The Roman Goddess Juno
The ancient Romans were a pagan society that worshipped a vast pantheon of different gods for different reasons, up until the rise of Christianity during the Late Imperial Era.
Almost all of these gods, and many of the traditions and ceremonies surrounding them, were directly absorbed from the Greek pagan religion, to the extent that most gods and goddesses in Roman society have a clear Greek counterpart. In the case of the Roman goddess Juno, she is the equivalent of the Greek goddess Hera.
However, unlike some of the other gods and goddesses in this pantheon, Juno predates the Hellenization of Rome, and originated in the Etruscan culture that dominated Rome in the centuries just after it was founded. She was originally the female sovereign god among the three supreme deities of that culture; a template that was often seen in the ancient world.
When Greek gods came to Rome, the Greek goddess Hera merged with the already existing goddess Juno. As a result, Juno is a uniquely Roman deity in a number of ways.
Origins & Marriage to Zeus
In the Roman theological picture, there is a group of the most powerful gods that reign above all other beings. They include not only Juno, but other important deities such as the supreme sky god Jupiter; the sea god Neptune, the underworld god Pluto, goddess of the harvest Ceres, and the virginal goddess Vesta (Related Page: Vestal Virgins).
This group of six are actually siblings and the children of the much older god Saturn, who ruled with his kin before being overthrown by his son Jupiter and the current pantheon. (Related Page: The Pantheon)
Despite being brother and sister, Jupiter and Juno became married in a practice that is fairly common in Roman mythology. The couple would have many children together, including powerful gods like Mars, the god of war, and Vulcan, the divine artisan and smith.
Even though he is married to Juno, Jupiter has a habit of engaging in sexual acts with others, particularly mortal women. He fathers a number of children outside of his marriage, which is a subject of frustration and disgrace for Juno.
Since she does not possess the power to oppose Jupiter directly, she often directs her ire at his lovers and illegitimate children, which is a source of many myths about her.
Role in Roman Culture & Epithets
Due in large part to her long history in Roman society, Juno was a complicated goddess who filled many roles and underwent multiple transformations.
One unique aspect of ancient pagan religions is the epithets that gods and goddesses have. This is a religious practice where worshipers would go to a different temple and honor the deity by a different name depending on what they wanted that god or goddess to do.
For example, the Greek god Apollo was the god of music and art, but someone might make a sacrifice to him as Apollo Smintheus if they were wanting him to use his little-known role as the god of plagues and disease instead.
Juno was possessed of a great number of epithets that make an easy tool for historians to use to discern her many different roles. Some of these actually run counter to one another, and serve as evidence for the convergence of religions and regional deities that took place as Rome conquered more and more territory.
It is important to note that the significance and relevance of each of these epithets is the subject of ongoing academic debate and, thus, not entirely clear.
First and foremost, she was the chief female deity in Rome because she was the wife of the supreme god, Jupiter. This meant that she was the female patron and protector of all society, and paid special attention to women and feminine matters. In this role, she was worshiped as Juno Regina, the queen goddess.
Juno was the Roman goddess of fertility and childbirth alongside another important deity named Vesta. A lesser goddess named Lucina was originally a goddess of childbirth as well, but she became absorbed into the mythos of the more important deity, Juno.
This culminated with the construction of the temple to Juno Lucina in the city of Rome in 375 BC. Every year on March 1, the Roman festival of Matronalia was held in commemoration of Juno Lucina and mothers everywhere. On this day, men were expected to present their wives with gifts.
Another way Juno was thought of by her Roman worshippers was as a sovereign warrior queen, worshipped as Juno Moneta, Juno Curitis, and other names depending on locale. She is often depicted in Roman art holding a spear and fully armored as though she is prepared for battle at any moment.
This may seem surprising coming from an ancient world where almost all soldiers were men, but the warrior goddess template was fairly common. In fact, it is believed that Juno’s role as a warrior comes from her Etruscan roots that later absorbed aspects of the Greek warrior goddess, Athena.
In this role, Juno lends her strength to the military defenders of Rome. It was quite common for a Roman general or leader to honor Juno in hopes of having a successful military campaign.
Juno & Hercules
Hercules was the son of Jupiter by a Mycenaean queen whom he tricked into having sex with him by pretending to be her husband. After learning of this, Juno came to have a hostility towards Hercules that would plague him for his entire life.
Jupiter made this worse when he openly declared that a Mycenaean queen would soon give birth to a child who would rule everyone around him, a boast he had not even made about his children with Juno, who were gods.
In retaliation, Juno used her powers over childbirth to delay the birth of Hercules, causing another Mycenaean queen to give birth first and fulfill the terms of Jupiter’s claim instead.
After Hercules was born, Juno continued to hold him in contempt. When he was still only an infant, she sent two snakes to kill him, which he famously strangled to death. This is significant because it showed that he could combat divine machinations even before he could walk, and it only served to further infuriate Juno.
When Hercules was an adult with a family, Juno brought a fit of madness to him that led him to kill his wife, Megara, and their young son. Later, when Hercules was performing his famous twelve labors, Juno continued to harry him with obstacles.
This animosity she had towards Hercules is one of her aspects she inherited from her Greek counterpart, Hera, and was not indicative of her overall character.
