Xanthus spoke to him, ducking his head down quickly, so all his mane streamed down from underneath his shoulder harness beside the yoke towards the ground. Goddess Hera gave Xanthus power to speak: Mighty Achilles...

HOMER, ILIAD, Book 20, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[39] Cronos' son then launched relentless war. The gods charged off to battle, their hearts divided in two groups. Hera went to the assembled ships, with Pallas Athena and Poseidon, who shakes the earth. Helper Hermes accompanied them as well, the god with the most cunning mind of all. Hephaestus also went along with them, exulting in his power. Though he was lame, his feet moved quickly under him. Ares with the shining helmet joined the Trojans, taking with him long-haired Phoebus, archer Artemis, Leto, Xanthus, and laughter-loving Aphrodite....with Poseidon matched against Apollo with his feathered arrows, glittery eyed Athena going against a mighty god, Ares Enyalius, and Hera against Artemis, with her golden arrows, goddess of the noisy hunt, sister of Apollo, god who shoots from far away. Strong Helper Hermes was opposed by Leto, and Hephaestus by that huge and swirling river the gods call Xanthus, but all men name Scamander.

[137] Seeing Anchises' son, Hera gathered her companion gods and said: “Poseidon, Athena, both your hearts should think about what's going on. Aeneas, armed in gleaming bronze, is going to meet the son of Peleus, at Apollo's urging. So let's work to turn him back at once, or else one of us should help Achilles, give him great strength, so that his heart won't flinch...

[370] Ox-eyed queen Hera then said to Poseidon: “Earthshaker, in your own heart and mind you must decide whether to save Aeneas, or to leave him, for all his nobleness, to be killed by Peleus' son, Achilles. We two, Pallas Athena and myself, have often sworn among immortals not to rescue Trojans from wretched death, not even when all Troy is being engulfed in all-consuming, blazing fire, set off by Achaea's warrior sons.”

HOMER, ILIAD, Book 21, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[1] When the Trojans reached the ford across the Xanthus, lovely swirling river born of immortal Zeus, Achilles split them in two groups, chasing one across the plain towards the city, where the previous day Achaeans had fled in terror, when glorious Hector had prevailed. Some Trojans fled back there in panic. Hera sent fog in front of them to slow them down. But half the Trojans were crammed in along the river, trapped by its deep currents and its silver eddies. They fell in there, making a huge commotion.

[390] Saying this, Scamander crested high against Achilles, then charged, seething with foam and blood and corpses. The dark wave of the heaven-fed river rose, towering above Achilles, about to overwhelm him. But Hera, afraid for Achilles, cried out, fearing the great, deep, swirling river would sweep him off. She called out to Hephaestus, her dear son: “Rouse yourself, my crippled child. We think that you're a match for swirling Xanthus in a fight. Come quickly. Help Achilles with a giant outburst of your flames.

[441] Then the river, with a strong appeal to Hera, spoke these winged words: “Hera, why's your son burning up my stream, doing it more injury than any other? I'm not as much to blame as all the rest, the ones who help the Trojans. If you say so, I'll stop, if Hephaestus stops as well. And I'll swear this oath—never again will I protect a Trojan from his evil death, not even when all Troy itself is burning, ablaze with all-consuming fire, started by Achaea's warlike sons.”

[453] White-armed goddess Hera, as soon as she'd heard this, spoke to Hephaestus, her dear son: “Hold off, Hephaestus, splendid child. It's not right to hurt a deathless god like this, just for the sake of mortal men.”

[575] Far-shooting Apollo did not answer. But Hera, Zeus' honoured wife, was angry. She went at the archer goddess, insulting her: “You shameless bitch, you dare stand against me? You'll find it hard to match my power, even if you have your bow and Zeus made you a lion among women, allowing you to kill whichever one of them you please. I say it's better to be slaughtering wild beasts, deer in the mountains, than to fight all out with those more powerful. Still, if you're keen to learn about this war, to understand how much more powerful I am, let's fight, since you are challenging my strength.” With these words, Hera caught both arms of Artemis in her left hand. With her right she grabbed the bow, snatching it and its quiver off her shoulders. Then she slapped her with those weapons. As she did so, Hera smiled to see Artemis twist away and squirm. The swift arrows tumbled out. Artemis ran off, crying like a pigeon speeding from a hawk, flying to some hollow cleft among the rocks, for she's not fated to be caught—that's how Artemis escaped, in tears, leaving her bow lying there.

HOMER, ILIAD, Book 24, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[125] Hera placed a gold cup in her hand, with words of welcome. She drank, then handed back the cup. The father of the gods and men spoke first: “You've come here to Olympus, goddess Thetis, though you're grieving, with endless sorrows in your heart. I know that. But even so, I'll tell you the reason why I've called you here. For nine days immortals have been quarreling about Achilles, sacker of cities, and Hector's corpse. They keep urging Hermes, keen-eyed killer of Argus, to steal the body. But I want to give honour to Achilles, maintain my respect for you in future, and keep our friendship. So you must leave quickly. Go to the army. Tell your son what I say.Tell him the gods are annoyed at him, that of all immortals I'm especially angry, because, in his heartfelt fury, he keeps Hector at his beaked ships, won't give him back. Through fear of me, he may hand Hector over. I'll also send Iris to great-hearted Priam, telling him to go to the Achaean ships, to beg for his dear son, bearing presents for Achilles to delight his heart.”

HOMER, ODYSSEY, Book 11, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[178] Hebe with the lovely ankles is his wife, daughter of great Zeus and Hera, goddess of the golden sandals.

HOMER, ODYSSEY, Book 12, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[75]These cliffs the blessed gods have called the Planctae. No birds pass through there, not even timid doves who bring ambrosia to father Zeus. The sheer rock precipice snatches even these away. And then Zeus sends out another to maintain their count. No human ship has ever reached this place and got away. Instead, waves from the sea and deadly blasts of fire carry away a whirling mass of timbers from the boat and human bodies. Only one ocean ship, most famous of them all, has made it through, the Argo, sailing on her way from Aeetes, and waves would soon have smashed that vessel, too, against the massive rocks, had not Hera sent her through. For Jason was her friend.

HOMER, ODYSSEY, Book 20, translated by IAN JOHNSTON

[65] While Sleep, who relaxes troubled human hearts, relaxed his mind, his faithful wife woke up and cried, sitting there on her soft bed. But when her heart had had its fill of crying, the lovely lady began by saying a prayer to Artemis: “Artemis, royal goddess, Zeus' daughter, how I wish you'd shoot an arrow in my chest right now and take my life or a storm wind would come, lift me up, carry me away from here, across the murky roads, and cast me out in Ocean's backward-flowing stream, just as storms snatched up Pandareus' daughters, whose parents the gods killed, thus leaving them orphans in their home. Fair Aphrodite looked after them with cheese, sweet honey, and fine wine, while Hera offered them beauty and wisdom beyond all women.

HOMERIC HYMNS, Hymn to Dionysus, translated by H. G. EVELYN-WHITE

[1] ((lacuna)) . . . For some say, at Dracanum; and some, on windy Icarus; and some, in Naxos, O Heaven-born, Insewn; and others by the deep-eddying river Alpheus that pregnant Semele bare you to Zeus the thunder-lover. And others yet, lord, say you were born in Thebes; but all these lie. The Father of men and gods gave you birth remote from men and secretly from white-armed Hera.

HOMERIC HYMNS, Hymn to Apollo, translated by H. G. EVELYN-WHITE

TO DELIAN APOLLO - [89] Now when Leto had sworn and ended her oath, Delos was very glad at the birth of the far-shooting lord. But Leto was racked nine days and nine nights with pangs beyond wont. And there were with her all the chiefest of the goddesses, Dione and Rhea and Ichnaea and Themis and loud-moaning Amphitrite and the other deathless goddesses save white-armed Hera, who sat in the halls of cloud-gathering Zeus. Only Eilithyia, goddess of sore travail, had not heard of Leto's trouble, for she sat on the top of Olympus beneath golden clouds by white-armed Hera's contriving, who kept her close through envy, because Leto with the lovely tresses was soon to bear a son faultless and strong.

[102] But the goddesses sent out Iris from the well-set isle to bring Eilithyia, promising her a great necklace strung with golden threads, nine cubits long. And they bade Iris call her aside from white-armed Hera, lest she might afterwards turn her from coming with her words.

TO PYTHIAN APOLLO - [300] But near by was a sweet flowing spring, and there with his strong bow the lord, the son of Zeus, killed the bloated, great she-dragon, a fierce monster wont to do great mischief to men upon earth, to men themselves and to their thin- shanked sheep; for she was a very bloody plague. She it was who once received from gold-throned Hera and brought up fell, cruel Typhaon to be a plague to men. Once on a time Hera bare him because she was angry with father Zeus, when the Son of Cronos bare all-glorious Athena in his head. Thereupon queenly Hera was angry and spoke thus among the assembled gods:

[311] Hear from me, all gods and goddesses, how cloud-gathering Zeus begins to dishonour me wantonly, when he has made me his true-hearted wife. See now, apart from me he has given birth to bright-eyed Athena who is foremost among all the blessed gods. But my son Hephaestus whom I bare was weakly among all the blessed gods and shrivelled of foot, a shame and disgrace to me in heaven, whom I myself took in my hands and cast out so that he fell in the great sea. But silver-shod Thetis the daughter of Nereus took and cared for him with her sisters: would that she had done other service to the blessed gods! O wicked one and crafty! What else will you now devise? How dared you by yourself give birth to bright-eyed Athena? Would not I have borne you a child -- I, who was at least called your wife among the undying gods who hold wide heaven. Beware now lest I devise some evil thing for you hereafter: yes, now I will contrive that a son be born me to be foremost among the undying gods -- and that without casting shame on the holy bond of wedlock between you and me. And I will not come to your bed, but will consort with the blessed gods far off from you.

[331] When she had so spoken, she went apart from the gods, being very angry. Then straightway large-eyed queenly Hera prayed, striking the ground flatwise with her hand, and speaking thus: Hear now, I pray, Earth and wide Heaven above, and you Titan gods who dwell beneath the earth about great Tartarus, and from whom are sprung both gods and men! Harken you now to me, one and all, and grant that I may bear a child apart from Zeus, no wit lesser than him in strength -- nay, let him be as much stronger than Zeus as all-seeing Zeus than Cronos.

[340] Thus she cried and lashed the earth with her strong hand. Then the life-giving earth was moved: and when Hera saw it she was glad in heart, for she thought her prayer would be fulfilled. And thereafter she never came to the bed of wise Zeus for a full year, not to sit in her carved chair as aforetime to plan wise counsel for him, but stayed in her temples where many pray, and delighted in her offerings, large-eyed queenly Hera. But when the months and days were fulfilled and the seasons duly came on as the earth moved round, she bare one neither like the gods nor mortal men, fell, cruel Typhaon, to be a plague to men. Straightway large-eyed queenly Hera took him and bringing one evil thing to another such, gave him to the dragoness; and she received him. And this Typhaon used to work great mischief among the famous tribes of men. Whosoever met the dragoness, the day of doom would sweep him away, until the lord Apollo, who deals death from afar, shot a strong arrow at her. Then she, rent with bitter pangs, lay drawing great gasps for breath and rolling about that place. An awful noise swelled up unspeakable as she writhed continually this way and that amid the wood: and so she left her life, breathing it forth in blood.

HOMERIC HYMNS, Hymn to Hera, translated by H. G. EVELYN-WHITE

[1] I sing of golden-throned Hera whom Rhea bare. Queen of the immortals is she, surpassing all in beauty: she is the sister and the wife of loud-thundering Zeus, -- the glorious one whom all the blessed throughout high Olympus reverence and honour even as Zeus who delights in thunder.

HYGINUS, ASTRONOMICA, translated by MARY GRANT

GREAT BEAR - Some, too, have said that when Callisto was embraced by Jove, Juno in anger turned her into a bear; then, when she met Diana hunting, she was killed by her, and later, on being recognized, was placed among the stars. But others say that when Jupiter was pursuing Callisto in the woods, Juno, suspecting what had happened, hurried there so that she could say she had caught him openly. But Jove, the more easily to conceal his fault, left her changed to bear form. Juno, then, finding a bear instead of a girl in that place, pointed her out for Diana, who was hunting, to kill. Jove was distressed to see this, and put in the sky the likeness of a bear represented with stars. This constellation, as many have stated, does not set, and those who desire some reason for this fact say that Tethys, wife of Ocean, refuses to receive her when the other stars come there to their setting, because Tethys was the nurse of Juno, in whose bed Callisto was a concubine.

SERPENT - This huge serpent is pointed out as lying between the two Bears. He is said to have guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides, and after Hercules killed him, to have been put by Juno among the stars, because at her instigation Hercules set out for him. He is considered the usual watchman of the Gardens of Juno. Pherecydes says that when Jupiter wed Juno, Terra came, bearing branches with golden applies, and Juno, in admiration, asked Terra to plant them in her gardens near distant Mount Atlas. When Atlas’ daughters kept picking the apples from the trees, Juno is said to have placed this guardian there. Proof of this will be the form of Hercules above the dragon, as Eratosthenes shows, so that anyone may know that for this reason in particular it is called the dragon.

KNEELER - Again, some have said that he is Ixion with his arms bound, because he tried to attack Juno.

EAGLE - Some, too, have said that the bird was a certain Meropes, who ruled the island of Cos, and who called the island Cos from the name of his daughter, and the inhabitants Meropians from his own name. He had a wife, Ethemea, of the race of nymphs, who was stuck with the arrows of Diana when she ceased worshipping her. At last she was snatched away alive by Proserpina to the Land of the Dead. Meropes, moved by longing for his wife, would have committed suicide, but Juno, pitying him, changed him into an eagle and put him among the constellations, for, if she had put him there in human form, since he would have a man’s memory, he would still be moved with longing for his wife.

MILKY WAY - There is a certain circular figure among the constellations, white in color, which some have called the Milky Way. Eratosthenes says that Juno, without realizing it, gave milk to the infant Mercury, but when she learned that he was the son of Maia, she thrust him away, and the whiteness of the flowing milk appears among the constellations. Others have said that Hercules was given to Juno to nurse when she slept. When she awoke, it happened as described above. Others, again, say that Hercules was so greedy that he couldn’t hold in his mouth all the milk he had sucked, and the Milky Way spilled over from his mouth. Still others say that at the time Ops brought to Saturn the stone, pretending it was a child, he bade her offer milk to it; when she pressed her breast, the milk that was caused to flow formed the circle which we mentioned above.

HYGINUS, FABULAE, translated by MARY GRAMT

From Jove and Juno, Mars.

From Juno without father, Vulcan.

Again from Jove and Juno, Youth, Liberty.

FABLE [13] - Juno - When Juno, near the river Evenus, had changed her form to that of an old woman, and was waiting to test men’s minds to se if they would carry her across the river Evenus, no one offered till Jason, son of Aeson and Alcimede, took her across. But, angry at Pelias for failing to sacrifice to her, she caused Jason to leave one sandal in the mud.

FABLE [21] - Sons of Phrixus - When the Argonauts had entered the sea called Euxine through the Cyanean Cliffs, which are called Rocks of the Symplegades, and were wandering there, by the will of Juno they were borne to the island of Dia. There they found shipwrecked men, naked and helpless – the sons of Phrixus and Chalciope – Argus, Phrontides, Melas, and Cylindrus. These told their misfortunes to Jason, how they had suffered shipwreck and been cast there when they were hastening to go to their grandfather Athamas, and Jason welcomed and aided them. They led Jason to Colchis, bade the Argonauts conceal the ship. They themselves went to their mother Chalciope, Medea’s sister, and made known the kindness of Jason, and why the had come. Then Chalciope told about Medea, and brought her with her sons to Jason. When she saw him, she recognized him as the one whom in dreams she had loved deeply by Juno’s urging, and promised him everything. They brought him to the temple.

FABLE [22] An oracle told Aeetes, son of Sol, that he would keep his kingdom as long as the fleece which Phrixus had dedicated should remain the shrine of Mars. And so Aeetes appointed this task for Jason, if he wished to take away the golden fleece – to yoke with yoke of adamant the bronze-footed bulls which breathed flames from their nostrils, and plow, and sow from a helmet the dragon’s teeth, from which a tribe of armed men should arise and slay each other. Juno, however, whished to save Jason, because once when she had come to a river and wished to test the minds of men, she assumed an old woman’s form, and asked to be carried across. He had carried her across when others who had passed over despised her. And so since she knew that Jason could not perform the commands without help of Medea, she asked Venus to inspire Medea with love.

FABLE [30] - Twelve labours of Heracles - When he was an infant, he strangled with his two hands the two snakes which Juno had sent – whence his name, Primigenius.

FABLE [32] - Megara - When Hercules had been sent for the three-headed dog by King Eurystheus, and Lycus, son of Neptune, though he had perished, he planned to kill his wife Megara, daughter of Creon, and his sons, Therimachus and Ophites, and seize the kingdom. Hercules prevented him and killed Lycus. Later, when madness was sent upon him by Juno, he killed Megara and his sons Therimachus and Ophites.

FABLE [52] - Aegina - When Jupiter wished to lie with Aegina, the daughter of Asopus, he feared Juno, and took the girl to the island of Delos, and there made her pregnant. Aeacus was their son. When Juno found this out, she sent a serpent into the water which poisoned it, and if anyone drank from it, he paid the debt to nature.

FABLE [55] - Tityus - Because Latona had lain with Jove, Juno ordered Tityus, a creature of immense size, to offer violence to her. When he tried to do this he was slain by the thunderbolt of Jove [Zeus]. He is said to lie stretched out over nine acres in the Land of the Dead, and a serpent is put near him to eat out his liver, which grows again with the moon.

FABLE [62] - Ixion - Ixion, son of Leonteus, attempted to embrace Juno. Juno, by Jove’s instructions, substituted a cloud, which Ixion believed to be the likeness of Juno. From this the Centaurs were born. But Mercury, by Jove’s instructions, bound Ixion in the Land of the Dead to a wheel, which is said to be still turning there.

FABLE [75] - Tiresias - On Mount Cyllene Tiresias, son of Everes, a shepherd, is said to have struck with his staff, or trampled on, snakes which were coupling. Because of this he was changed to a woman. Later, advised by an oracle, he trampled on the snakes in the same place, and returned to his former sex. At this same time there was a joking dispute between Jove and Juno as to whether man or woman derived more pleasure from the act of love. They took Tiresias as judge, since he had been both man and woman. When he decided in Jove’s favour, Juno with the back of her hand angrily blinded him, but Jove because of this gave him seven lives to live, and made him a seer wiser than other mortals.

FABLE [92] - Judgement of Paris - Jove is said to have invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis all the gods except Eris, or Discordia. When she came later and was not admitted to the banquet, she threw an apple through the door, saying that the fairest should take it. Juno, Venus, and Minerva claimed the beauty prize for themselves. A huge argument broke out among them. Jupiter ordered Mercury to take them to Mt Ida to Paris Alexander, and bid him judge. Juno promised him, if he should judge in her favour, that he would rule over all the lands and be pre-eminent wealth. Minerva promised that if she should come out victorious, he would be bravest of mortals and skilled in every craft. Venus, however, promised to give him in marriage Helen, daughter of Tyndareus, most beautiful of all women. Paris preferred the last give to the former ones, and judges Venus the most lovely. On account of this, Juno and Minerva were hostile to the Trojans. Alexander, at the prompting of Venus, took Helen from his host Menelaus form Lacedaemon to Troy, and married her. She took with her two handmaids, Aethra and Thisiadie, captives, but once queens, whom Castor and Pollux had assigned to her.

FABLE [102] - Philoctetes - When Philoctetes, son of Poeas and Demonassa, was on the island of Lemnos, a snake struck his foot. Juno had sent it, angry with him because he alone rather than the others had dared to build the funeral pyre of Hercules when his human body was consumed and he was raised to immortality.

FABLE [139] - Curetes - After Opis had borne Jove by Saturn, Juno asked her to give him to her, since Saturn and cast Orcus under Tartarus, and Neptune under the sea, because he knew that his son would rob him of the kingdom. When he had asked Opis for what she had borne, in order to devour it, Opis showed him a stone wrapped up like a baby; Saturn devoured it. When he realized what he had done, he started to hunt for Jove throughout the earth. Juno, however, took Jove to the island of Crete, and Amalthea, the child’s nurse, hung him in a cradle from a tree, so that he could be found neither in heaven nor on earth nor in the sea. And lest the cries of the baby be heard, she summoned youths and gave them small brazen shields and spears, and bade them go around the tree making a noise.

FABLE [140] - Python - Python, offspring of Terra, was a huge dragon who, before the time of Apollo, used to give oracular responses on Mount Parnassus. Death was fated to come to him from the offspring of Latona. At that time Jove lay with Latona, daughter of Polus. When Juno found this out, she decreed (?) that Latona should give birth at a place where the sun did not shine. When Python knew that Latona was pregnant by Jove, he followed her to kill her. But by order of Jove the wind Aquilo carried Latona away, and bore her to Neptune. He protected her, but in order not to make voice Juno’s decree, he took her to the island Ortygia, and covered the island with waves. When Python did not find her, he returned to Parnassus.

FABLE [145] - Io - Jupiter loved and embraced Io, and changed her to heifer form so that Juno would not recognize her. When Juno found out, she sent Argus, who had gleaming eyes all around to guard her. Mercury, at Jove’s command, killed him. But Juno sent a fearful shape to plague her, and out of terror of it she was driven wildly and compelled to cast herself into the sea, which is called Ionian. Thence she swam to Scythia, and the Bosporus is named from that; thence she went to Egypt where she bore Epaphus. When Jove realized that for his sake she had borne such suffering, he restored her to her own form, and made her a goddess of the Egyptians, called Isis.

FABLE [150] - War with the titans - After Juno saw that Epaphus, born of a concubine, ruled such a great kingdom, she saw to it that he should be killed while hunting, and encouraged the Titans to drive Jove from the kingdom and restore it to Saturn. When they tried to mount heaven, Jove with the help of Minerva, Apollo, and Diana, cast them headlong into Tartarus. On Atlas, who had been their leader, he put the vault of the sky; even now he is said to hold up the sky on his shoulders.

FABLE [165] - Pipes - Minerva is said to have been the first to make pipes from deer bones and to have come to the banquet of the gods to play. Juno and Venus made fun of her because she was grey-eyed and puffed out her cheeks, so when mocked in her playing and called ugly she came to the forest of Ida to a spring, as she played she viewed herself in the water, and saw that she was rightly mocked.

FABLE [167] - Liber - Liber, son of Jove and Proserpine, was dismembered by the Titans, and Jove gave his heart, torn to bits, to Semele in a drink. When she was made pregnant by this, Juno, changing herself to look like Semele’s nurse, Beroe, said to her: “Daughter, ask Jove to come to you as he comes to Juno, so you may know what pleasure it is to sleep with a god.” At her suggestion Semele made this request of Jove, and was smitten by a thunderbolt. He took Liber from her womb, and gave him to Nysus to be cared for. For this reason he is called Dionysus, and also “the one with two mothers.”

FABLE [179] - Semele - Jove desired to lie with Semele, and when Juno found out, she changed her form to that of the nurse Beroe, came to Semele, and suggested that she ask Jove to come to her as he came to Juno, “that you may know”, she said, “what pleasure it is to lie with a god.” And so Semele asked Jove to come to her in this way. Her request was granted, and Jove, coming with lightning and thunder, burned Semele to death. From her womb Liber was born. Mercury snatched him from the fire and gave him to Nysus to be reared. In Greek he is called Dionysus.

FABLE [225] - First temples to the gods - Phoroneus, son of Inachus, first made a temple to Juno in Argos.

FABLE [254] - Exceptionally dutiful - Cleops and Bitias were sons of Cydippe, a priestess of Argive Juno. She had sent the oxen to pasture, and they had not appeared, and were dead at the time when the sacrifices were to be made and taken to the temple of Juno on the mountain. If the sacrifices were not performed at the proper time, the priestess was to be killed. Out of fear of this, Cleops and Bitias put on the yoke as if they were oxen, and drew the sacrifices and their mother Cydippe to the shrine in the wagon. When the rite was completed, Cydippe prayed to Juno, that if she had worshipped her purely, and if her sons had been dutiful towards her, that whatever good could happen to mortals might befall her sons. When the prayer was over, the sons brought mother and wagon home, and weary, rested in sleep . . . but Cydippe thoughtfully realized that there was nothing better for mortals than to die, and because of this, she died a willing death.

FABLE [274] - Inventors - Phoroneus, son of Inachus, first made arms for Juno, and because of this first obtained authority to rule.

LYRA GRAECA, ALCMAN, translated by J. M. EDMONDS

FRAGMENT 3 - Scholiast Bern. on Vergil Georgics 3. 89 :

[Such was Cyllarus when he bent to the rein of Pollux] : . . . According to the lyric poet Alcman, the horses given by Neptune to Juno were named Cyllarus (or Bowlegs) and Xanthus (or Bayard), Cyllarus being given to Pollux and Xanthus to his brother.

LUCIAN, DIALOGUES OF THE GODS, translated by H. W. & F. G. FOWLER

ZEUS AND HERA

HERA - Zeus! What is your opinion of this man Ixion?

ZEUS - Why, my dear, I think he is a very good sort of man; and the best of company. Indeed, if he were unworthy of our company, he would not be here.

HERA - He is unworthy! He is a villain! Discard him!

ZEUS - Eh? What has he been after? I must know about this.

HERA - Certainly you must; though I scarce know how to tell you. The wretch!

ZEUS - Oh, oh; if he is a 'wretch,' you must certainly tell me all about it. I know what 'wretch' means, on your discreet tongue. What, he has been making love?

HERA - And to me! to me of all people! It has been going on for a long time. At first, when he would keep looking at me, I had no idea—. And then he would sigh and groan; and when I handed my cup to Ganymede after drinking, he would insist on having it, and would stop drinking to kiss it, and lift it up to his eyes; and then he would look at me again. And then of course I knew. For a long time I didn't like to say anything to you; I thought his mad fit would pass. But when he actually dared to speak to me, I left him weeping and groveling about, and stopped my ears, so that I might not hear his impertinences, and came to tell you. It is for you to consider what steps you will take.

ZEUS - Whew! I have a rival, I find; and with my own lawful wife. Here is a rascal who has tippled nectar to some purpose. Well, we have no one but ourselves to blame for it: we make too much of these mortals, admitting them to our table like this. When they drink of our nectar, and behold the beauties of Heaven (so different from those of Earth!), ’tis no wonder if they fall in love, and form ambitious schemes! Yes, Love is all-powerful; and not with mortals only: we Gods have sometimes fallen beneath his sway.

HERA - He has made himself master of you; no doubt of that. He does what he likes with you;—leads you by the nose. You follow him whither he chooses, and assume every shape at his command; you are his chattel, his toy. I know how it will be: you are going to let Ixion off, because you have had relations with his wife; she is the mother of Pirithous.

ZEUS - Why, what a memory you have for these little outings of mine!—Now, my idea about Ixion is this. It would never do to punish him, or to exclude him from our table; that would not look well. No; as he is so fond of you, so hard hit—even to weeping point, you tell me,—

HERA - Zeus! What are you going to say?

ZEUS - Don't be alarmed. Let us make a cloud-phantom in your likeness, and after dinner, as he lies awake (which of course he will do, being in love), let us take it and lay it by his side. 'Twill put him out of his pain: he will fancy he has attained his desire.

HERA - Never! The presumptuous villain!

ZEUS - Yes, I know. But what harm can it do to you, if Ixion makes a conquest of a cloud?

HERA - But he will think that I am the cloud; he will be working his wicked will upon me for all he can tell.

ZEUS - Now you are talking nonsense. The cloud is not Hera, and Hera is not the cloud. Ixion will be deceived; that is all.

HERA - Yes, but these men are all alike—they have no delicacy. I suppose, when he goes home, he will boast to every one of how he has enjoyed the embraces of Hera, the wife of Zeus! Why, he may tell them that I am in love with him! And they will believe it; they will know nothing about the cloud.

ZEUS - If he says anything of the kind he shall soon find himself in Hades, spinning round on a wheel for all eternity. That will keep him busy! And serve him right; not for falling in love—I see no great harm in that—but for letting his tongue wag.

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HERA AND LETO

HERA - I must congratulate you, madam, on the children with whom you have presented Zeus.

LETO - Ah, madam; we cannot all be the proud mothers of Hephaestuses.

HERA - My boy may be a cripple, but at least he is of some use. He is a wonderful smith, and has made Heaven look another place; and Aphrodite thought him worth marrying, and dotes on him still. But those two of yours!—that girl is wild and mannish to a degree; and now she has gone off to Scythia, and her doings there are no secret; she is as bad as any Scythian herself,—butchering strangers and eating them! Apollo, too, who pretends to be so clever, with his bow and his lyre and his medicine and his prophecies; those oracle-shops that he has opened at Delphi, and Clarus, and Dindyma, are a cheat; he takes good care to be on the safe side by giving ambiguous answers that no one can understand, and makes money out of it, for there are plenty of fools who like being imposed upon,--but sensible people know well enough that most of it is clap-trap. The prophet did not know that he was to kill his favourite with a quoit; he never foresaw that Daphne would run away from him, so handsome as he is, too, such beautiful hair! I am not sure, after all, that there is much to choose between your children and Niobe's.

LETO - Oh, of course; my children are butchers and impostors. I know how you hate the sight of them. You cannot bear to hear my girl complimented on her looks, or my boy's playing admired by the company.

HERA - His playing, madam!—excuse a smile;—why, if the Muses had not favoured him, his contest with Marsyas would have cost him his skin; poor Marsyas was shamefully used on that occasion; ’twas a judicial murder.—As for your charming daughter, when Actaeon once caught sight of her charms, she had to set the dogs upon him, for fear he should tell all he knew: I forbear to ask where the innocent child picked up her knowledge of obstetrics.

LETO - You set no small value on yourself, madam, because you are the wife of Zeus, and share his throne; you may insult whom you please. But there will be tears presently, when the next bull or swan sets out on his travels, and you are left neglected.

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HERA AND ZEUS

HERA - Well, Zeus, I should be ashamed if I had such a son; so effeminate, and so given to drinking; tying up his hair in a ribbon, indeed! and spending most of his time among mad women, himself as much a woman as any of them; dancing to flute and drum and cymbal! He resembles any one rather than his father.

ZEUS - Anyhow, my dear, this wearer of ribbons, this woman among women, not content with conquering Lydia, subduing Thrace, and enthralling the people of Tmolus, has been on an expedition all the way to India with his womanish host, captured elephants, taken possession of the country, and led their king captive after a brief resistance. And he never stopped dancing all the time, never relinquished the thyrsus and the ivy; always drunk (as you say) and always inspired! If any scoffer presumes to make light of his ceremonial, he does not go unpunished; he is bound with vine-twigs; or his own mother mistakes him for a fawn, and tears him limb from limb. Are not these manful doings, worthy of a son of Zeus? No doubt he is fond of his comforts, too, and his amusements; we need not complain of that: you may judge from his drunken achievements, what a handful the fellow would be if he were sober.

HERA - I suppose you will tell me next, that the invention of wine is very much to his credit; though you see for yourself how drunken men stagger about and misbehave themselves; one would think the liquor had made them mad. Look at Icarius, the first to whom he gave the vine: beaten to death with mattocks by his own boon companions!

ZEUS - Pooh, nonsense. That is not Dionysus's fault, nor the wine's fault; it comes of the immoderate use of it. Men will drink their wine neat, and drink too much of it. Taken in moderation, it engenders cheerfulness and benevolence. Dionysus is not likely to treat any of his guests as Icarius was treated.—No; I see what it is:—you are jealous, my love; you can't forget about Semele, and so you must disparage the noble achievements of her son.

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THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS

ZEUS - Hermes, take this apple, and go with it to Phrygia; on the Gargaran peak of Ida you will find Priam's son, the herdsman. Give him this message: `Paris, because you are handsome, and wise in the things of love, Zeus commands you to judge between the Goddesses, and say which is the most beautiful. And the prize shall be this apple.'—Now, you three, there is no time to be lost: away with you to your judge. I will have nothing to do with the matter: I love you all exactly alike, and I only wish you could all three win. If I were to give the prize to one of you, the other two would hate me, of course. In these circumstances, I am ill qualified to be your judge. But this young Phrygian to whom you are going is of the royal blood—a relation of Ganymede's,—and at the same time a simple countryman; so that we need have no hesitation in trusting his eyes.

APHRODITE - As far as I am concerned, Zeus, Momus himself might be our judge; I should not be afraid to show myself. What fault could he find with me? But the others must agree too.

HERA - Oh, we are under no alarm, thank you,—though your admirer Ares should be appointed. But Paris will do; whoever Paris is.

ZEUS - And my little Athene; have we her approval? Nay, never blush, nor hide your face. Well, well, maidens will be coy; ’tis a delicate subject. But there, she nods consent. Now, off with you; and mind, the beaten ones must not be cross with the judge; I will not have the poor lad harmed. The prize of beauty can be but one.

HERMES - Now for Phrygia. I will show the way; keep close behind me, ladies, and don't be nervous. I know Paris well: he is a charming young man; a great gallant, and an admirable judge of beauty. Depend on it, he will make a good award.

APHRODITE - I am glad to hear that; I ask for nothing better than a just judge.—Has he a wife, Hermes, or is he a bachelor?

HERMES - Not exactly a bachelor.

APHRODITE - What do you mean?

HERMES - I believe there is a wife, as it were; a good enough sort of girl—a native of those parts—but sadly countrified! I fancy he does not care very much about her.—Why do you ask?

APHRODITE - I just wanted to know.

ATHENA - Now, Hermes, that is not fair. No whispering with Aphrodite.

HERMES - It was nothing, Athene; nothing about you. She only asked me whether Paris was a bachelor.

ATHENA - What business is that of hers?

HERMES - None that I know of. She meant nothing by the question; she just wanted to know.

ATHENA - Well, and is he?

HERMES - Why, no.

ATHENA - And does he care for military glory? has he ambition? Or is he a mere neatherd?

HERMES - I couldn't say for certain. But he is a young man, so it is to be presumed that distinction on the field of battle is among his desires.

APHRODITE - There, you see; I don't complain; I say nothing when you whisper with her. Aphrodite is not so particular as some people.

HERMES - Athene asked me almost exactly the same as you did; so don't be cross. It will do you no harm, my answering a plain question.—Meanwhile, we have left the stars far behind us, and are almost over Phrygia. There is Ida: I can make out the peak of Gargarum quite plainly; and if I am not mistaken, there is Paris himself.

HERA - Where is he? I don't see him.

HERMES - Look over there to the left, Hera: not on the top, but down the side, by that cave where you see the herd.

HERA - But I don't see the herd.

HERMES - What, don't you see them coming out from between the rocks,—where I am pointing, look—and the man running down from the crag, and keeping them together with his staff?

HERA - I see him now; if he it is.

HERMES - Oh, that is Paris. But we are getting near; it is time to alight and walk. He might be frightened, if we were to descend upon him so suddenly.

HERA - Yes; very well. And now that we are on the earth, you might go on ahead, Aphrodite, and show us the way. You know the country, of course, having been here so often to see Anchises; or so I have heard.

APHRODITE - Your sneers are thrown away on me, Hera.

HERMES - Come; I'll lead the way myself. I spent some time on Ida, while Zeus was courting Ganymede. Many is the time that I have been sent here to keep watch over the boy; and when at last the eagle came, I flew by his side, and helped him with his lovely burden. This is the very rock, if I remember; yes, Ganymede was piping to his sheep, when down swooped the eagle behind him, and tenderly, oh, so tenderly, caught him up in those talons, and with the turban in his beak bore him off, the frightened boy straining his neck the while to see his captor. I picked up his pipes—he had dropped them in his fright and—ah! here is our umpire, close at hand. Let us accost him.—Good-morrow, herdsman!

PARIS - Good-morrow, youngster. And who may you be, who come thus far afield? And these dames? They are over comely, to be wandering on the mountain-side.

HERMES - `These dames,' good Paris, are Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite; and I am Hermes, with a message from Zeus. Why so pale and tremulous? Compose yourself; there is nothing the matter. Zeus appoints you the judge of their beauty. `Because you are handsome, and wise in the things of love' (so runs the message), `I leave the decision to you; and for the prize,—read the inscription on the apple.'

PARIS - Let me see what it is about. FOR THE FAIR, it says. But, my lord Hermes, how shall a mortal and a rustic like myself be judge of such unparalleled beauty? This is no sight for a herdsman's eyes; let the fine city folk decide on such matters. As for me, I can tell you which of two goats is the fairer beast; or I can judge betwixt heifer and heifer;—’tis my trade. But here, where all are beautiful alike, I know not how a man may leave looking at one, to look upon another. Where my eyes fall, there they fasten,—for there is beauty: I move them, and what do I find? more loveliness! I am fixed again, yet distracted by neighbouring charms. I bathe in beauty: I am enthralled: ah, why am I not all eyes like Argus? Methinks it were a fair award, to give the apple to all three. Then again: one is the wife and sister of Zeus; the others are his daughters. Take it where you will, ’tis a hard matter to judge.

HERMES - So it is, Paris. At the same time—Zeus's orders! There is no way out of it.

PARIS - Well, please point out to them, Hermes, that the losers must not be angry with me; the fault will be in my eyes only.

HERMES - That is quite understood. And now to work.

PARIS - I must do what I can; there is no help for it. But first let me ask,—am I just to look at them as they are, or must I go into the matter thoroughly?

HERMES - That is for you to decide, in virtue of your office. You have only to give your orders; it is as you think best.

PARIS - As I think best? Then I will be thorough.

HERMES - Get ready, ladies. Now, Mr. Umpire.—I will look the other way.

HERA - I approve your decision, Paris. I will be the first to submit myself to your inspection. You shall see that I have more to boast of than white arms and large eyes: nought of me but is beautiful.

PARIS - Aphrodite, will you also prepare?

ATHENA - Oh, Paris,—make her take off that girdle, first; there is magic in it; she will bewitch you. For that matter, she has no right to come thus tricked out and painted,—just like a courtesan! She ought to show herself unadorned.

PARIS - They are right about the girdle, madam; it must go.

APHRODITE - Oh, very well, Athene: then take off that helmet, and show your head bare, instead of trying to intimidate the judge with that waving plume. I suppose you are afraid the colour of your eyes may be noticed, without their formidable surroundings.

ATHENA - Oh, here is my helmet.

APHRODITE - And here is my girdle.

HERA - Now then.

PARIS - God of wonders! What loveliness is here! Oh, rapture! How exquisite these maiden charms! How dazzling the majesty of Heaven's true queen! And oh, how sweet, how enthralling is Aphrodite's smile! ’Tis too much, too much of happiness.—But perhaps it would be well for me to view each in detail; for as yet I doubt, and know not where to look; my eyes are drawn all ways at once.

APHRODITE - Yes, that will be best.

PARIS - Withdraw then, you and Athene; and let Hera remain.

HERA - So be it; and when you have finished your scrutiny, you have next to consider, how you would like the present which I offer you. Paris, give me the prize of beauty, and you shall be lord of all Asia.

PARIS - I will take no presents. Withdraw. I shall judge as I think right. Approach, Athene.

ATHENA - Behold. And, Paris, if you will say that I am the fairest, I will make you a great warrior and conqueror, and you shall always win, in every one of your battles.

PARIS - But I have nothing to do with fighting, Athene. As you see, there is peace throughout all Lydia and Phrygia, and my father's dominion is uncontested. But never mind; I am not going to take your present, but you shall have fair play. You can robe again and put on your helmet; I have seen. And now for Aphrodite.

APHRODITE - Here I am; take your time, and examine carefully; let nothing escape your vigilance. And I have something else to say to you, handsome Paris. Yes, you handsome boy, I have long had an eye on you; I think you must be the handsomest young fellow in all Phrygia. But it is such a pity that you don't leave these rocks and crags, and live in a town; you will lose all your beauty in this desert. What have you to do with mountains? What satisfaction can your beauty give to a lot of cows? You ought to have been married long ago; not to any of these dowdy women hereabouts, but to some Greek girl; an Argive, perhaps, or a Corinthian, or a Spartan; Helen, now, is a Spartan, and such a pretty girl—quite as pretty as I am—and so susceptible! Why, if she once caught sight of you, she would give up everything, I am sure, to go with you, and a most devoted wife she would be. But you have heard of Helen, of course?

PARIS - No, ma'am; but I should like to hear all about her now.

APHRODITE - Well, she is the daughter of Leda, the beautiful woman, you know, whom Zeus visited in the disguise of a swan.

PARIS - And what is she like?

APHRODITE - She is fair, as might be expected from the swan, soft as down (she was hatched from an egg, you know), and such a lithe, graceful figure; and only think, she is so much admired, that there was a war because Theseus ran away with her; and she was a mere child then. And when she grew up, the very first men in Greece were suitors for her hand, and she was given to Menelaus, who is descended from Pelops.—Now, if you like, she shall be your wife.

PARIS - What, when she is married already?

APHRODITE - Tut, child, you are a simpleton: I understand these things.

PARIS - I should like to understand them too.

APHRODITE - You will set out for Greece on a tour of inspection: and when you get to Sparta, Helen will see you; and for the rest—her falling in love, and going back with you—that will be my affair.

PARIS - But that is what I cannot believe,—that she will forsake her husband to cross the seas with a stranger, a barbarian.

APHRODITE - Trust me for that. I have two beautiful children, Love and Desire. They shall be your guides. Love will assail her in all his might, and compel her to love you: Desire will encompass you about, and make you desirable and lovely as himself; and I will be there to help. I can get the Graces to come too, and between us we shall prevail.

PARIS - How this will end, I know not. All I do know is, that I am in love with Helen already. I see her before me—I sail for Greece I am in Sparta—I am on my homeward journey, with her at my side! Ah, why is none of it true?

APHRODITE - Wait. Do not fall in love yet. You have first to secure my interest with the bride, by your award. The union must be graced with my victorious presence: your marriage-feast shall be my feast of victory. Love, beauty, wedlock; all these you may purchase at the price of yonder apple.

PARIS - But perhaps after the award you will forget all about me?

APHRODITE - Shall I swear?

PARIS - No; but promise once more.

APHRODITE - I promise that you shall have Helen to wife; that she shall follow you, and make Troy her home; and I will be present with you, and help you in all.

PARIS - And bring Love, and Desire, and the Graces?

APHRODITE - Assuredly; and Passion and Hymen as well.

PARIS - Take the apple: it is yours.

NONNUS, DIONYSIACA, Book 3, translated by W. H. D. ROUSE

[257] “But I will tell you my lineage with its noble sons. There is a city Argos, famous for horses, and Hera’s habitation, the midnipple of the island of Tantalides. There a man begat a daughter, and a beautiful daughter, – Inachos, famed burgher of the land Inachian. A templeman he was, and brooded over the awful rites that spoke the voice of the divine cityholder, he chief and eldest in practice of her mysteries: aye, he refused to wed his daughter to Zeus lord of the gods, leader of the stars, all for reverence of Hera . . . at the time when Io changed her face and became a cattleshaped heifer; when she was driven to pasture along with the herd of kine; when Hera made sleepless Argos her herdsman to that calf – spotted Argos, covered with unwavering eyes. He was to watch the horned bride of Zeus, Zeus whom eye may not see. To pasture went the girl Io, trembling at the eyes of her busy-peeping drover: then pierced by the limb-gnawing gadfly, she scored the gulf of the Ionian sea with travelling hoof. She came as far as Aigyptos, my own river, which my people have called Neilos by name because year by year that watery consort covers Earth with new slime by its muddy flood – she came as far as Aigyptos, where after her cow’s form, after putting off the horned image ordained by heaven, she became a goddess of fruitful cropsl when the fruit starts up, the fruit of Egyptian Demeter my stronghorned Io, scented vapour is carried around by fragrant breezes.

NONNUS, DIONYSIACA, Book 4, translated by W. H. D. ROUSE

[58] You know how my father’s wedded – two had their sisters. Zeus my father’s father possessed the bed of his sister Hera, by the family rule of marriage; both the parents of Harmonia, Ares and Cythereia, who mounted one bed, were of one father, another pair of blood-kindred. What miserable necessity! Sisters may have a brother for bedfellow, I must have a banished man!”

[160] “I will go with you if you wish, even as your companion, I tremble not before unfamiliar wanderings. Hard-hearted girl, become the lawful wife to Cadmos; I would be chambermaid to you both, Harmonia and husband. – But again I tremble before you, lest some time I awaken anger and jealousy for your bed tho’ you fain would hide it, since even Hera, goddess thou she is and queen of the heavens, grudges Zeus his bastard wives on earth. She was angry with Europa and tormented the wandering Io; she spared not even goddesses; because his mother was angry, Ares persecuted Leto with child in her birthpangs.

NONNUS, DIONYSIACA, Book 8, translated by W. H. D. ROUSE

[34] Now Envy, surveying the bed of lofty Zeus and Semele’s labour in the divine birth, was jealous of Bacchos while yet in the womb, Envy self-tormenting, loveless, stung with his own poison. In that crafty heart he conceived a crooked plan. He put on the false image of a counterfeit Ares, with armour like his; he scored the front of the shield with a liquid of his own made from a poisonous flower, to imitate smears of blood. He dipt his deceitful fingers in vermilion dye, staining his hands with red stuff which pretended to be gore (which it resembled) from his slain enemies. He belched out from his throat through his horrible mouth a nine-thousand power roar, a man-breaking voice indeed! He provoked Athena with seductive whispers, and goaded jealous Hera yet more to wrath, and irritated them both; and these are the words he said: “Find another bridegroom in the sky, Hera, yes another! for Semele has stolen yours! For her sake he renounces the sevenzoned sky and treads the bridal floor of sevengated Thebes! In your place he holds in his arms an earthly bride with child, and is happy! What has become of my mother’s jealousy! Has even Hera’s wrath become unmanned for this marriage with Semele? Where are the stings of your merciless gadfly? No heifer is now driven in seapanic over the deep – no herdsman Argos with a thick crop of eyes watches the latest bed of lecher Cronides?...

[103] ...He spoke, and disquieted the mind of selfborn Athena, and the more increased the wrath of jealous Hera. Swift leapt up envy, and wagging his crooked knees passed on his sidelong roads through the lower air: he moved like smoke to human eyes and thoughts, arming his boggart’s mind for deceit and mischief.

[124] Then subtle-minded Hera began to coax wily Deceit with wily words, hoping to have revenge on her husband: “Good greeting, lady of wily mind and wily snares! Not Hermes Hoaxthewits himself can outdo you with his plausible prattle-prattle! Lend me also that girdle of many colours, which Rheia once bound about her flanks when she deceived her husband! I bring no petrified shape for my Cronion, I do not trick my husband with a wily stone. No! a woman of the earth compels me – whose bed makes furious Ares declare that he will house in heaven no more! What do I profit by being a goddess immortal? A worthless mortal woman has taken my husband, whom Leto a goddess could not steal. Zeus and his rain did not sleep a second time with Danaë; after the seals of the ironbound prison the bride went a-sailing and had to blame her golden wedding for her lovegift of the brine – her hutch sailing with her on the sea floated where the shifting winds did blow! After Crete the Olympian bull did not swim again, he did not see Europa after the bed; but Io was soaked in the wet, and swam with horns on her head plagued by the gadfly!

[178] Now Hera left the shieldbeswingled cave of the Dictaean rock and the cavern where the goddess of childbirth was born, and came full of guile to Semele’s chamber, puffing with jealousy. She made herself like a honeyvoiced old dame, like the loving nurse whom Agenor himself had chosen to care for his children, and made much of her – gave her a holding, found her a husband as if she had been his daughter; and she paid him back for his care, nursed Cadmos at her own breast and dandled baby Europa in her loving arms. This was what Hera looked like when she passed into the house, hating Semele and Cypris, and Dionysos who had not yet seen the light; and as she came to the chamber of the recent bridal, she turned face and eyes away to the opposite wall, that she might not see the bed of Zeus. She was led and seated on a chair by Semele’s attendant Peisianassa, a maid of Tyrian race, and Thelxinoë spread the rugs over the gleaming seat. There sat the goddess close beside her, weaving her plot. She noticed how the girl carried a burden of ripening fruit; a birth which touched not yet the moon of delivery, but a pale cheek an the pallor of limbs once rosy told of a womb no longer sealed. As treacherous Hera sat, a simulated palsy passed over her false body, and the old neck bowed downwards, nodding over the bent shoulders.

[247] “Or if as you say, Cronion is your bridegroom, let him come to your bed with amorous thunders, armed with bridal lightning, that people may say - `Hera and Semele both have thunders in waiting for the bedchamber!’ The consort of Zeus may be jealous, but she will not hurt you, for Ares your mother’s father will not allow it. Europa is more happy than Semele, for a horned Zeus carried her on his back; the hoof of the lovestricken bull ran unwetted on the top of the water, and one so mighty was Love’s boat. O what a great miracle! A maiden held the reins of him who holds the reins of heaven! I call Danaë happier than Semele, for into her bosom Zeus poured a shower of gold from the roof, torrents of mad love in abundant showers! But that most blessed bride asked no gifts of gold; her lovegift was her whole husband. But let us be quiet, or your father Cadmos will hear.”

[264] With these words Hera left the house, and the girl still in her grief, jealous of the inimitable state of Hera’s marriage and unsatisfied with Cronion. Hera returned to heaven and went indoors. There beside the heavenly throne she saw the weapons of Zeus lying without their owner; and as if they could hear, she addressed them in friendly cajoling words: “Dear Thunder, has Zeus my cloudgatherer deserted you too then? Who has stolen you again and left your owner naked? Thunder, you have been plundered! But Typhoeus has nothing to do with it. The same has happened to Hera, my comforter: Rainy Zeus ahs a bride to look after and neglects us both. The earth is no more sprinkled with showers: the downfall of rain has ceased, drought feeds on the plowland furrows and makes the crops worthless, the countryman speaks not more of Cloudy Zeus but Zeus Cloudless. My dear Lightnings, utter your fiery appeal to Cronion, call upon womanmad Zeus, my thunderbolts! Avenge the jealous pain of Hera, attend upon Semele’s wedding! Let her pray for a wedding-gift and receive her own fiery destroyers!”

[284] Such was the appeal of sorrowing Hera to the voiceless weapons, while the goddess was boiling with jealousy and fury.

[286] But Semele heavily fettered with this new distress for her temper, longed for the lightning to be the fiery escort of their loves; and she complained to Zeus, as the prayed for a show of fires about her bed like Hera: “By Danaë’s opulent wooing I pray, grant me this grace, horned husband of Europa! for I dare not call you Semele’s husband, when I have seen you only like a dream! Acrisios was more blessed than Cadmos; but I too should have been glad to see a wedding of gold, Zeus of the Rain, if the mother of Perseus had not first stolen that honour from thee. I should have been glad if you had carried me on your shoulders in the waters as a travelling bull, and my brother Polydoros like Cadmos could have hunted the robber of the wandering bride, Cronion who carried me. But what have I to do with wedlock in shape of a bull or a shower? I want no honour equal to some earthly bride. Leave Europa her bull, leave Danaë her shower of gold: Hera’s state is the only one I envy. If you hold me worthy of honour, deck out my chamber with your heavenly fire! Kindle a lovelight in the clouds, show incredulous Agauë the lightning as my lovegift. Let Autonoë in her room close by hear the thunderous tune of our attendant Loves, and tremble at the selfannouncing token of our unpublished marriage. Give it – let me embrace the dear flame and rejoice my heart, touching the lightning and handling the thunderbolts! Give me the bridal flame of your own chamber; every bride has torches to escort her in the marriage procession.

[348] Thus Semele prayed for her own fate: the shortlived bride hoped to be equal to Hera, and to see at her nuptials the spark of the thunderbolt gentle and peaceful.

[351] Father Zeus heard, and blamed the jealous Portioners, and pities Semele so soon to die; but he understood the scheming resentment of implacable Hera against Bacchos. Then he ordered Hermes to catch up his newborn son out of the thunderfire when it should strike Thyone. He spoke thus in answer to the highheaded girl: “Wife, the jealous mind of Hera has deceived you by a trick. Do you really think, wife, that my thunders are gentle? Be patient until another time, for now you carry a child. Be patient until next time, and first bring forth my son. Do not demand from me the murderous fire before that birth.

[407] Zeus was able to change the mind of jealous Hera, to calm and undo the savage threatending resentment which burdened her. Semele consumed by the fire he translated into the starry vault; he gave the mother of Bacchos a home in the sky among the heavenly inhabitants, as one of Hera’s family, as daughter of Harmonia sprung from both Ares and Aphrodite. So her new body bathed in the purifying fire . . . she received the immortal life of the Olympians.

NONNUS, DIONYSIACA, Book 9, translated by W. H. D. ROUSE

[132] Here behind the many keys and seals of the palace allseeing Hera spied him with her infallible eyes, guarded by Mystis in that hidden corner of the house. Then she swore by the infernal water of afteravenging Styx, that she would drown the house of Ino in a flood of innumerable woes. Indeed she would have destroyed the son of Zeus; but Hermes caught him up and carried him to the wooded ridge where Cybele dwelt. Moving fast, Hera ran swiftshoe on quick feet from high heaven; but he was before her, and assumed the eternal shape of firstborn Phanes. Hera in respect for the most ancient of the gods, gave him place and bowed before the radiance of the deceiving face, not knowing the borrowed shape for a fraud. So Hermes passed over the mountain tract with quicker step then hers, carrying the horned child folded in his arms, and gave it to Rheia, nurse of lions, mother of Father Zeus

NONNUS, DIONYSIACA, Book 14, translated by W. H. D. ROUSE

[143] Another kind of the twiform Centaurs also appeared, the shaggy tribe of the horned Pheres, to whom Hera had given a different sort of human shape with horns. These were sons of the water-naiads in mortal body, whom men call Hyads, offspring of the river Lamos. They had played the nurses for the babe that Zeus had so happily brought forth, Bacchos, while he still had a breath of the sewn-up birth-pocket. They were the cherishing saviours of Dionysos when he was hidden from every eye, and then they had nothing strange in their shape; in that dark cellar they often dandled the child in bended arms, as he cried Daddy to the sky, the seat of his father Zeus, still a child a play, but a clever babe. Of the would mimic a newborn kid; hiding in the fold, he covered his body with long hair, and in this strange shape let out a deceptive bleat between his teeth, and pretended to walk on hooves in goatlike steps. Of the would show himself like a young girl in saffron robes and take on the feigned shape of a woman; to mislead the mind of spiteful Hera, he moulded his lips to speak in a girlish voice, tied a scented veil on his hair. He put on all a woman’s manycoloured garments: fastened a maiden’s vest about his chest and the firm circle of his bosom, and fitted a purple girdle over his hips like a band of maidenhood.

[168] But his guile was useless. Hera, who turns her all-seeing ye to every place, saw from on high the ever-changing shape of Lyaios, and knew all. Then she was angry with the guardians of Bromios. She procured from Thesalian Achlys treacherous flowers of the field, and shed a sleep of enchantment over their heads; she distilled poisoned drugs over their hair, she smeared a subtle magical ointment over their faces, and changed their earlier human shape. Then they took the form of a creature with long ears, and a horse’s tail sticking out straight from the loins and flogging the flanks of its shaggy-crested owner; from the temples cow’s horns sprouted out, their eyes widened under the horned forehead, the hair ran across their heads in tufts, long white teeth grew out of their jaws, a strange kind of mane grew of itself, covering their neck with rough hair, and ran down from the loins to the feet underneath.

ORPHIC HYMNS, Hymn to Juno, translated by THOMAS TAYLOR

The Fumigation from Aromatics.

O Royal Juno [Hera] of majestic mien, aerial-form'd, divine, Jove's [Zeus'] blessed queen,
Thron'd in the bosom of cærulean air, the race of mortals is thy constant care.
The cooling gales thy pow'r alone inspires, which nourish life, which ev'ry life desires.
Mother of clouds and winds, from thee alone producing all things, mortal life is known:
All natures share thy temp'rament divine, and universal sway alone is thine.
With founding blasts of wind, the swelling sea and rolling rivers roar, when shook by thee.
Come, blessed Goddess, fam'd almighty queen, with aspect kind, rejoicing and serene.

OVID, FASTI, Book 2, translated by J. G. FRAZER

III. ID. 11th(February)

[153] Come the third night, thou shalt straightway remark that the Bear-Ward has thrust forth both his feet. Among the Hamadryads in the train of the archeress Diana one of the sacred band was called Callisto. Laying her hand on the bow of the goddess, “Thou bow,” quoth she, “which thus I touch, bear witness to my virginity.” Cynthia approved the vow, and said, “Keep but thy plighted troth and thou shalt be the foremost of my company.” Her troth she would have kept if she had not been fair. With mortals she was on her guard; it was with Jove she sinned. Of wild beasts in the forest Phoebe had chased full many a score, and home she was returning at noon or after noon. No sooner had she reached the grove – the grove where the thick holm-oaks cast a gloom and in the midst a deep fountain of cool water rose – than the goddess spake: “Here in the wood,” quoth she, “let’s bathe, thou maid of Arcady.” At the false name of maid the other blushed. The goddess spoke to the nymphs as well, and they put off their robes. Callisto was ashamed and bashfully delayed. But when she doffed her tunic, too plainly, self-convicted, her big belly betrayed the weight she bore. To whom the goddess spake: “Daughter of Lycaon forsworn, forsake the company of maids and defile not the pure waters.” Ten times the horned moon had filled her orb afresh, when she who had been thought a maid was proved a mother. The injured Juno raged and changed the damsel’s shape. Why so? Against her will Jove ravished her. And when in the leman she beheld the ugly features of the brute, quoth Juno, “Let Jupiter now court her embraces.” But she, who of late had been beloved by highest Jove, now roamed, a shaggy she-bear, the mountains wild. The child she had conceived in sin was now in his third lustre when his mother met him. She indeed, as if she knew him, stood distraught and growled; a growl was all the mother’s speech. Her the stripling with his sharp javelin would have pierced, but that hey both were caught up into the mansions on high. As constellations they sparkle beside each other. First comes what we call the Bear; the Bear-Ward seems to follow at her back. Still Saturn’s daughter frets and begs grey Tethys never to touch and wash with her waters the Bear of Maenalus.

OVID, FASTI, Book 5, translated by J. G. FRAZER

VI. NoN. 2nd(May)

[229] Mars, too, was brought to birth my contrivance; perhaps you do not know it, and I pray that Jupiter, who thus far knows it not, may never know it. Holy Juno grieved that Jupiter had not needed her services when Minerva was born without a mother. She went to complain of her husband’s doings to Ocean; tired by the journey, she halted at my door. As soon as I set eyes on her, ‘What brings thee here,’ I said, ‘daughter of Saturn?’ She set forth her journey’s goal, adding its reason. I consoled her with friendly words. ‘My grief,’ quoth she, ‘is not to be assuaged with words. If Jupiter has become a father without the use of a wife, and unites both titles in his single person, why should I despair of becoming a mother without a husband, and of bringing forth without contact with a man, always supposing that I am chaste? I will try all the drugs in the wide world, and I will explore the seas and the depths of Tartarus.’ Her speech would have flowed on, but on my face there was a sudden look of doubt. ‘Thou seemest, nymph,’ said she, ‘the to have some power to help me.’ Thrice did I wish to promise help, but thrice my tongue was tied: the anger of great Jupiter filled me with fear. ‘Help me, I pray,’ she said, ‘the helper’s name will be kept secret, and I will call on the divinity of the Stygian water to be my witness.’ ‘Thy wish,’ quoth I, ‘will be accomplished by a flower that was sent me from the fields of Olenus. It is the only flower of the kind in my garden.’ He who gave it me said, ‘Touch also with this a barren heifer; she will be a mother.’ I touched, and without delay she was a mother. Straightway I plucked with my thumb the clinging flower and touched Juno, and she conceived when it touched her bosom. And now being with child, she passed to Thrace and left the shores of the Propontis; her wish was granted, and Mars was born. In memory of the birth he owed to me, he said, ‘Do thou also have a place in the city of Romulus.’

OVID, FASTI, Book 6, translated by J. G. FRAZER

VI. ID. 9th(June)

[283] You ask why the goddess is tended by virgin ministers. Of that also I will discover the true causes. They say that Juno and Ceres were born of Ops by Saturn’s seed; the third daughter was Vesta. The other two married; both are reported to have had offspring; of the three one remained, who refused to submit to a husband.

OVID, METAMORPHOSES, Book 1, translated by BROOKES MORE

[268] Iris, the messenger of Juno, clad in many coloured raiment, upward draws the steaming moisture to renew the clouds. The standing grain is beaten to the ground, the rustic's crops are scattered in the mire, and he bewails the long year's fruitless toil.

[601] Meanwhile, the goddess Juno gazing down on earth's expanse, with wonder saw the clouds as dark as night enfold those middle fields while day was bright above. She was convinced the clouds were none composed of river mist nor raised from marshy fens. Suspicious now, from oft detected amours of her spouse, she glanced around to find her absent lord, and quite convinced that he was far from heaven, she thus exclaimed; “This cloud deceives my mind, or Jove has wronged me.” From the dome of heaven she glided down and stood upon the earth, and bade the clouds recede. But Jove had known the coming of his queen. He had transformed the lovely Io, so that she appeared a milk white heifer—formed so beautiful and fair that envious Juno gazed on her. She queried: “Whose? what herd? what pasture fields?” As if she guessed no knowledge of the truth. And Jupiter, false hearted, said the cow was earth begotten, for he feared his queen might make inquiry of the owner's name. Juno implored the heifer as a gift.—what then was left the Father of the Gods? 'Twould be a cruel thing to sacrifice his own beloved to a rival's wrath. Although refusal must imply his guilt the shame and love of her almost prevailed; but if a present of such little worth were now denied the sharer of his couch, the partner of his birth, 'twould prove indeed the earth born heifer other than she seemed—and so he gave his mistress up to her.

[622] Juno regardful of Jove's cunning art, lest he might change her to her human form, gave the unhappy heifer to the charge of Argus, Aristorides, whose head was circled with a hundred glowing eyes; of which but two did slumber in their turn whilst all the others kept on watch and guard. Whichever way he stood his gaze was fixed on Io—even if he turned away his watchful eyes on Io still remained. He let her feed by day; but when the sun was under the deep world he shut her up, and tied a rope around her tender neck. She fed upon green leaves and bitter herbs and on the cold ground slept—too often bare, she could not rest upon a cushioned couch. She drank the troubled waters. Hoping aid she tried to stretch imploring arms to Argus, but all in vain for now no arms remained; the sound of bellowing was all she heard, and she was frightened with her proper voice. Where former days she loved to roam and sport, she wandered by the banks of Inachus: there imaged in the stream she saw her horns and, startled, turned and fled. And Inachus and all her sister Naiads knew her not, although she followed them, they knew her not, although she suffered them to touch her sides and praise her. When the ancient Inachus gathered sweet herbs and offered them to her, she licked his hands, kissing her father's palms, nor could she more restrain her falling tears. If only words as well as tears would flow, she might implore his aid and tell her name and all her sad misfortune; but, instead, she traced in dust the letters of her name with cloven hoof; and thus her sad estate was known.

[668] The sovereign god no longer could endure to witness Io's woes. He called his son, whom Maia brightest of the Pleiades brought forth, and bade him slay the star eyed guard, argus. He seized his sleep compelling wand and fastened waving wings on his swift feet, and deftly fixed his brimmed hat on his head:—lo, Mercury, the favoured son of Jove, descending to the earth from heaven's plains, put off his cap and wings,—though still retained his wand with which he drove through pathless wilds some stray she goats, and as a shepherd fared, piping on oaten reeds melodious tunes. Argus, delighted with the charming sound of this new art began; “Whoever thou art, sit with me on this stone beneath the trees in cooling shade, whilst browse the tended flock abundant herbs; for thou canst see the shade is fit for shepherds.”

[682] Wherefore, Mercury sat down beside the keeper and conversed of various things—passing the laggard hours.—then soothly piped he on the joined reeds to lull those ever watchful eyes asleep; but Argus strove his languor to subdue, and though some drowsy eyes might slumber, still were some that vigil kept. Again he spoke, (for the pipes were yet a recent art) “I pray thee tell what chance discovered these.”...

[712] ...Such words the bright god Mercury would say; but now perceiving Argus' eyes were dimmed in languorous doze, he hushed his voice and touched the drooping eyelids with his magic wand, compelling slumber. Then without delay he struck the sleeper with his crescent sword, where neck and head unite, and hurled his head, blood dripping, down the rocks and rugged cliff. Low lies Argus: dark is the light of all his hundred eyes, his many orbed lights extinguished in the universal gloom that night surrounds; but Saturn's daughter spread their glister on the feathers of her bird, emblazoning its tail with starry gems.

[724] Juno made haste, inflamed with towering rage, to vent her wrath on Io; and she raised in thought and vision of the Grecian girl a dreadful Fury. Stings invisible, and pitiless, she planted in her breast, and drove her wandering throughout the globe. The utmost limit of her laboured way, O Nile, thou didst remain. Which, having reached, and placed her tired knees on that river's edge, she laid her there, and as she raised her neck looked upward to the stars, and groaned and wept and mournfully bellowed: trying thus to plead, by all the means she had, that Jupiter might end her miseries. Repentant Jove embraced his consort, and entreated her to end the punishment: “Fear not,” he said, “For she shall trouble thee no more.” He spoke, and called on bitter Styx to hear his oath.

[738] And now imperial Juno, pacified, permitted Io to resume her form,—at once the hair fell from her snowy sides; the horns absorbed, her dilate orbs decreased; the opening of her jaws contracted; hands appeared and shoulders; and each transformed hoof became five nails. And every mark or form that gave the semblance of a heifer changed, except her fair white skin; and the glad Nymph was raised erect and stood upon her feet. But long the very thought of speech, that she might bellow as a heifer, filled her mind with terror, till the words so long forgot for some sufficient cause were tried once more.

OVID, METAMORPHOSES, Book 2, translated by BROOKES MORE

[466] Ere this transpired, observed the consort of the Thunder-God her altered mien; but she for ripening time withheld severe resentment. Now delay was needless for distracted Juno heard Calisto of the god of Heaven had borne a boy called Arcas. Full of jealous rage, her eyes and thoughts enkindled as she cried; “And only this was wanting to complete your wickedness, that you should bear a son and flaunt abroad the infamy of Jove! Unpunished you shall not escape, for I will spoil the beauty that has made you proud and dazzled Jupiter with wanton art.” So saying, by her forehead's tresses seized the goddess on her rival; and she dragged her roughly to the ground. Pleading she raised her suppliant arms and begged for mercy.—While she pled, black hair spread over her white limbs; her hands were lengthened into feet, and claws long-curving tipped them; snarling jaws deformed the mouth that Jove had kissed. And lest her prayers and piteous words might move some listening God, and give remembrance, speech was so denied, that only from her throat came angry growls, now uttered hoarse and threatening. Still remains her understanding, though her body, thus transformed, makes her appear a savage bear.

OVID, METAMORPHOSES, Book 3, translated by BROOKES MORE

[251] Hapless Actaeon's end in various ways was now regarded; some deplored his doom, but others praised Diana's chastity; and all gave many reasons. But the spouse of Jove, alone remaining silent, gave nor praise nor blame. Whenever calamity befell the race of Cadmus she rejoiced, in secret, for she visited her rage on all Europa's kindred. Now a fresh occasion has been added to her grief, and wild with jealousy of Semele, her tongue as ever ready to her rage, lets loose a torrent of abuse; “Away! Away with words! Why should I speak of it? Let me attack her! Let me spoil that jade! Am I not Juno the supreme of Heaven? Queen of the flashing scepter? Am I not sister and wife of Jove omnipotent? She even wishes to be known by him a mother of a Deity, a joy almost denied to me! Great confidence has she in her great beauty – nevertheless, I shall so weave the web the bolt of Jove would fail to save her.—Let the Gods deny that I am Saturn's daughter, if her shade descend not stricken to the Stygian wave.”

[273] She rose up quickly from her shining throne, and hidden in a cloud of fiery hue descended to the home of Semele; and while encompassed by the cloud, transformed her whole appearance as to counterfeit old Beroe, an Epidaurian nurse, who tended Semele. Her tresses changed to grey, her smooth skin wrinkled and her step grown feeble as she moved with trembling limbs;—her voice was quavering as an ancient dame's, as Juno, thus disguised, began to talk to Semele. When presently the name of Jove was mentioned—artful Juno thus; (doubtful that Jupiter could be her love)—“When Jove appears to pledge his love to you, implore him to assume his majesty and all his glory, even as he does in presence of his stately Juno—Yea, implore him to caress you as a God.”

[287] With artful words as these the goddess worked upon the trusting mind of Semele, daughter of Cadmus, till she begged of Jove a boon, that only hastened her sad death; for Jove not knowing her design replied, “Whatever thy wish, it shall not be denied, and that thy heart shall suffer no distrust, I pledge me by that Deity, the Waves of the deep Stygian Lake,—oath of the Gods.” All overjoyed at her misfortune, proud that she prevailed, and pleased that she secured of him a promise, that could only cause her own disaster, Semele addressed almighty Jove; “Come unto me in all the splendour of thy glory, as thy might is shown to Juno, goddess of the skies.” Fain would he stifle her disastrous tongue; before he knew her quest the words were said; and, knowing that his greatest oath was pledged, he sadly mounted to the lofty skies, and by his potent nod assembled there the deep clouds: and the rain began to pour, and thunder-bolts resounded. But he strove to mitigate his power, and armed him not with flames overwhelming as had put to flight his hundred-handed foe Typhoeus—flames too dreadful. Other thunder-bolts he took, forged by the Cyclops of a milder heat, with which insignia of his majesty, sad and reluctant, he appeared to her.—her mortal form could not endure the shock and she was burned to ashes in his sight. An unformed babe was rescued from her side, and, nurtured in the thigh of Jupiter, completed Nature's time until his birth. Ino, his aunt, in secret nursed the boy and cradled him. And him Nyseian nymphs concealed in caves and fed with needful milk.

[316] While these events according to the laws of destiny occurred, and while the child, the twice-born Bacchus, in his cradle lay, 'Tis told that Jupiter, a careless hour, indulged too freely in the nectar cup; and having laid aside all weighty cares, jested with Juno as she idled by. Freely the god began; “Who doubts the truth? The female's pleasure is a great delight, much greater than the pleasure of a male.” Juno denied it; wherefore 'twas agreed to ask Tiresias to declare the truth, than whom none knew both male and female joys: for wandering in a green wood he had seen two serpents coupling; and he took his staff and sharply struck them, till they broke and fled. 'Tis marvelous, that instant he became a woman from a man, and so remained while seven autumns passed. When eight were told, again he saw them in their former plight, and thus he spoke; “Since such a power was wrought, by one stroke of a staff my sex was changed—again I strike!” And even as he struck the same two snakes, his former sex returned; his manhood was restored.—as both agreed to choose him umpire of the sportive strife, he gave decision in support of Jove; from this the disappointment Juno felt surpassed all reason, and enraged, decreed eternal night should seal Tiresias' eyes.—immortal Deities may never turn decrees and deeds of other Gods to naught, but Jove, to recompense his loss of sight, endowed him with the gift of prophecy.

[359] Once a noisy Nymph, (who never held her tongue when others spoke, who never spoke till others had begun) mocking Echo, spied him as he drove, in his delusive nets, some timid stags.—For Echo was a Nymph, in olden time,—and, more than vapid sound,—possessed a form: and she was then deprived the use of speech, except to babble and repeat the words, once spoken, over and over. Juno confused her silly tongue, because she often held that glorious goddess with her endless tales, till many a hapless Nymph, from Jove's embrace, had made escape adown a mountain. But for this, the goddess might have caught them. Thus the glorious Juno, when she knew her guile; “Your tongue, so freely wagged at my expense, shall be of little use; your endless voice, much shorter than your tongue.” At once the Nymph was stricken as the goddess had decreed;—and, ever since, she only mocks the sounds of others' voices, or, perchance, returns their final words.

OVID, METAMORPHOSES, Book 4, translated by BROOKES MORE

[416] Throughout the land of Thebes miraculous the power of Bacchus waxed; and far and wide Ino, his aunt, reported the great deeds by this divinity performed. Of all her sisters only she escaped unharmed, when Fate destroyed them, and she knew not grief—only for sorrow of her sisters' woes.—While Ino vaunted of her mother-joys, and of her kingly husband, Athamas, and of the mighty God, her foster-child; Juno, disdaining her in secret, said; “How shall the offspring of a concubine transform Maeonian mariners, overwhelm them in the ocean, sacrifice a son to his deluded mother, who insane, tears out his entrails; how shall he invent wings for three daughters of King Minyas, while Juno unavenged, bewails despite?—Is it the end? the utmost of my power? His deeds instruct the way; true wisdom heeds an enemy's device; by the strange death of Pentheus, all that madness could perform was well revealed to all; what then denies a frenzy may unravel Ino's course to such a fate as wrought her sisters' woe?”

[432] A shelving path in shadows of sad yew through utter silence to the deep descends, infernal, where the languid Styx exhales vapours; and there the shadows of the dead, descend, after they leave their sacred urns, and ghostly forms invade: and far and wide, those dreary regions Horror and bleak Cold obtain. The ghosts, arrived, not know the way,—which leadeth to the Stygian city-gates,—not know the melancholy palace where the swarthy Pluto stays, though streets and ways a thousand to that city lead, and gates out-swing from every side: and as the sea with never-seen increase engulfs the streams unnumbered of the world, that realm enfolds the souls of men, nor ever is it filled. Around the shadowy spirits go; bloodless boneless and bodiless; they throng the place of judgment, or they haunt the mansion where abides the Utmost Tyrant, or they tend to various callings, as their whilom way;—appropriate punishment confines to pain the multitude condemned.

[447] To this abode, impelled by rage and hate, from habitation celestial, Juno, of Saturn born, descends, submissive to its dreadful element. No sooner had she entered the sad gates, than groans were uttered by the threshold, pressed by her immortal form, and Cerberus upraising his three-visaged mouths gave vent to triple-barking howls.—She called to her the sisters, Night-begot, implacable, terrific Furies. They did sit before the prison portals, adamant confined, combing black vipers from their horrid hair. When her amid the night-surrounding shades they recognized, those Deities uprose. O dread confines! dark seat of wretched vice! Where stretched athwart nine acres, Tityus, must thou endure thine entrails to be torn! O Tantalus, thou canst not touch the wave, and from thy clutch the hanging branches rise! O Sisyphus, thou canst not stay the stone, catching or pushing, it must fall again! O thou Ixion! whirled around, around, thyself must follow to escape thyself! And, O Belides, (plotter of sad death upon thy cousins) thou art always doomed to dip forever ever-spilling waves!

[464] When that the daughter of Saturnus fixed a stern look on those wretches, first her glance arrested on Ixion; but the next on Sisyphus; and thus the goddess spoke;—“For why should he alone of all his kin suffer eternal doom, while Athamas, luxurious in a sumptuous palace reigns; and, haughty with his wife, despises me.” So grieved she, and expressed the rage of hate that such descent inspired, beseeching thus, no longer should the House of Cadmus stand, so that the sister Furies plunge in crime overweening Athamas.—Entreating them, she mingled promises with her commands.– When Juno ended speech, Tisiphone, whose locks entangled are not ever smooth, tossed them around, that backward from her face such crawling snakes were thrown;—then answered she: “Since what thy will decrees may well be done, why need we to consult with many words? Leave thou this hateful region and convey thyself, contented, to a better realm.” Rejoicing Juno hastens to the clouds—before she enters her celestial home, Iris, the child of Thaumas, purifies her limbs in sprinkled water.

[481] Waiting not, Tisiphone, revengeful, takes a torch;—besmeared with blood, and vested in a robe, dripping with crimson gore, and twisting-snakes engirdled, she departs her dire abode—with twitching Madness, Terror, Fear and Woe: and when she had arrived the destined house, the door-posts shrank from her, the maple doors turned ashen grey: the Sun amazed fled. Affrighted, Athamas and Ino viewed and fled these prodigies; but suddenly that baneful Fury stood across the way, blocking the passage – There she stands with arms extended, and alive with twisting vipers.—She shakes her hair; the moving serpents hiss; they cling upon her shoulders, and they glide around her temples, dart their fangs, and vomit corruption.—Plucking from the midst two snakes, she hurls them with her pestilential hand upon her victims, Athamas and Ino, whom, although the vipers strike upon their breasts, no injury attacks their mortal parts;—only their minds are stricken with wild rage, inciting to mad violence and crime. And with a monstrous composite of foam—once gathered from the mouth of Cerberus, the venom of Echidna, purposeless aberrances, crimes, tears, hatred—the lust of homicide, and the dark vapourings of foolish brains; a liquid poison, mixed, and mingled with fresh blood, in hollow brass, and boiled, and stirred up with a slip of hemlock—she took of it, and as they trembled, threw that mad-mixed poison on them; and it scorched their inmost vitals—and she waved her torch repeatedly, within a circle's rim—and added flame to flame.—Then, confident of having executed her commands, the Fury hastened to the void expanse where Pluto reigns, and swiftly put aside the serpents that were wreathed around her robes.

[512] At once, the son of Aeolus, enraged, shouts loudly in his palace; “Ho, my lads! Spread out your nets! a savage lioness and her twin whelps are lurking in the wood;—behold them!” In his madness he believes his wife a savage beast. He follows her, and quickly from her bosom snatches up her smiling babe, Learchus, holding forth his tiny arms, and whirls him in the air, times twice and thrice, as whirls the whizzing sling, and dashes him in pieces on the rocks; – cracking his infant bones. The mother, roused to frenzy (who can tell if grief the cause, or fires of scattered poison?) yells aloud, and with her torn hair tangled, running mad, she carries swiftly in her clutching arms, her little Melicerta! and begins to shout, “Evoe, Bacche!”—Juno hears the shouted name of Bacchus, and she laughs, and taunts her;—“Let thy foster-child award!” There is a crag, out-jutting on the deep, worn hollow at the base by many waves, where not the rain may ripple on that pool;—high up the rugged summit overhangs its ragged brows above the open sea: there, Ino climbs with frenzy-given strength, and fearless, with her burden in her arms, leaps in the waves where whitening foams arise.

[581] Venus takes pity on her guiltless child, unfortunate grand-daughter, and begins to soothe her uncle Neptune with these words;—“O Neptune, ruler of the deep, to whom, next to the Power in Heaven, was given sway, consider my request! Open thy heart to my descendants, which thine eyes behold, tossed on the wild Ionian Sea! I do implore thee, remember they are thy true Deities—are thine as well as mine—for it is known my birth was from the white foam of thy sea;—a truth made certain by my Grecian name.” Neptune regards her prayer: he takes from them their mortal dross: he clothes in majesty, and hallows their appearance. Even their names and forms are altered; Melicerta, changed, is now Palaemon called, and Ino, changed, Leucothoe called, are known as Deities. When her Sidonian attendants traced fresh footprints to the last verge of the rock, and found no further vestige, they declared her dead, nor had they any doubt of it. They tore their garments and their hair—and wailed the House of Cadmus—and they cursed at Juno, for the sad fate of the wretched concubine. That goddess could no longer brook their words, and thus made answer, “I will make of you eternal monuments of my revenge!”

[543] Her words were instantly confirmed—The one whose love for Ino was the greatest, cried; “Into the deep; look—look—I seek my queen.” But even as she tried to leap, she stood fast-rooted to the ever-living rock; another, as she tried to beat her breast with blows repeated, noticed that her arms grew stiff and hard; another, as by chance, was petrified with hands stretched over the waves: another could be seen, as suddenly her fingers hardened, clutching at her hair to tear it from the roots.—And each remained forever in the posture first assumed.—But others of those women, sprung from Cadmus, were changed to birds, that always with wide wings skim lightly the dark surface of that sea.

OVID, METAMORPHOSES, Book 6, translated by BROOKES MORE

[83] And, so Arachne, rival of her fame, might learn the folly of her mad attempt, from the great deeds of ancient histories, and what award presumption must expect, Minerva wove four corners with life scenes of contest, brightly colored, but of size diminutive. In one of these was shown the snow-clad mountains, Rhodope, and Haemus, which for punishment were changed from human beings to those rigid forms, when they aspired to rival the high Gods. And in another corner she described that Pygmy, whom the angry Juno changed from queen-ship to a crane; because she thought herself an equal of the living Gods, she was commanded to wage cruel wars upon her former subjects. In the third, she wove the story of Antigone, who dared compare herself to Juno, queen of Jupiter, and showed her as she was transformed into a silly chattering stork, that praised her beauty, with her ugly beak.—Despite the powers of Ilion and her sire Laomedon, her shoulders fledged white wings.

[333] She whom once the royal Juno drove away to wander a harsh world, alone permits this altar to be used: that goddess whom the wandering Isle of Delos, at the time it drifted as the foam, almost refused a refuge. There Latona, as she leaned against a palm-tree—and against the tree most sacred to Minerva, brought forth twins, although their harsh step-mother, Juno, strove to interfere.—And from the island forced to fly by jealous Juno, on her breast she bore her children, twin Divinities.

OVID, METAMORPHOSES, Book 7, translated by BROOKES MORE

[517] Aeacus then groaned and with sad voice replied: “With weeping we began, but better fortune followed. Would that I could tell the last of it, and not the first! Giving my heart command that simple words and briefly spoken may not long detain. Those happy youths who waited at your need, who smiled upon you and for whom you ask, because their absence grieves your noble mind, they've perished! and their bleaching bones or scattered ashes, only may remain, sad remnants, impotent, of vanished power, so recently my hope and my resource. Because this island[Aegina] bears a rival's name, a deadly pestilence was visited on my confiding people, through the rage of jealous Juno flaming for revenge. This great calamity at first appeared a natural disease—but soon its power baffled our utmost efforts.

OVID, METAMORPHOSES, Book 8, translated by BROOKES MORE

[220] Upon the left they passed by Samos, Juno's sacred isle...

OVID, METAMORPHOSES, Book 9, translated by BROOKES MORE

[19] He[Heracles] boasted his descent from Jupiter; the glory of his labors and great deeds performed at his unjust stepmother's wish. But as he was not then a God, it seemed disgraceful if my state should yield my right; so I contended with these haughty words, `Why should this alien of a foreign land, contending for your daughter, match himself to me! king of the waters in this realm! For as I wind around, across your lands, I must be of your people, and a part of your great state. Oh, let it not be said, because the jealous Juno had no thought to punish me by labors, my descent is not so regal!

[251] And therefore, since his earth-life is now lost, him I'll translate, unshackled from all dross, and purified, to our celestial shore. I trust this action seems agreeable to all the Deities surrounding me. If any jealous god of heaven should grieve at the divinity of Hercules, he may begrudge the prize but he will know at least 'twas given him deservedly, and with this thought he must approve the deed.” The Gods confirmed it: and though Juno seemed to be contented and to acquiesce, her deep vexation was not wholly hid, when Jupiter with his concluding words so plainly hinted at her jealous mind.

[304] And there was present of the common class, my maid Galanthis—with her red-gold hair—efficient and most willing to obey her worthy character deserved my love. She felt assured, Juno unjustly worked some spell of strong effect against my life. And when this maid beheld Lucina perched so strangely on the altar, with her fingers inwoven on her knees and tightly pressed together, in a gripping finger-comb, she guessed that jealous Juno was the cause. Quick-witted, in a ringing voice this maid cried out, `Congratulations! All is well! Alcmena is delivered—a fine child so safely brought forth—her true prayers approved!’ Lucina, who presides at birth, surprised leaped up, unclenched her hands, as one amazed.

OVID, METAMORPHOSES, Book 11, translated by BROOKES MORE

[573] Meanwhile, Halcyone, all unaware of his sad wreck, counts off the passing nights and hastens to prepare for him his clothes that he may wear as soon as he returns to her; and she is choosing what to wear herself, and vainly promises his safe return—all this indeed, while she in hallowed prayer is giving frankincense to please the gods: and first of loving adorations, she paid at the shrine of Juno. There she prayed for Ceyx—after he had suffered death, that he might journey safely and return and might love her above all other women, this one last prayer alone was granted to her but Juno could not long accept as hers these supplications on behalf of one then dead; and that she might persuade Halcyone to turn her death-polluted hands away from hallowed altars, Juno said in haste, “O, Iris, best of all my messengers, go quickly to the dreadful court of Sleep, and in my name command him to despatch a dream in the shape of Ceyx, who is dead, and tell Halcyone the woeful truth.” So she commanded.—Iris instantly assumed a garment of a thousand tints; and as she marked the high skies with her arch, went swiftly thence as ordered, to the place where Sleep was then concealed beneath a rock...

[616] As soon as Iris entered that dread gloom, she pushed aside the visions in her way with her fair glowing hands; and instantly, that sacred cavern of the god of Sleep was all illuminated with the glow and splendor of her garment.—Out of himself the god with difficulty lifted up his lanquid eyes. From this small sign of life relapsing many times to languid sloth, while nodding, with his chin he struck his breast again and again. At last he roused himself from gloom and slumber; and, while raised upon his elbow, he enquired of Iris why she came to him.—He knew her by her name. She answered him, “O, Sleep, divine repose of all things! Gentlest of the deities! Peace to the troubled mind, from which you drive the cares of life, restorer of men's strength when wearied with the toils of day, command a vision that shall seem the actual form of royal Ceyx to visit Trachin famed for Hercules and tell Halcyone his death by shipwreck. It is Juno's wish.” Iris departed after this was said. For she no longer could endure the effect of slumber-vapor; and as soon as she knew sleep was creeping over her tired limbs she flew from there—and she departed by the rainbow, over which she came before.

OVID, METAMORPHOSES, Book 15, translated by BROOKES MORE

[163] can declare, for I remember well, that in the days of the great Trojan War, I was Euphorbus, son of Panthous. In my opposing breast was planted then the heavy spear-point of the younger son of Atreus. Not long past I recognised the shield, once burden of my left arm, where it hung in Juno's temple at ancient Argos, the realm of Abas. Everything must change: but nothing perishes.

[699] So wafted by the favoring winds, they came in six days to the shores of Italy. There he was borne past the Lacinian Cape, ennobled by the goddess Juno's shrine, and Scylacean coasts.

PAUSANIAS, DESCRIPTION OF GREECE, Book 2, translated by W. H. S. JONES

[2.15.4] Ascending to Tretus, and again going along the road to Argos, you see on the left the ruins of Mycenae. The Greeks are aware that the founder of Mycenae was Perseus, so I will narrate the cause of its foundation and the reason why the Argives afterwards laid Mycenae waste. The oldest tradition in the region now called Argolis is that when Inachus was king he named the river after himself and sacrificed to Hera.

[2.15.5] There is also another legend which says that Phoroneus was the first inhabitant of this land, and that Inachus, the father of Phoroneus, was not a man but the river. This river, with the rivers Cephisus and Asterion, judged concerning the land between Poseidon and Hera. They decided that the land belonged to Hera, and so Poseidon made their waters disappear. For this reason neither Inachus nor either of the other rivers I have mentioned provides any water except after rain.

[2.17.1] XVII. Fifteen stades distant from Mycenae is on the left the Heraeum. Beside the road flows the brook called Water of Freedom. The priestesses use it in purifications and for such sacrifices as are secret. The sanctuary itself is on a lower part of Euboea. Euboea is the name they give to the hill here, saying that Asterion the river had three daughters, Euboea, Prosymna, and Acraea, and that they were nurses of Hera.

[2.17.2] The hill opposite the Heraeum they name after Acraea, the environs of the sanctuary they name after Euboea, and the land beneath the Heraeum after Prosymna. This Asterion flows above the Heraeum, and falling into a cleft disappears. On its banks grows a plant, which also is called asterion. They offer the plant itself to Hera, and from its leaves weave her garlands.

[2.17.3] It is said that the architect of the temple was Eupolemus, an Argive. The sculptures carved above the pillars refer either to the birth of Zeus and the battle between the gods and the giants, or to the Trojan war and the capture of Ilium. Before the entrance stand statues of women who have been priestesses to Hera and of various heroes, including Orestes. They say that Orestes is the one with the inscription, that it represents the Emperor Augustus. In the fore-temple are on the one side ancient statues of the Graces, and on the right a couch of Hera and a votive offering, the shield which Menelaus once took from Euphorbus at Troy.

[2.17.4] The statue of Hera is seated on a throne; it is huge, made of gold and ivory, and is a work of Polycleitus. She is wearing a crown with Graces and Seasons worked upon it, and in one hand she carries a pomegranate and in the other a sceptre. About the pomegranate I must say nothing, for its story is somewhat of a holy mystery. The presence of a cuckoo seated on the sceptre they explain by the story that when Zeus was in love with Hera in her maidenhood he changed himself into this bird, and she caught it to be her pet. This tale and similar legends about the gods I relate without believing them, but I relate them nevertheless.

[2.17.5] By the side of Hera stands what is said to be an image of Hebe fashioned by Naucydes; it, too, is of ivory and gold. By its side is an old image of Hera on a pillar. The oldest image is made of wild-pear wood, and was dedicated in Tiryns by Peirasus, son of Argus, and when the Argives destroyed Tiryns they carried it away to the Heraeum. I myself saw it, a small, seated image.

[2.17.6] Of the votive offerings the following are noteworthy. There is an altar upon which is wrought in relief the fabled marriage of Hebe and Heracles. This is of silver, but the peacock dedicated by the Emperor Hadrian is of gold and gleaming stones. He dedicated it because they hold the bird to be sacred to Hera. There lie here a golden crown and a purple robe, offerings of Nero.

[2.17.7] Above this temple are the foundations of the earlier temple and such parts of it as were spared by the flames. It was burnt down because sleep overpowered Chryseis, the priestess of Hera, when the lamp before the wreaths set fire to them. Chryseis went to Tegea and supplicated Athena Alea. Although so great a disaster had befallen them the Argives did not take down the statue of Chryseis; it is still in position in front of the burnt temple.

[2.22.4] Here is a sanctuary of Poseidon, surnamed Prosclystius (Flooder), for they say that Poseidon inundated the greater part of the country because Inachus and his assessors decided that the land belonged to Hera and not to him. Now it was Hera who induced Poseidon to send the sea back, but the Argives made a sanctuary to Poseidon Prosclystius at the spot where the tide ebbed.

[2.25.10] On the straight road to Epidaurus is a village Lessa, in which is a temple of Athena with a wooden image exactly like the one on the citadel Larisa. Above Lessa is Mount Arachnaeus, which long ago, in the time of Inachus, was named Sapyselaton. On it are altars to Zeus and Hera. When rain is needed they sacrifice to them here.

[2.38.2] Fifty stades, I conjecture, from Temenium is Nauplia, which at the present day is uninhabited; its founder was Nauplius, reputed to be a son of Poseidon and Amymone. Of the walls, too, ruins still remain and in Nauplia are a sanctuary of Poseidon, harbors, and a spring called Canathus. Here, say the Argives, Hera bathes every year and recovers her maidenhood.

PAUSANIAS, DESCRIPTION OF GREECE, Book 10, translated by W. H. S. JONES

[10.30.1] XXX. Next Polygnotus has painted the daughters of Pandareos. Homer makes Penelope say in a speech that the parents of the maidens died because of the wrath of the gods, that they were reared as orphans by Aphrodite and received gifts from other goddesses: from Hera wisdom and beauty of form, from Artemis high stature, from Athena schooling in the works that befit women.

SENECA, AGAMEMNON, translated by F. J. MILLER

[348] Thou, too, be near, who as wife and sister sharest the sceptre’s might, Juno the royal! We, thy chosen band, in Mycenae adore thee. Thou art the sole protector of Argos that calls on thee with anxious prayers; thou in thy hand holdest war and peace. Accept now the laurels of Agamemnon, victorious goddess.

SENECA, HERCULES OETAEUES, translated by F. J. MILLER

HERCULES - [63] But what avails it to have freed the race of men from fear? Now have the gods no peace; the freed earth sees in the sky all creatures which she feared; for there hath Juno set them. The crab I slew goes round the torrid zone, is known as Libya’s constellation, and matures her grain; the lion to Astraea gives the flying year; but he, his burning mane upon his neck back tossing, dries up the dripping south-wind and devours the clouds. Behold, now has every beast invaded heaven, forestalling me; through victor, I gaze upon my labours from the earth; for to monsters first and to wild beasts has Juno given stars, that to me she might make the sky a place of dread. Yet, though in her rage she scatter them o’er the sky, though she make heaven worse than earth, yea, worse than Styx, to Alcides shall room be given. If after beasts, after wars, after the Stygian dog, I have not yet earned the stars, let Sicilian Pelorus touch the Hesperian shore, and they both shall become one land; thence will I put seas to flight.

STATIUS, THEBAID, Book 5, translated by J. H. MOZLEY

[445] “So once more Venus and Love try with their secret fires the fierce hearts of the Lemnian women. Then royal Juno instils into their minds the image of the heroes’ arms and raiment, and their signs of noble race, and all fling open their doors in emulous welcome to the strangers. Then first were fires lit on the altars, and unspeakable cares were forgotten, then came feasting and happy sleep and tranquil nights, nor without heaven’s will, I ween, did they find favour, when they confessed their crime.

STATIUS, THEBAID, Book 9, translated by J. H. MOZLEY

[505] And now the tortuous flood surrounds the shoulders, now the neck of the warrior; compelled at last to confess despair he exclaims: “For shame! great Mars! wilt thou drown this life of mine in a river? Must I then sink beneath sluggish lakes and meres like a shepherd caught in the cruel waters of a sudden torrent? Have I verily not deserved to fall by the sword?” Moved by his prayers Juno at length accosts the Thunderer: “How long, glorious sire of gods, how long wilt thou press the hapless sons of Inachus? Already Pallas holds Tydeus in detestation, already Delphi is silent, its prophet slain; lo! my Hippomedon, whose home is Argos and Mycenae the cradle of his race, who worships Juno before all other gods – is it thus I am faithful to my own? – shall my Hippomedon go to feed the cruel monsters of the deep? Surely thou didst once allow the conquered to have the last rites of the tomb? Where are the flames that followed the Cecropian fray? Where is Theseus’ fire?” He spurns not his consort’s righteous plea, but lightly glanced towards Cadmus’ walls: the waters beheld his nod and sank to rest. The shoulders and breast of the hero are revealed, those drained of blood, that pierced with wounds: as when a stormy sea, made mountainous by the winds, abates, the rocks and the land the sailors sought for rise into view, and the waters subside from the threatening crags.

[526] What avails it to have gained the bank? The Phoenican host presses him on every side with a storm of darts, his limbs are without covering, all exposed is he to death; then his wounds stream, and the blood that was staunched beneath the waters flows in the open air and breaks the tender apertures of the veins, and the cold of the river makes him reel and stagger in his gait. He falls...

STATIUS, THEBAID, Book 10, translated by J. H. MOZLEY

[49] But far away a suppliant train of Pelopean dames, prostrate before their native altars and on the threshold of the Argolic fane, implore the help of sceptred Juno and the return of their loved ones, and press their faces to the cold stones and painted doors, and teach their little children to kneel. The day was already spent in entreaties: night comes and adds its cares, and the altars keep vigil with high-piled fires. They bear too a gift in a basket, a robe whose marvellous texture no hand of childless wife nor of any parted from her husband had wrought, a garment full worthy of the chaste goddess: thereon was much purple, gaily embroidered in manifold design and blazing with interwoven gold. She herself was there, promised in marriage to the great Thunderer, but not yet a bride and timidly putting off her sisterhood; with downcast eyes she kisses the youthful Jupiter, a simple maid, nor yet offended by the secret loves of her husband. With this robe the Argive matrons at that time veiled the sacred ivory image, and with tears and supplications made their prayer: “Look upon the sacrilegious towers of the Cadmean harlot, O Queen of the starry pole, shatter that rebel hill, and hurl – for thou canst – another thunderbolt against Thebes.” What can she doe? She knows the Fates are adverse to her Grecians, and Jove’s favour is turned away, but she would that such prayers and gifts were not wasted; nevertheless, a ready chance gave occasion for potent aid. From lofty heaven she sees the city-gates closed and the rampart guarded by sleepless sentinels; the stings of anger thrilled her frame, and stirred her hair and shook the awful diadem: no more fiercely did she rage, when alone in heaven she felt wrath against Alcmene for her offspring and for the Thunderer’s twofold adultery. Therefore she determines to make the Aonians, sunk in the timeless bliss of slumber, a prey to death, and bids her own Iris gird herself with her wonted circles, and commits to her all her task. Obedient to command, the bright goddess leaves the pole and wings her way down her long arc to earth.

[118] Hither from the blue sky came in balanced flight the varicoloured maid; the forests shine out, and the shady glens smile upon the goddess, and smitten with her zones of radiance the palace stars from its sleep; but he himself, awoken neither by the bright glow nor by the sound or voice of the goddess, lay motionless as ever, till the Thaumantian shot at him all her splendours and sank deep into his drowsy vision. Then thus began to speak the golden fashioner of clouds: “Sleep, gentlest of the gods, Juno bids thee bind fast the Sidonian leaders and the folk of ruthless Cadmus, who now, puffed up by the issue of the fight, are watching in ceaseless vigil the Achaean rampart, and refuse thy sway. Grant so solemn a request – rarely is this opportunity vouchsafed, to win the favour of Jove with Juno on thy side.” She spoke, and with her hand beat upon his languid breast, and charged him again and yet again, lest her message be lost. He with his own nodding visage nods assent to the goddess’ command; o’erweighted with the caverns’ gloom Iris goes forth, and tricks out her beams, made dim by showers of rain.

STATIUS, THEBAID, Book 11, translated by J. H. MOZLEY

[205] The Tyrian chieftain was offering in vain to Jove the sacrifice that his lightning stroke had won, thinking that the Danaans were disarmed. But neither the celestial sire nor any of the gods were at his altars, but baneful Tisiphone mingling with the affrighted attendants stands near, and to the infernal Thunderer turned aside his prayers. “Supreme of gods, to whom my Thebes owes its origin – though accursed Argos and angry Juno be jealous – since thou as a ravisher didst break up the revels on the Sidonian shore, and deign to bear on thy back a maiden of our race and to utter feigned lowings over the tranquil seas!

STATIUS, THEBAID, Book 12, translated by J. H. MOZLEY

[130] Hecate beheld them from her Lycean groves and bore them tearful company, and as they approached the double shore the Theban mother lamented from her Isthmian tomb; the Eleusinian, though sorrowing for herself, wept for the night-wandering multitude, and showed her mystic fires to guide their errant course. The Saturnian[Hera] herself leads their going, lest her own folk should meet them and forbid them passage, and the glory of their great enterprise be lost. Moreover, Iris is bidden cherish the dead bodies of the princes, and laves their decaying limbs with mysterious dews and ambrosial juices, that they may resist the longer and await the pyre, nor perish before the flames have seized them.

[278] Her faithful supporter warns the distracted dame to remember Creon and keep low her torch in stealthy hiding. She who of late was feared as queen throughout Argive cities, the ambitious hope of suitors and sacred promise of her race, through all the terrors of the night, without a guide and in the presence of the foe, goes on alone, o’er obstacles of arms, o’er grass all slippery with gore, trembling not at the gloom nor at troops of spirits hovering around or ghosts bewailing their own limbs, oft treading blindly but unheeding on swords and weapons; she labours but to avoid the fallen, and thinks every corpse the one she seeks, while with keen glance she searches the slain, and bending down turns bodies on their backs, and complains to the stars that they give not light enough.

[291] By chance Juno, stealing herself from the bosom of her mighty lord, was faring through the slumberous darkness of the sky to Theseus’ walls, that she might move Pallas to yield and Athens to give gracious welcome to the pious suppliants; and when from the height of heaven she beheld the innocent Argia exhausted by fruitless wandering o’er the plain, she was grieved at the sight, and encountering the lunar team she faced them and spoke thus with calm accents: “Grant me a little boon, O Cynthia, if Juno can command respect; ‘tis true that Jove’s bidding, thou shameless one, that threefold night when Hercules – but I will let old quarrels be; now canst thou do me a service. Argia, daughter of Inachus, my favourite votary – seest thou in what a night she roams, nor with failing strength can find her spouse in the thick darkness? Thy beams too are faint with shrouding vapour; show forth thy horns, I pray thee, and let thy orbit approach the earth nearer than is thy wont. This Sleep, too, who leaning forward plies for thee thy humid chariot-reins, send him upon the Aonian watchmen.” Scarce had she spoken, when the goddess cleft the clouds and displayed her mighty orb; the shadows started in terror, and the stars were shorn of their radiance; scarce did Saturnia herself endure the brightness

[464] But far away Juno leads the distraught Phoronean dames – herself no less distraught – to the walls of Athens, having gained at last the goodwill of Pallas, and goes before them on the road; she gives the train of mourners favour in the people’s sight and inspires reverence for their tears. With her own hand she gives them boughs of olive and supplicating fillets, and teaches them to hide their faces in their robes and bear before them urns untenanted by the dead.

THEOCRITIUS, IDYLLS, IDYLL 24, translated by J. M. EDMONDS

[11] But what time the Bear swings low towards her midnight place over against the uplifted shoulder of mighty Orion, then sent the wily Hera two dire monsters of serpents, bridling and bristling and with azure coils, to go upon the broad threshold of the hollow doorway of the house, with intent they should devour the child Heracles.

SCHOLIA IN THEOCRITIUM, IDYLLS, IDYLL 15

θ4. πάντα γυναῖκες ἴσαντι: (ἴσασι) ὅπως ὁ Ζεὺς τῇ ΚΟυΕΑΒΡ

Ἥρα λάϑρα συνῆλϑεν. Ὅμηρος ( 296) “εἰς εὐνὴν φοιτῶντε φίλους λήϑοντο τοκῆας. ᾿Αριστοκλῆς (ἔρια. ὅ Μυ6116Υ Ερν. λιἰδί. σγ. 1 880) δὲ ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν “Ἑρμιόνης ἱερῶν ἰδιωτέρως

6 ἱστορεῖ περὶ τοῦ Διὸς καὶ [τοῦ τῆς] Ἥρας γάμου. τὸν γὰρ Δία μυϑολογεῖται ἐπιβουλεύειν τῇ Ἥρα μιγῆναι, ὅτε αὐτὴν ἴδοι χω- οιἰσϑεῖσαν ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων ϑεῶν. βουλόμενος δὲ ἀφανὴς γενέσϑαι καὶ μὴ ὀφϑῆναι ὑπ᾽ αὐτῆς τὴν ὄψιν μεταβάλλει εἰς κόκκυγα καὶ καϑέξεται εἰς ὄρος, ὃ πρῶτον μὲν Θόρναξ ἐκαλεῖτο, νῦν δὲ

10 Κόκκυξ. τὸν δὲ Δία χειμῶνα δεινὸν ποιῆσαι τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ" τὴν δὲ Ἥραν πορευομένην μόνην ἀφικέσϑαι πρὸς τὸ ὅρος καὶ καϑέξεσϑαι εἰς αὐτό, ὕπου νῦν ἐστιν ἱερὸν Ἥρας τελείας. τὸν δὲ κόκκυγα ἰδόντα καταπετασϑῆναι καὶ καϑεσϑῆναι ἐπὶ τὰ γόνατα αὐτῆς πεφρικότα καὶ διγῶντα ὑπὸ τοῦ χειμῶνος. τὴν

16 δὲ Ἥραν ἰδοῦσαν αὐτὸν οἰκτεῖραι καὶ περιβαλεῖν τῇ ἀμπεχόνῃ. τὸν δὲ Δία εὐθέως μεταβαλεῖν τὴν ὄψιν καὶ ἐπιλαβέσϑαι τῆς Ἥρας. τῆς δὲ τὴν μίξιν παραιτουμένης διὰ τὴν μητέρα, αὐτὸν ὑποσχέσϑαι γυναῖκα αὐτὴν ποιήσασϑαι. καὶ παρ᾽ ᾿Αργείοις δέ, οἱ μέγιστα τῶν “Ἑλλήνων τιμῶσι τὴν ϑεόν, τὸ [δὲ] ἄγαλμα

Translation:

“All women know how Zeus secretly lay with Hera.

Homer says: ‘Going to the bed, they escaped the notice of their dear parents.’

Aristocles, in his work On the Sacred Rites of Hermione, recounts in more detail the marriage of Zeus and Hera.

For Zeus, as the story goes, was plotting to have intercourse with Hera when he saw her separated from the other gods. Wishing to become unseen and not be recognized by her, he changed his appearance into a cuckoo and settled on a mountain, which was formerly called Thornax, but is now called Cuckoo. Zeus then caused a violent storm on that day. Hera, traveling alone, came to the mountain and sat down there, where now stands a sanctuary of Hera Teleia (‘Hera the Fulfilled/Married’). When she saw the cuckoo, it flew down and settled upon her knees, shivering and chilled by the storm. Hera, seeing it, felt pity and wrapped it in her cloak. Zeus immediately changed his form and seized Hera. But since she refused union because of her mother, he promised that he would make her his wife.

And among the Argives also, who honor the goddess most of all the Greeks, the image [of Hera…] …”

VALERIUS FLACCUS, ARGONAUTICA, Book 1, translated by J. H. MOZLEY

[64] Soon was his secret guile laid bare, and it was plain to Jason that the king cared nought for the fleece, but that by his hate alone he himself was driven forth to the terrible seas. Yet how to obey? how to set out in quest of Colchis? Had he but Perseus’ winged sandals now or the car and the fabled teams of dragons of him who first set the mark of the ploughshares upon lands that knew not Ceres, and preferred the golden ear to the acorn. Alas! what is he to do? Shall he summon to his aid a fickle populace, already girding at their aged lord, and the elders that long since have pitied Aeson? Or shall he trust rather to the aid of Juno and Pallas of the ringing armour, and launch forth at the king’s command, if haply, the sea subdued, some renown could arise from so great a task? Thou, Glory, thou alone doest fire man’s hearts and minds! thee he beholds fresh, untouched by time, standing upon the shore of Phasis, calling to the young heroes. At last his trust in heaven gives strength to his doubting, troubled heart, and raising his hands devoutly to the stars:

[81] “Almighty Queen,” he[Jason] says, “whom when turbulent Jove was brandishing a murky tempest in the darkened sky, I bore on my own shoulders across Enipeus swollen by the storms of rain, away to the fields and safety, and could scarce believe thou wert a goddess, until I beheld how thou wast summoned back by the sound of thunder and thy husband’s beck, and rapt away in sudden and fearful wise, O grant me to reach Scythia and Phasis; and thou, virgin Pallas, save me! Then with my own hands will I offer that fleece in your temples; my father too shall offer up victims with gilded horns upon the fire, and snow-white herds shall stand round about the altars.”

[91] The goddesses hearkened, and moving swift through the air went upon their different ways. To the walls of Thespiae and her well-loved Argus Pallas flies lightly down; she bids him labour to fashion a ship and fell the timber with his axe, and now she goes forth at his side into Pelion’s shady forests; while Juno throughout all the cities of Argos and of Macedon proclaims abroad how Aeson’s son is making trial of the winds that his fathers never proved, how the ship stands ready and in her pride of oars is claiming men whom she may bring safe home and exalt to heaven by their glorious deeds.

[100] And now every captain approved renown in warfare is athirst for the voyage, and all they who in the first flower of manhood have passed not beyond essays, nor been given the chance of glorious deeds. But they whose labour was in the fields and with the peaceful plough are aroused by the sight of Fauns about the thickets and ways in the clear light of day, and woodland goddesses and rivers with lofty horns, singing the high praises of the vessel.

[107] Forthwith the hero of Tiryns speeds unsummoned from Inachian Argos; his arrows dipped in burning poison from Arcadia and his bow, a light burden for glad shoulders, the boy Hylas bears; fain would he, but his small hand cannot yet match the weight nor grasp the club. And now frenzied Juno upbraids them with these words, and breaks again into her old complainings: “O that all the flower of the Grecian youth were not hastening to new destinies, and that these were now the behests of Eurystheus my servant! O then long ere this hand I myself scattered storms and darkness abroad with the fierce trident, and had hurled my husband’s fires, even against his will. Even now I would not have this man the ally an the strength of our ship, nor may I ever trust in the help of Hercules, or be beholden for so much to so proud a comrade.”

VALERIUS FLACCUS, ARGONAUTICA, Book 2, translated by J. H. MOZLEY

[1] All this time Jason, knowing nothing of the crime and of the sorrowing, is cleaving the deep; for Juno suffered him not to learn his father’s fate, for fear he should turn in passion midway, and hurl himself blindly against Pelias and his royal destiny that still opposed, for fear too that he should leave undone the task decreed by heaven.

[82] What time Jupiter first heard the rising tide of secret girdings, and felt the anger of the gods kindle against his new sovereignty, and that the calm of peace in heaven could not last, first he hung up Juno from the wheeling sky and showed to her chaos in its horror and the doom of the abyss. And presently when Vulcan would have undone his trembling mother’s fetters, down from the sheer height of heaven he cast him; and from the sky daylong and nightlong he fell as in a whirlwind, until at length he thundered upon the shore of Lemnos.

VALERIUS FLACCUS, ARGONAUTICA, Book 3, translated by J. H. MOZLEY

[481] Already Phoebus, burning ever brighter, had surpassed heaven’s supremest height and in mid-career shortened the long shadows. Sailing with slower course thereafter through the hero’s idleness Tiphys approaches the nearest shore and the mountains thick in forest that Mysia presented. The Tirynthian makes for the lofty ash trees; Hylas keeps close to his side, delaying the strides that re too long for him...

[521] ...So she speaks, and therewith glancing at the pine-clad ridges of the hills to leftward she sees a comely troop of huntress nymphs, the pride of woods and waves. Light bows and green armlets have they all, and a shaft of myrtle-wood with tight-drawn strap; knee-high are their skirts, and the straying stresses float and fall gently rippling to the band that confines the hidden breasts. Earth herself re-echoes the beating of the sisters’ feet, and sends up grasses beneath their tender steps. Of these Dryope, hearing the crash of Hercules’ advance, as the quarry fled before his shafts, had gone forward to view the havoc of the grove, and was returning to her spring, bringing back from Hercules an awe-struck face.

[533] Her Juno, down-gliding from the heavens and leaning against a dark pine tree, summons to her side, and grasping her hand thus speaks with coaxing words: “He whom scorning so many suitors I appointed, O Nymph, for thy wedlock – lo! the lad is here, come hither in the Haemonian barque, bright Hylas; he is wandering through thy glades and over thy hills. Thou sawest when Bacchus with his rose-hung reins led in triumph through these regions the vanquished armies and chariots of an eastern realm, and stirred again his votaries to their sacred revels: such an one, or Phoebus in hunting guise, his quill laid by, be assured is now offered to thee. How fair a hope have the nymphs of Achaea lost! with what complainings will Boebe’s brood hear that thou hast stolen him from them! how sad will be the daughter of yellow Lycormas!”

VALERIUS FLACCUS, ARGONAUTICA, Book 4, translated by J. H. MOZLEY

[15] He spoke, and brought fragrant dew of mystic nectar, that hath the power of deep quiet and untroubled sleep, and bedewed the temples of his restless son. He, with heavy eyes and lips that ever cry “Hylas,” since no power can overcome the god, sinks to the ground. At last the weary woods once more have peace, once more the streams and the breezes are heard upon the vacant hills.

[22] Lo! in a vision the boy rises from the water’s level, clad in saffron weeds, the gift of the unkind Nymph, and standing by his dear head utters such words as these: “Why, father, dost thou waste time in vain lament? Mine now by fate’s appointing is this glade, this home, whither at cruel Juno’s behest the wanton Nymph has stolen me; now doth she win me power to consort with the streams of Jove and the heavenly deities, and shares with me her love and the honours of her fountain.

[351] “Oft did our fathers see Jupiter come down to earth and the Pelasgians’ Argive realm, aflame for the coy Iasian maid. Juno, aware of his deceit and aglow with bridal fears, leapt down form heaven; the Lyrceian land and its bowers, their guilty secret known, trembled before the queen. Then did the frightened paramour with the god’s will take on the form of an Inachian heifer; Juno caresses her and soothes her breast, stifling her own sighs beneath a smiling countenance. Then she accosts Jove thus: ‘Give me the untamed heifer that feeds on Argos’ fertile plains and is just showing the horns of the infant moon; give her as a gift to thy dear bride. Myself now will I choose fit pastures and choicest fountains for my pet.’ What ruse could Jove find to say her nay? what trickery, once found, could he have maintained? She, possessed of the gift, straightway sets Argus on guard; Argus as guardian pleases her, for everywhere on his head are sleepless eyes, as though a Lydian bride should bedeck her web with flecks of purple.

[370] “At Argus’ bidding must she go on paths unknown, over rocks, through monster-haunted wilds, tarrying oft, alas! and struggling with prayers and words fast locked within her breast. Then departing gave she last kisses to her father’s banks; wailed Amymone, wailed Messeis’ waters, wailed Hyperia with arms outstretched to call her back. But she, when her limbs trembled aweary of her wandering or when now chilly evening sped down from heaven’s height – ah! how often laid she her body on a stone, or when long thirst made her faint, what pools did her lips drink, what pastures graze, how oft did her white shoulders quail before the lash! Nay, too, as daring death she planned to leap from lofty height, swift did Argus drive her down to the vale beneath, and cruelly saved her at his queen’s behest: when on a sudden a hollow flute pipes out a measure of Arcady, and the winged Cyllenian, hastening to obey his sire, draws nigh, and tuning his soft reed to melody cries, ‘Whither away? where roamest thou? Ho there! give heed to my music!’ Following Argus close he notes that all his eyes are already languishing and seeking after sweet slumber, and in the midst of his song out he flashes his swift blade.

[391] “And now, her former shape gradually restored by Jove, Io is walking the fields victorious over Juno, when lo! she sees Tisiphone with brands of fire and coiling snakes and fiendish yells; at the first sight she stops and passes once again into the shape of a hapless heifer, nor bethinks her in what vale or on what height to stay her steps.

VALERIUS FLACCUS, ARGONAUTICA, Book 5, translated by J. H. MOZLEY

[278] Night in pity of mankind and its heavy toil had brought back longed-for silence to weary earth. But Juno and the virgin daughter of supreme Jove were sharing heart to heart their inmost counsels and distracting cares. First spoke the maid: “Against whom do we direct our united forces? Thou seest what a contest holds the Colchians in its grip, and how the issue stands to-day. On this side Perses, on that with strength unequal Aeetes prepares to fight. Which army shall we join?”

[280] Juno replied: “Dismiss thy fear lest perchance I refuse thee the battle thou lovest; already sore toil awaits thy aegis and my steeds too must toil. My mind is resolved to join Aeetes’ host. True, the king’s heart is treacherous, I know; no guerdon will he pay the Minyae. But then will I myself set other devices, other plots, in motion.”

VIRGIL, AENEID, Book 1, translated by H. R. FAIRCLOUGH

[1] Arms and the man I sing, who first from the coasts of Troy, exiled by fate, came to Italy and Lavine shores; much buffeted on sea and land by violence from above, through cruel Juno’s unforgiving wrath, and much enduring in war also, till he should build a city and bring his gods to Latium; whence came the Latin race, the lords of Alba, and the lofty walls of Rome.

[12] There was an ancient city, the home of Tyrian settlers, Carthage, over against Italy and the Tiber’s mouths afar, rich in wealth and stern in war’s pursuits. This, ‘tis said, Juno loved above all other lands, holding Samos itself less dear. Here was her armour, here her chariot; that here should be the capital of the nations, should the fates perchance allow it, was even then the goddess’s aim and cherished hope. Yet in truth she had heard that a race was springing from Trojan blood, to overthrow some day the Tyrian towers; that from it a people, kings of broad realms and proud in war, should come forth for Libya’s downfall: so rolled the wheel of fate. The daughter of Saturn, fearful of this and mindful of the old war which erstwhile she had fought at Troy for her beloved Argos – not yet, too, had the cause of her wrath and her bitter sorrows faded from her mind: deep in her heart remain the judgment of Paris and the outrage to her slighted beauty, her hatred of the race and the honours paid to ravished Ganymede – inflamed hereby yet more, she tossed on the wide main the Trojan remnant, left by the Greeks and pitiless Achilles, and kept them far from Latium; and many a year they wandered, driven by the fates o’er all the seas. So vast was the effort to found the Roman race.

[34] Hardly out of sight of Sicilian land were they spreading their sails seaward, and merrily ploughing the foaming brine with brazen prow, when Juno, nursing an undying wound deep in her heart, spoke thus to herself: “What! I resign my purpose, baffled, and fail to turn from Italy the Teucrian king! The fates, doubtless, forbid me! Had Pallas power to burn up the Argive fleet and sink sailors in the deep, because of one single man’s guilt, and the frenzy of Ajax, son of Oileus? Her own hand hurled from the clouds Jove’s swift flame, scattered their ships, and upheaved the sea in tempest; but him, as with pierced breast he breathed forth flame, she caught in a whirlwind and impaled on a spiky crag. Yet I, who move as queen of gods, at once sister and wife of Jove, with one people am warring these many years. And will any still worship Juno’s godhead or humbly lay sacrifice upon her altars?

[50] Thus inwardly brooding with heart inflamed, the goddess came to Aeolia, motherland of storm clouds, tracts teeming with furious blasts. Here in his vast cavern, Aeolus, their king, keeps under his sway and with prison bonds curbs the struggling winds and the roaring gales. They, to the mountain’s mighty moans, chafe blustering around the barriers. In his lofty citadel sits Aeolus, sceptre in hand, taming their passions and soothing their rage; did he not so, they would surely bear off with them in wild flight seas and lands and the vault of heaven, sweeping them through space. But, fearful of this, the father omnipotent hid them in gloomy caverns, and over them piled high mountain masses and gave them a king who, under fixed covenant, should be skilled to tighten and loosen the reins at command. Him Juno now addressed thus in suppliant speech:

[65] “Aeolus – for to you the father of gods and king of men has given power to clam and uplift the waves with the wind – a people hateful to me sails the Tyrrhene sea, carrying into Italy Ilium’s vanquished gods. Hurl fury into your winds, sink and overwhelm the ships, or drive the men asunder and scatter their bodies on the deep. Twice seven nymphs have I of wondrous beauty, of whom Deiopea, fairest of form, I will link to you in wedlock, making her yours for ever, that for such service of yours she may spend all her years with you, and make you father of fair offspring.”...

[441] ...Amid the city was a grove, luxuriant in shade, the spot where the first Phoenicians, tossed by waves and whirlwind, dug up the token which queenly Juno had pointed out, a head of the spirited horse; for thus was the race to be famous in war and rich in substance through the ages. Here Sidonian Dido was founding to Juno a mighty temple, rich in gifts and the presence of the goddess. Brazen was its threshold uprising on steps; bronze plates were its lintel beams, on doors of bronze creaked the hinges. In this grove first did a strange sight appear to him and allay his fears; here first did Aeneas dare to hope for safety and put surer trust in his shattered fortunes.

[665] How your brother Aeneas is tossed on the sea about all coasts by bitter Juno’s hate is known to you, and often have you grieved in our grief. Phoenician Dido now holds him, staying him with soft words, and I dread what may be the outcome of Juno’s hospitality; at such a turning point of fortune she will not be idle.

VIRGIL, AENEID, Book 4, translated by H. R. FAIRCLOUGH

[105] To her – for she knew that with feigned purpose she had spoken, to turn the empire from Italy to Libya’s shores – Venus thus began in reply: “Who so mad as to refuse such terms, or prefer to strive against you in war, as long as Fortune favour the fulfilment of your word? But the Fates send me adrift, uncertain whether Jupiter wills that there be one city for the Tyrians and the wanderers from Troy, or approves the blending of peoples and the league of union. You are his wife; it is lawful for you to try to persuade his heart with entreaty. Go on; I will follow!” Then queenly Juno thus replied: “With me shall rest that task. Now in what way the present purpose can be achieved, hearken and I will explain in brief. Aeneas and unhappy Dido plan to go hunting together in the forest, as soon as tomorrow’s sun shows his rising and with his rays unveils the world. On them, while the hunters run to and fro and gird the glades with nets, I will pour down from above a black rain mingled with hail, and wake the whole welkin with thunder. The company shall scatter and be veiled in gloom of night; to the same cave shall come Dido and the Trojan chief. I will be there and, if I can be sure of your good will, will link them in sure wedlock, sealing her for his own; this shall be their bridal!” Yielding to her suit, the Cytherean gave assent and smiled at the guile discovered.

[160] Meanwhile in the sky begins the turmoil of a wild uproar; rain follows, mingled with hail. The scattered Tyrian train and the Trojan youth, with the Dardan grandson of Venus, in their fear seek shelter here and there over the fields; torrents rush down from the heights. To the same cave come Dido and the Trojan chief. Primal Earth and nuptial Juno give the sign; fires flashed in Heaven, the witness to their bridal, and on the mountaintop screamed the Nymphs. That day the first of death, the first of calamity was cause. For no more is Dido swayed by fair show or fair fame, no more does she dream of a secret love: she calls it marriage and with that name veils her sin.

VIRGIL, GEORGICS, Book 3, translated by H. R. FAIRCLOUGH

[146] Round the groves of Silarus and the green holm oaks of Alburnus swarms a fly, whose Roman name is asilus, but the Greeks have called it in their speech oestrus [the gladfly]. Fierce it is, and sharp of note; before it whole herds scatter in terror through the woods: with their bellowings the air is stunned and maddened, the groves, too, and the banks of parched Tanager. With this monster Juno once wreaked her awful wrath, when she devised a pest for the heifer maid of Inachus. This, too – for in midday heat more fierce is its attack – you will keep from the pregnant herd, and will feed the flock when the sun is new-risen, or the stars usher in the night.