Ἥρα

The etymology of Hēra is disputed, and the dispute is old. Some scholars connect it to hōra (season, year), making her the Lady of the Seasons — a nature goddess who predated the Olympian pantheon. Others link it to hērōs (hero, protector), which would make Heracles ('glory of Hera') a redundancy. A third proposal ties it to an Indo-European root meaning 'mistress' or 'lady,' parallel to the feminine form of a PIE word for 'year' or 'desire.' What is not disputed is the word's age. Hera appears in Linear B tablets from Pylos, dated to around 1200 BCE, as e-ra, making her name one of the earliest attested Greek deity names.

The Heraion at Samos, one of the largest Greek temples ever built, was dedicated to Hera as early as the 8th century BCE. Another major Heraion stood at Argos, where Hera was the principal deity — more important locally than Zeus. The Greeks celebrated Hera's marriage to Zeus with an annual festival called the Hieros Gamos (Sacred Marriage). In these rituals, Hera was the prototype of the wife. But the myths told a different story: Zeus was serially unfaithful, and Hera spent most of her narrative energy punishing his lovers and illegitimate children.

Heracles — the most famous Greek hero — bears Hera's name in his. Hēra + kleos = 'glory of Hera.' This is strange, because Hera hated Heracles. She sent serpents to kill him in his crib, drove him mad so that he killed his own children, and harassed him through all twelve labors. One theory is that the name was originally propitious — meant to appease Hera — and the hostility myths came later. Another is that Heracles earned his name by surviving Hera's persecution. His glory was that he endured her.

Hera gave her name to the heroon (hero-shrine), though the connection is indirect, running through hērōs. She also contributed to the Heraean Games — the oldest women's athletic competition in the ancient world, held at Olympia every four years, where unmarried women raced in short tunics. These games predated the Olympic Games, according to Pausanias. The goddess of marriage sponsored the one event in the Greek world where women competed as athletes rather than spectators.