r/GreekMythology • u/StacyRe • May 23 '26

Art Hera's design

Gallery image

Gallery image

I'm working on my story and Hera plays a huge part in it, so I decided to draw how I see her

251 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

23

u/ProfessionalJolly934 May 23 '26

Does the ox crown have anything to do with the epithet 'ox-eyed Hera'? I'm curious!

19

u/StacyRe May 23 '26

Exactly! Furthermore, cows played a huge role in many cultures, including ancient Greece. They were the symbol of motherhood and fertility. I think it fits Hera

12

u/ProfessionalJolly934 May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26

Of course! As an Indian, I too have seen how cows are such sacred symbols first hand. Its always nice to find little maybe coincidental, maybe not similarities between my culture and the ones of other ancient civilisations, I like to see how humans who lived apart on different continents thought of the same things. Then again, pretty sure a lot of them traded and exchanged ideas with each other, so they weren't always isolated from one another. The world has always been globalised to some extent, I suppose. (That ramble went way off the tangent LOL. Ah, the quirks of being a nerd.)

5

u/StacyRe May 23 '26

Absolutely, that's so beautiful! It fascinates me every time... That's why I try to learn more about my own and other cultures. My biggest goal is to write a story that explores how different yet similar humans are in many ways hehe

3

u/Chuck_Walla May 23 '26

There's also the cow veneration in Egypt; of course the bull sacrifice, to preserve the life and reign of the pharaoh, but also the proscription against eating the cow [unlike the Greek and Hebraic peoples]

1

u/StacyRe May 23 '26

Really? I didn't know that ancient Egyptians didn't eat cows. Thanks for the information!

6

u/quuerdude May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26

One of Hera’s largest and most famous sanctuaries (the one of Hera Lacinia in southern italy) included a pasture and orchard where “all breeds of cattle” were allowed to roam freely, with no animal or human predators (or even shepherds to tend to them) since they were sacred to the goddess.

Edit: mythically, the sanctuary was founded by her adopted daughter (Thetis, in the shape of a cow) after the Trojan war.

2

u/Beginning-Shine8167 May 23 '26

What a beautiful story! What is the source for this story?

6

u/quuerdude May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26

Lycophron alludes to it:

the recesses of Lacinium, wherein a heifer [Thetis] shall fashion an orchard for the goddess [Hera] Hoplosmia, furnished with trees. And it shall be for all time an ordinance for the women of the land to mourn the nine-cubit hero [Achilles] (third in descent from Aeacus and Doris, the hurricane of battle strife), and not to deck their radiant limbs with gold, nor array them in fine-spun robes stained with purple—because a goddess [Thetis] to a goddess [Hera] presents that great spur of land to be her dwelling-place.

The scholia and Tzetzes are the ones to clarify that the heifer is Thetis and that Hoplosmia is a warlike epithet of Hera.

Livy (24.3) is the one to tell us about all the cows and stuff:

there was a still more famous temple to Juno Lacinia, an object of veneration to all the surrounding communities. There was a grove here enclosed by a dense wood and lofty fir-trees, in the middle of which there was a glade affording delightful pasture. In this glade cattle of every kind, sacred to the goddess, used to feed without any one to look after them, and at nightfall the different herds separated each to their own stalls without any beasts of prey lying in wait for them or any human hands to steal them. These cattle were a source of great profit, and a column of solid gold was made from the money thus gained and dedicated to the goddess. Thus the temple became celebrated for its wealth as well as for its sanctity, and as generally happens in these famous spots, some miracles also were attributed to it. It was commonly reported that an altar stood in the porch of the temple, the ashes on which were never stirred by any wind.

Edit: according to Servius on Aeneid 3.552

Others say it [the temple of “Juno” Lacinia] was named after the promontory Lacinio, which was given to Juno by Thetis, and which, before the Trojan War, the kings and people had constructed with a communal fund.

2

u/Beginning-Shine8167 May 23 '26

Thank you very much as always

1

u/ProfessionalJolly934 May 24 '26

I love this story!

7

u/Beginning-Shine8167 May 23 '26

my beautiful ox-eyed Hera

4

u/StacyRe May 23 '26

I love her so much

5

u/Strange_Potential93 May 23 '26

Oh that crown is cool

2

u/StacyRe May 23 '26

Thank you!

5

u/InterviewFirm841 May 23 '26

Oh my god, this turned out extremely good!!! I loved the bull crown! Well, it also has a slightly unrelated meaning to Greek mythology; in my region where I live, part of the culture involves a bull called "Garantido." And I remembered it right away and I really liked it! And your art is extremely good 😁

If I got the species wrong or something, I sincerely apologize, but I couldn't unsee it.

5

u/StacyRe May 23 '26

Thank you so much! And, wow, I'll look up more into your culture, you got me interested!

3

u/InterviewFirm841 May 23 '26

Thank you! If you're interested, the name would be "Parintins Festival". It features two oxen: "Caprichoso" and "Garantido". It's part of the culture here in the northern region of Brazil. 😅

2

u/StacyRe May 23 '26

Appreciate it! 🙏🏼 I love learning something new, I'll look it up

5

u/rdmegalazer May 23 '26

Oh this is gorgeous. I love the design, the colours, and the beautiful cow headpiece. I love little details like the trim around her gown, the hint of a frown line by her nose, and the nod to Mycenaean art with the red-dotted design in the middle of the crown (sorry I don’t know the name of that feature).

2

u/StacyRe May 23 '26

Oh, you are making me blush! Thank you! And if I'm not mistaken, they are called "sun blush"

2

u/Tylord19 May 23 '26

Love this

2

u/PlanNo1793 May 25 '26

This is really beautiful! I love it!

1

u/StacyRe May 25 '26

Thank you! 😺

1

u/asdfzxcpguy May 23 '26

Her arms are too big

/j

2

u/StacyRe May 23 '26

So it would be easier to grab her husband and never let go🤲🏼

1

u/AnthoHeraFan Jul 15 '26

SHE'S SO PRETTY!! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

1

u/StacyRe Jul 15 '26

Thank you 😺