94 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
tion from his brain ; and a third makes her the daughter of Posezdon and 
the nymph Zritonis, and only the adopted child of Zeus. 
2. Hera (Juno). This goddess was the daughter of Cronos and Rhea. 
She was the sister and consort of Zeus, and as such queen of heaven. For 
a while she hesitated to marry Zeus, until one day when she was promenad- 
ing on Mount Thronium in Locris, he sent upon her a violent storm, and 
hovered over her in the form of a cuckoo. In compassion to the drenched 
and frightened bird, she took it to her bosom. Zeus now disclosed his true 
character and shape, and she then consented to become his wife. 
The marriage of these deities became the source of all blessings wpon 
earth, and is represented as the model of the marriage relation, Hera being 
the ideal of a Greek wife and mother. She is incorruptibly chaste, show- 
ing an unvaried matronly modesty, but also a frigid scorn and jealousy 
when Zeus by his infidelities disregards her rights, an exalted self-respect, 
and finally an almost unceasing vindictiveness against all rivals in her hus- 
band’s favor. Hence the honor in which she was held as the goddess of 
marriage and courtship, the patroness of connubial fidelity, and the avenger 
of the violation of the marriage covenant. Hera’s insignia were the 
diadem and sceptre which defined her rank as queen of heaven ; the peacock, 
which indicated her empire in the air; the cuckoo and pomegranate; and 
that which marked her particularly from the most ancient times, was the 
veil, the assumption of which by the aftianced bride indicated the devotion 
of all subsequent life to the husband and his interests ( pl. 15, jig. 7). Some 
of the old Pelasgian representations exhibit her with both diadem and veil 
(pl. 17, fig. 18), and as the queen of heaven wearing the crown (pi. 15, 
jig. 6). Asa mother suckling her son Aves, she is seen in pl. 16, jig. 23, 
where her whole appearance is so agreeable as greatly to relieve the ordi- 
narily stern features of this queen of gods. Her worship prevailed exten- 
sively, and was particularly splendid in Sparta, Mycenz, Samos, Arcadia, 
and Elis. 
3. Posrmpon (Neptune). In the distribution of universal authority, this 
god obtained the dominion of the sea. Originally, while the idea prevailed 
that the earth’s surface was not only surrounded by water but rested upon 
it, he was regarded in a general sense as the god of the ocean, as well 
as of rivers and springs. 
Within his own domains he ruled with an absoluteness equal to that of 
Zeus in heaven. He agitated the ocean to its foundations, and calmed 
it by a nod of his head: he shook the earth and mountains till they reeled. 
Accordingly, he had his own circle of inferior beings and agencies, and his 
own court, over whose splendor he presided. Ata later period, however, 
he took merely the rank of sea god, and althongh still angust and powertul, 
he nevertheless lacked the noble majesty of Zeus. His exterior exhibited 
something violent and rude, a species of defiance and discontent. The 
artists in their representations gave him a more slender frame, and a denser 
muscularity than to Zeus. His features were also sharper ; the countenance 
contained less of openness and repose, and the hair was more bristling and 
disorderly. 
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