The Transformation of Hera: A Study of Ritual, Hero and the Goddess in the Iliad

Did the goddess Hera achieve fame because she slept in the arms of great Zeus? In this book, Joan V. O'Brien explodes this verdict. Starting from the etymological link between Hera's name and the Greek words for 'hero' and 'the season,' O'Brien provides an archeological, historical, and literary reassessment of the goddess as a religious, cultural, and political construct.