I’m so excited! I didn’t think I would have a role at this year’s Spring Mysteries Festival, beyond directing. And trust me, that’s plenty! However, I am extremely honored to be working with Hera, the Queen of Heaven for SMF 2020.
Hera is a much maligned Goddess. She’s commonly known as the jealous wife of Zeus, the spiteful bitch who sought revenge on all her husband’s lovers.
Yet the ancients revered her as the queen of all and the equal of Zeus. The Homeric Hymn to Hera even says she “[surpasses] all in beauty”. She sided with the Greeks in the Trojan war, and she helped Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece.
There’s a reason that Zeus is the all-father in Greek mythology – and it has more to do with propaganda and keeping conquered people happy. It’s never a good idea to take peoples deities from them. Rather than say, “these are the new gods you will pray to”, they said, “oh yes, your gods are children of Zeus! Welcome to the family!”
And Hera was there, at his side, through all of it. She matched his power and his strength, and his fury. She was his balance and his equal. And, he just could not resist her beauty.
I still have a lot of research to do about her myths. I know quite of few of them on the surface, I just haven’t done the in depth study I would like. I’ll keep you posted on what I learn!
Blessings,
Mary