Roman Mythology

I.Juno

Juno, daughter of Saturn and Rhea, was sister and wife of Jupiter. Though the poets agree that she came into the world at the same birth with her husband, yet they differ as to the place. Some fix her nativity at Argos, others at Samos, near the river Imbrasus. The latter opinion is, however, the more generally received. Samos, was highly honored, and received the name of Parthenia, from the consideration that so eminent a vir as Juno was educated and dwelt there till her marriage.

As queen of heaven, Juno was conspicuous for her state. Her usual attendants were Terror, Boldness—Castor and Pollux, accompanied by fourteen nymphs; but her most inseparable adherent was Iris, who was always ready to be employed in her most important affairs: she acted as messenger to Juno, like Mercury to Jupiter. When Juno appeared as the majesty of heaven, with her sceptre and diadem beset with lilies and roses, her chariot was drawn by peacocks, birds sacred to her; for which reason, in her temple at Eubœa, the emperor Adrian made her a most magnificent offering of a golden crown, a purple mantle, with an embroidery of silver, describing the marriage of Hercules and Hebe, and a large peacock, whose body was of gold, and his train of most valuable jewels. There never was a wife more jealous than Juno; and few who have had so much reason: on which account we find from Homer that the most absolute exertions of Jupiter were barely sufficient to preserve his authority.

There was none except Apollo whose worship was more solemn or extensive. The history of the prodigies she had wrought, and of the vengeance she had taken upon persons who had vied with, or slighted her, had so inspired the people with awe, that, when supposed to be angry, no means were omitted to mitigate her anger; and had Paris adjudged to her the prize of Beauty, the fate of Troy might have been suspended. In resentment of this judgment, and to wreak her vengeance on Paris, the house of Priam, and the Trojan race, she appears in the Iliad to be fully employed. Minerva is commissioned by her to hinder the Greeks from retreating; she quarrels with Jupiter; she goes to battle; cajoles Jupiter with the cestus of Venus; carries the orders of Jupiter to Apollo and Iris; consults the gods on the conflict between Æneas and Achilles; sends Vulcan to oppose Xanthus; overcomes Diana, &c.

She is generally pictured like a matron, with a grave and majestic air, sometimes with a sceptre in her hand, and a veil on her head: she is represented also with a spear in her hand, and sometimes with a patĕra, as if she were about to sacrifice: on some medals she has a peacock at her feet, and sometimes holds the Palladium. Homer represents her in a chariot adorned with gems, having wheels of ebony, nails of silver, and horses with reins of gold,though more commonly her chariot is drawn by peacocks, her favourite birds. The most obvious and striking character of Juno, and that which we are apt to imbibe the most early of any, from the writings of Homer and Virgil, is that of an imperious and haughty wife. In both of these poets we find her much oftener scolding at Jupiter than caressing him, and in the tenth Æneid in particular, even in the council of the gods, we have a remarkable instance of this.

If, in searching out the meaning of this fable, we regard the account of Varro, we shall find, that by Juno was signified the earth; by Jupiter, the heavens; but if we believe the Stoics, by Juno is meant the air and its properties, and by Jupiter the ether: hence Homer supposes she was nourished by Oceănus and Tethys: that is, by the sea; and agreeable to this mythology, the poet makes her shout aloud in the army of the Greeks, the air being the cause of the sound.

II.Juno

Juno, the Roman divinity supposed to be identical with the Greek Hera, differed from her in the most salient points, for whereas Hera invariably appears as the haughty, unbending queen of heaven, Juno, on the other hand, is revered and beloved as the type of a matron and housewife. She was worshipped in Rome under various titles, most of which point to her vocation as the protectress of married women. Juno was believed to watch over and guard the life of every woman from her birth to her death. The principal temples dedicated to her were in Rome, one being erected on the Aventine, and the other on the Capitoline Hill. She had also a temple on the Arx, in which she was worshipped as Juno Moneta, or the warning goddess. Adjacent to this shrine was the public mint. On the 1st of March a grand annual festival, called the Matronalia, was celebrated in her honour by all the married women of Rome, and this religious institution was accompanied with much solemnity.