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Zeus's Hera. Intimate enemy, final wife. Ancient Worlds Collection.
PIRENNE-DELFORGE Vinciane, PIRONTI Gabriella.

Zeus's Hera. Intimate enemy, final wife. Ancient Worlds Collection.

Beautiful letters
€35,00 €0,00
N° d'inventaire 25409
Format 15 x 21.5
Détails 420 p., with black and white illustrations, paperback.
Publication Paris, 2016
Etat Nine
ISBN 9782251300030
In mythology dictionaries, the goddess Hera is an irascible wife and an imperfect mother in the face of a frivolous Zeus, populating the Greek world with her "bastards." And, in fact, since the Iliad, Olympus has resounded with the wrath of Hera: many narrative traditions depict the goddess's fury, the infidelities of her royal husband, and the persecutions to which she subjects her illegitimate offspring, such as Heracles and Dionysus. But how can this image be related to the cult dimension of the sovereign goddess in her sanctuaries at Argos, Samos, or elsewhere? Should we see this as proof that Greek myths and cults form two heterogeneous and irreconcilable wholes, respectively the fantasy of the imagination and the seriousness of the acts of religious life?
By addressing these questions, the investigation of Zeus's Hera opens new perspectives for understanding the society of the gods, the destiny of heroes, and the lives of men. Wife and queen, Hera shares the throne and the king's bed. A close enemy of Zeus, she is also the fierce guardian of the legitimacy and integrity of the Olympian family. By refraining from projecting moralizing readings and anachronistic categories of interpretation onto the world of the Greek gods, we see Zeus's Hera emerge in more subtle and complex ways that lead us to rethink the configuration of power in ancient Greece, with the tensions that inhabit it, as well as the functioning of polytheism.
In mythology dictionaries, the goddess Hera is an irascible wife and an imperfect mother in the face of a frivolous Zeus, populating the Greek world with her "bastards." And, in fact, since the Iliad, Olympus has resounded with the wrath of Hera: many narrative traditions depict the goddess's fury, the infidelities of her royal husband, and the persecutions to which she subjects her illegitimate offspring, such as Heracles and Dionysus. But how can this image be related to the cult dimension of the sovereign goddess in her sanctuaries at Argos, Samos, or elsewhere? Should we see this as proof that Greek myths and cults form two heterogeneous and irreconcilable wholes, respectively the fantasy of the imagination and the seriousness of the acts of religious life?
By addressing these questions, the investigation of Zeus's Hera opens new perspectives for understanding the society of the gods, the destiny of heroes, and the lives of men. Wife and queen, Hera shares the throne and the king's bed. A close enemy of Zeus, she is also the fierce guardian of the legitimacy and integrity of the Olympian family. By refraining from projecting moralizing readings and anachronistic categories of interpretation onto the world of the Greek gods, we see Zeus's Hera emerge in more subtle and complex ways that lead us to rethink the configuration of power in ancient Greece, with the tensions that inhabit it, as well as the functioning of polytheism.