The Ancients

Hera: Queen of the Gods

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Episode notes

Hera, the wife and sister of Zeus, goddess of marriage, royalty and women, is the Queen of the Gods in Greek mythology.

Despite her seat of power, she is an often maligned figure, typically characterised as the jealous and vengeful wife of Zeus due to his extramarital affairs and illegitimate children. Though archaeological evidence shows that Hera was a pre-Greek deity, pre-eminent to Zeus, and nearly every temple dedicated to Zeus, was a temple first originally dedicated to Hera. In this episode, Tristan Hughes is joined by Ancient Greek historian Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts of Kings College London to uncover the truth about Hera, find out where she came from, how she was worshipped and continued to be worshipped in her afterlives, and as a bonus why peacocks were sacred to her.

If you enjoyed this episode, you might also enjoy other episodes in the series: Zeus: King of the Gods. https://pod.fo/e/14ec89

The Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie

The script was written by Andrew Hulse

The voice over was performed by Nicola Woolley

The Assistant Producer was Annie Coloe

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