希腊罗马神话英文论文

The analysis of the character of Hera Hera, one of the twelve main gods in Olympic mountain, is the wife and sister of Zeus who owns the greatest power among all the gods and rule them. In charge of the affairs of marriage and families of the man’s world, Hera is the guardian angle of wo men and marriage.

Hera, the eldest daughter of Cronus and Rhea, was born at Samos, or, according t o some accounts, at Argos, and was reared by the sea-divinities Oceanus and Tethys, who were models of conjugal fidelity. She was the principal wife of Zeus, and, as que en of heaven, participated in the honours paid to him, but her dominion only extended over the air (the lower aerial regions). Hera appears to be the sublime embodiment of strict matronly virtue, and is on that account the protectress of purity and married wo men. Faultless herself in her fidelity as a wife, she is essentially the type of the sanctit y of the marriage tie, and holds in abhorrence any violation of its obligations. So stron gly was she imbued with this hatred of any immorality, that, finding herself so often c alled upon to punish the failings of both gods and men in this respect, she became jeal ous, harsh, and vindictive. Her exalted position as the wife of the supreme deity, comb ined with her extreme beauty, caused her to become exceedingly vain, and she conseq uently resented with great severity any infringement on her rights as queen of heaven, or any apparent slight on her personal appearance.

The following story will signally illustrate how ready she was to resent any slight offered to her.

At the marriage of the sea-nymph Thetis with a mortal called Peleus, all the gods and goddesses were present, except Eris (the goddess of Discord). Indignant at not be ing invited, she determined to cause dissension in the assembly, and for this purpose t hrew into the midst of the guests a golden apple with the inscription on it "For the Fair est." Now, as all the goddesses were extremely beautiful, each claimed the apple; but at length, the rest having relinquished their pretensions, the number of candidates was reduced to three, Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite, who agreed to appeal to Paris for a sett

lement of this delicate question, he being noted for the wisdom he had displayed in his judgment upon several occasions. Paris was the son of Priam, king of Troy, who, igno rant of his noble birth, was at this time feeding his flocks on Mount Ida, in Phrygia. H ermes, as messenger of the gods, conducted the three rival beauties to the young shep herd, and with breathless anxiety they awaited his decision. Each fair candidate endea voured to secure his favour by the most tempting offers. Hera promised him extensive dominions; Athene, martial fame and glory; and Aphrodite, the loveliest woman in th e world. But whether he really considered Aphrodite the fairest of the three, or preferr ed a beautiful wife to fame and power, we cannot tell; all we know is that to her he aw arded the golden apple, and she became ever after universally acknowledged as the go ddess of beauty. Hera, having fully expected that Paris would give her the preference, was so indignant that she never forgave him, and not only persecuted him, but all the f amily of Priam, whose dreadful sufferings and misfortunes during the Trojan war wer e attributed to her influence. In fact, she carried her animosity to such an extent that it was often the cause of domestic disagreements between herself and Zeus, who espous ed the cause of the Trojans.

Among the many stories of these frequent quarrels there is one connected with H eracles, the favourite son of Zeus, which is as follows:--Hera having raised a storm at sea in order to drive him out of his course, Zeus became so angry that he hung her in t he clouds by a golden chain, and attached heavy anvils to her feet. Her son Hephaestu s tried to release his mother from her humiliating position, for which Zeus threw him out of heaven, and his leg was broken by the fall.

Hera has the courage to break the bondage of traditional marriage and fight for equal marriage. She has done her best to maintain the sanctity of marriage. However, her personal strength was not enough to change patriarchal society.

I’m deeply impressed by Hera and can’t help feeling sad for her. As a woman, o wning unique beauty and great power which is only secondary to Zeus’s, she, howeve r, fail to have a undivided husband, which is nearly every woman is eager for. Her stor y, in my eyes, is such a tragedy.

Although Hera is a goddess, she also has the characteristics, the feelings and the