Hera Greek Mythology Symbol: The Peacock, Pomegranate, And Crown

Hera was the powerful queen of the Greek gods. She used strong symbols that fit her famous myths. The peacock, pomegranate, and crown weren’t just decorations. They stood for her rule, marriage, and revenge. Because she was Zeus’s wife, Hera’s symbols showed two sides. She protected marriages but also punished those who broke them. These symbols changed depending on the region.

In Argos, people linked her to the peacock, while in Samos, the pomegranate was more important. Yet their meanings connected. The crown’s authority was like the pomegranate’s link to fertility. If you’re learning about mythology or already know it, these symbols help explain Hera’s contradictions. Keep reading as we explore their stories.

You’ll learn why the peacock had a hundred eyes and how the pomegranate tied to the underworld.

Hera Greek Mythology Symbol: Overview and Key Facts

Symbol	Meaning and Mythological Role	Key Stories	Cultural/Religious Use
Peacock	Stands for vigilance, eternal life, and Hera’s anger.	Hermes kills Argus, a giant with 100 eyes. Hera puts his eyes on the peacock’s tail as a tribute.	You can see it in temple artwork, like at the Heraion of Argos. It also appeared in festivals like the Argive Heraia.
Pomegranate	Represents fertility, marriage, and the underworld.	It connects to Persephone’s kidnapping. Some myths also tie it to Hera’s underworld side.	People used it in weddings and left it as religious gifts in Hera’s temples, such as the Samos Heraion.
Crown	Means Hera’s divine power as queen of the gods.	In the Iliad, Hera wears Aphrodite’s girdle on her crown because she wants to seduce Zeus and change the Trojan War’s outcome.	You can see it in statues, like Polykleitos’s Hera, and on coins to show her royal power.
Cow	Represents care and fertility (a less common symbol).	Some stories say Zeus pretended to be a cuckoo or cow to win Hera over.	Farmers sacrificed cows to honor her at countryside shrines.
Lily	Linked to childbirth and purity (through Eileithyia, Hera’s daughter).	It rarely appears in myths but shows up in art near Hera’s temples.	The flowers grew in sacred groves and might have been used in pregnancy rituals.

Note: Meanings change by region. For example, the peacock was most important in Argos, while pomegranates mattered more in Samos.

Hera’s World and Influence: The Divine Queen

To understand Hera’s lasting impact, we’ll look at her domains of power, her children, and some less familiar symbols. This gives us a complete picture of her role in Greek mythology.

What Hera Did: Love, Power, and Payback

As Zeus’s queen, Hera controlled three key areas: marriage, childbirth, and royal authority. People called on her during weddings, and she guided women through important life stages. But this protective side had a darker counterpart. Hera became famous for punishing Zeus’s many lovers and their children. Her revenge stories are well-known. She delayed Heracles’ birth to deny him a throne. The nymph Io became a cow watched by hundred-eyed Argus.

Some say she sent snakes to kill baby Heracles. According to certain myths, she even prolonged the Trojan War because Paris chose Aphrodite over her. These weren’t just personal grudges. The Greeks believed Hera’s anger kept balance in the world when she punished those who broke oaths. In their view, this was similar to how laws punish people who break contracts today.

Her Kids and Their Stories: Hephaestus, Ares, and Hebe

Hera’s children showed both sides of her nature. Hephaestus, the skilled blacksmith god, had two different origin stories. Some say Hera created him alone during an angry outburst. Others claim she threw him from Olympus because he was born with physical imperfections. Despite this rocky start, he became the gods’ master craftsman. Ares, the war god, reflected Hera’s protective and combative personality.

While powerful, Homer’s writings often show him as less capable than his mother. His violent nature matched Hera’s fierce temper when defending her family. The often forgotten Hebe represented youth and served the gods their drinks. Her later marriage to Heracles might have marked the end of Hera’s long conflict with her stepson. This union could have been their way of making peace after years of struggle.

More Than Peacocks: Cows and Cuckoos

While peacocks are Hera’s best-known symbol today, ancient Greeks equally connected her with cows. These animals represented Hera’s nurturing nature. Their broad horns resembled the crescent moon, which symbolized women’s cycles, while their milk meant life-giving nourishment. The cuckoo had a different meaning. Samos traditions say Zeus turned into this bird during their courtship. He tricked Hera by appearing as a shivering cuckoo that needed shelter, then revealed his true form.

This unusual story explains why cuckoos became linked to Hera. Different parts of Greece emphasized different symbols. Some temples showed Hera holding a cuckoo-topped scepter, while others created statues with cow heads. These variations demonstrate how local traditions shaped Hera’s worship across the ancient world.

The Peacock: Hera’s Famous Bird

Hera had many sacred animals, but none were as recognizable as the peacock. Its backstory tells us important things about Hera’s mythology.

The Argus Story: Eyes on the Feathers

The story starts with Argus Panoptes, a giant whose name meant “All-Seeing”. Hera ordered him to guard the nymph Io. He had 100 eyes that took turns sleeping, so he could always watch. When Zeus sent Hermes to free Io, the messenger god told endless stories until Argus fell completely asleep, then killed him. To honor Argus, Hera placed his eyes on the peacock’s tail.

These shimmering spots represented both her all-seeing power and a warning to those who might oppose her. Some versions say she used all 100 eyes, while others claim she saved some for her priestesses’ robes. This shows how the story changed in different tellings.

Deity	Bird	Symbolic Meaning	Mythological Function
Hera (Greek)	Peacock	Watchfulness, Immortality	Memorial for Argus Panoptes
Freya (Norse)	Falcon	Magic, Feminine Power	Cloak allowing shape-shifting

Because of this myth, peacock feathers became Hera’s main symbol in Greek art. They appeared on objects and buildings.

While other gods like Freya also had bird connections, Hera’s link to peacocks came directly from the Argus story.

What Peacocks Meant in Old Art

At the Heraion of Argos and other Greek temples, peacock designs did more than decorate. They clearly showed Hera’s presence to worshippers. Artists carefully painted the birds with fanned tails, using bright blues and greens for each eye-spot. These artworks reminded visitors of Hera’s watchful nature and the Argus story. On Athenian red-figure pottery, peacocks often stood near Hera’s throne. Potters used special methods to copy the look of real feathers, creating shimmering colors.

Some regional artworks show more aggressive peacocks by Hera’s chariot, suggesting local artists emphasized her powerful side along with her usual roles.

How People Celebrated Hera

Ancient Greeks held important religious festivals for their queen of gods. These events combined athletic games, marriage ceremonies, and animal offerings. The most famous was the Heraia at Olympia, where young women raced in special tunics that left one shoulder bare. The races honored Hera’s connection to women’s adulthood.

Archaeologists found evidence of other rituals at Samos:

• Theogamia: Yearly ceremonies recreating Zeus and Hera’s wedding
• Chiton Offering: Dressing statues in newly made clothes
• Boe-dromia: Killing white cows, which were sacred to Hera
• Pomegranate Burials: Burying fertility symbols under temples

Different cities celebrated Hera in their own ways. Argos focused on her warrior side with armed parades, while Corinth honored her as a protector of sailors with sea-related rites. Priestesses carried fans made of peacock feathers and wore crowns like Hera’s, similar to how people today might dress as important figures.

The Pomegranate: Life and Death in a Fruit

While Hera’s peacock represented watchfulness, the pomegranate showed its connection to both life and death. The red fruit was just as important in her religious art and practices.

Ties to the Underworld: Persephone and More

The pomegranate’s underworld links appear clearly in the myth of Persephone. When she ate six seeds, this act created an unbreakable bond with Hades, requiring her to spend half the year underground. Ancient sources disagree about this event – the Homeric Hymn to Demeter says she was forced, while some vase paintings show her choosing to eat the fruit. This dual meaning worked well for Hera’s symbolism.

It represented both the binding power of oaths like marriage vows, and the cycle between life and death. Many people don’t realize Hera had underworld-related aspects too. At her Argive sanctuary, archaeologists found pits full of pomegranate offerings, similar to how people today might honor the dead.

Some local cults worshipped her as Hera Chthonia, an underworld version who connected the living and dead like Persephone. The pomegranate’s red juice and crown-shaped top made it a strong symbol for this dual role. Its many seeds represented both life’s richness and death’s certainty, reflecting Hera’s power over gods and mortals alike.

Love and Fruit: Pomegranates in Weddings

Pomegranates played a key role in ancient Greek marriage ceremonies. Brides would crush the fruit against doorways to bring fertility to their home, since the many seeds stood for having many children. Vase paintings often show Hera Teleia holding the fruit during wedding processions. Archaeologists have found burned pomegranate seeds in newlyweds’ hearths, probably used in rituals to ask for Hera’s help.

The fruit worked well for wedding traditions because of its natural qualities. The hard outer shell showed how marriage bonds should last, while the seeds showed that marriage had both good and hard times. In some areas, grooms gave pomegranates to brides, similar to how people today give flowers.

Other places had different customs – some threw the fruits at the couple’s chariot, while others sewed pomegranate designs into the bridal veil. All these practices connected to Hera’s role as the goddess who protected marriage, with the pomegranate serving as both a religious gift and a symbol for having children.

Digging Up History: Temple Finds

At the Heraion of Samos, archaeologists found large numbers of clay pomegranates. These were religious gifts left by worshippers who wanted Hera’s help, similar to how worshippers today leave religious objects. The finds, which came from the 8th century BCE onward, prove that people always connected this fruit with the goddess.

Important discoveries include:

• Perachora Sanctuary: Gold pomegranate necklaces in a 7th-century BCE priestess’s tomb
• Argive Heraion: Ceramic cups shaped like pomegranates, used in ceremonies (6th century BCE)
• Paestum Temple: Wall paintings showing Hera with pomegranates (5th century BCE)
• Olympia Heraion: Burned pomegranate seeds in religious pits

The Heraion of Tiryns had especially interesting finds. Workers uncovered tiny bronze pomegranates on wires that probably decorated statues of the goddess. This shows the fruit wasn’t just symbolic – people actually used it to decorate representations of Hera. These objects show clearly how common these religious customs were, with the pomegranate serving as an important sign of fertility and gods’ approval.

The Crown: Hera’s Sign of Power

Just as the pomegranate was connected to Hera’s power over life and birth, her crown was the clearest sign she ruled over the Olympians. This royal crown appeared often in both religious ceremonies and stories about the gods.

A Tale from the Iliad: Hera’s Trick on Zeus

During the Trojan War in Iliad Book 14, Hera came up with a detailed plan to distract Zeus from the fighting. This was a clever divine plan. First she borrowed Aphrodite’s special girdle, which had love magic. Then she decorated her crown with bright jewels.

Finally, she convinced Hypnos, the god of sleep, to help by offering him a golden throne. Each part of her plan was meant to overwhelm Zeus’s senses. Hera visited Zeus on Mount Ida. Her improved appearance and shining crown made her extremely noticeable. Homer writes about how the beautiful curls from her headdress fell over her shoulders, while the magic girdle made her irresistible.

Ancient writers explained this wasn’t just about attraction – Hera knew Zeus had a weakness for beautiful things and often got distracted during wars. The trick worked completely. Zeus became so focused on Hera that he missed Poseidon helping the Greek army. Later poets saw this as Hera showing her queenly power through her crown. She used her royal items not just for decoration, but to influence other gods.

This story shows Hera’s complex role as both Zeus’s wife and his strongest rival.

Why Crowns Showed Her Rule

In Greek art and stories, Hera’s distinctive polos crown worked as a clear symbol of royal power. This tall cylindrical headdress immediately showed her supreme status among Olympian goddesses. Artists always included this crown in statues and vase paintings, decorating it with flower designs and precious metals that displayed both her fertility connections and political power.

While Zeus had his lightning bolt and Poseidon his trident to represent specific abilities, Hera’s crown stood for her complete authority as supreme goddess-ruler. At the Argive Heraion, archaeologists found these crowns were sometimes made from valuable gold materials for temple statues. The extreme height of the crown, often shown extending very high in artwork, visually placed Hera at the top of the gods’ hierarchy.

This was similar to how important positions are marked in organizations.

Hera in Art: Statues and Coins

The Hera of Samos in the Louvre Museum reveals how Greeks pictured their queen of gods. This 6th century BCE statue stood straight in a peplos gown, with its missing right hand probably holding a scepter while the left held a pomegranate.

Silver coins from Elis (400-300 BCE) show Hera in profile wearing her crown, appearing completely as a goddess-ruler, much like the huge statue at Argive Heraion that Pausanias described.

These artworks followed specific rules:

• Colossal Seated Hera (Polykleitos, 5th century BCE): Gold and ivory statue at Argos showing her on a throne
• Hera Borghese (Roman copy): Shows her crown covered by a draped himation veil
• Paestum coins (4th century BCE): Depict Hera guiding a chariot, showing her sky connection
• Junon Lacinia (Crotone): Well-known temple statue with Hera holding a scepter and diadem

These artworks share something interesting. Whether made from marble, gold, or silver, they all kept Hera’s royal symbols consistent over centuries. Formal poses, royal objects, and the crown that always identified her appeared in every ancient representation.

Other Symbols and Stories You Might Not Know

While peacock, pomegranate and crown are Hera’s most famous symbols, the Olympian queen also had other important symbols and myths that aren’t as familiar. These less common representations show various sides of her authority and help us understand her role as a goddess.

The Lily: Birth and New Beginnings

The white lily’s connection to Hera comes from an ancient myth about Heracles. When she nursed the baby Heracles, drops of her milk created the Milky Way (called ‘galaxias kyklos’ in Greek). Other drops fell to earth and became lilies, which explains why these flowers became sacred. Eileithyia, Hera’s daughter and the goddess of childbirth, particularly valued these white flowers.

They appeared in decorations at the Heraion of Argos and other temples where women prayed for safe births. The lily’s tall stem and trumpet shape resembled Hera’s scepter and also looked like the birth canal, which is why it represented new life. Greek artists often painted Hera holding lilies along with her more famous pomegranate. These artworks showed both childbirth and marriage symbols together, creating an important representation of her divine roles.

Hera’s Anger: Heracles and Io

Hera’s persecution of Heracles started before he was born. She was angry that Zeus fathered him, so she prevented Eileithyia (goddess of childbirth) from helping his mother Alcmene. Later, she sent two poisonous snakes to kill the baby in his crib. When these attempts failed, she made him complete the Twelve Labors through Eurystheus.

Each dangerous task could have killed him, like capturing Cerberus from the Underworld or fighting the Hydra that grew new heads. Similarly, the priestess Io suffered when Zeus pursued her. Hera turned her into a white heifer and set the hundred-eyed Argus to guard her. Later, she sent a gadfly to chase Io across continents.

The maiden had to wander endlessly while trapped in an animal’s form. Ancient vases often show Io changing into a heifer, with human arms becoming animal legs as Hera watches from Olympus. These images show clearly how Hera could change humans’ fates. Both stories reveal Hera’s typical way of punishing. She preferred long suffering over quick death, used monsters and transformations, and targeted Zeus’s lovers and children rather than facing him directly.

These myths served as warnings about the gods’ power, which proved that even Zeus’s protection couldn’t fully save mortals from his wife’s anger.

More Signs of Her Power: Rods and Chairs

Hera’s royal power appeared as physical objects in her temples – sacred rods and thrones that represented her divine authority. The Heraion of Samos contained a large wooden throne, now rebuilt in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum, which once held her statue. At the Heraion of Argos, people left religious gifts including small bronze scepters with cuckoo birds on top, recalling Zeus’s courtship. These objects were more than just decorations:

• The Polykleitos Scepter: Pausanias described it as gold-plated with detailed flower designs
• Tiryns Throne Fragments: Limestone pieces with carved peacocks
• Paestum Coinage: 4th century BCE coins that show Hera sitting on a throne while holding a scepter
• Perachora Votives: Small ivory thrones given by worshippers

What’s interesting is how these artifacts combine marriage symbols (like cuckoos) with royal power across different places and times. This consistent imagery showed her position as ruler alongside Zeus clearly to any ancient Greek.

Worship and Legacy

Hera wasn’t just about powerful symbols and dramatic myths. Her lasting importance came from being worshipped everywhere in the Greek world. How people worshipped her shows how much her power as a goddess became part of Greek life.

Hera’s Holy Places: Temples in Greece

One of Hera’s most impressive temples was the Heraion of Samos, built on marshy land with water nearby. It had an innovative double row of columns that influenced later Greek architecture. At Olympia, her 6th-century BCE temple contained the famous Hermes of Praxiteles and was where they lit the Olympic flame.

The Heraion of Argos had a large gold and ivory statue by Polykleitos that attracted many visitors. These temples served multiple purposes as important places for politics, art and religion, with treasuries holding gifts from different cities. Hera’s temples were unique because they adapted to their locations.

The Heraion at Perachora stood on a seaside cliff with an altar facing the summer solstice sunrise. In Italy, the Paestum complex shows well-preserved Doric architecture with painted panels that depicted Hera’s myths. Visitors can still see the standing columns at Agrigento in Sicily, where the temple entrance faced east for Hera’s feast days.

Temple Site	Notable Feature	Construction Period
Heraion of Samos	Earliest Greek monumental temple	8th century BCE
Argive Heraion	Site of the Heraia games	7th century BCE
Olympia Heraion	Olympic flame ceremony location	600 BCE
Paestum (Italy)	Best-preserved Doric architecture	550 BCE
Perachora	Solstice-aligned altar	6th century BCE

Games for the Goddess: The Heraia

Young women from all over Greece came to Olympia every four years with their hair down to race 160 meters in short tunics. This was the Heraia, the only official sports event for women in ancient Greece, held in honor of Hera, the goddess associated with marriage and women. Unlike the male Olympics, these footraces for different age groups focused more on ceremony than competition.

Winners got olive wreaths and could give portraits to Hera’s temple, similar to how today’s athletes place memorabilia at shrines. According to Pausanias, a group of sixteen women ran the games, which may have reflected Hera’s role in women’s lives as they grew from girls to brides.

FAQs

Why is the peacock Hera’s primary symbol?

The peacock is Hera’s primary symbol because she honored her loyal servant Argus by placing his hundred eyes on its feathers, signifying watchfulness and immortality.

How is the pomegranate linked to Hera?

The pomegranate is linked to Hera as a symbol of marital fertility and her chthonic associations with the underworld.

What does Hera’s crown signify?

Hera’s crown signifies her divine authority as queen of the Olympian gods.

Are Hera’s symbols in other mythologies?

Hera’s symbols in other mythologies include Juno’s peacock in Roman tradition, though no exact parallels exist in Norse or other pantheons.