Zeus and Hera

Archetypal Image of Father, Husband, and Wife (Archetypal Images in Greek Religion, Volume 5)

Carl Kerényi, Christopher Holme

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9780691281889
  9780691281896
• eBook ISBN:
  9780691290669
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Greek Ancient History

A landmark study of the archetypal father, husband, and wife in Greek religion and myth

What did Zeus mean to the Greeks of antiquity? Who was Hera, archetypally united with Zeus as if they were a human couple? Examining the word Zeus and its Greek synonyms theos and daimon, acclaimed mythologist and historian of religion Carl Kerényi traces the origins of Greek religion to the Minoan-Mycenean civilization. He shows how Homer’s view of the gods decisively shaped the literary and artistic tradition of Greek divine mythology and how the emergence of the Olympian family became the expression of a humane Zeus cult determined by the father image but formed within the domain of Hera.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Epigraphs
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• I. The Word Zeus and Its Synonyms, Theos and Daimon
• II. The Beginnings of the Zeus Religion and Its Early History
• III. The Emergence of the Olympian Divine Family
• IV. Poseidon as ‘Husband’ and ‘Father’
• V. Zeus the Brother-Husband
• VI. Hera Cults in the Peloponnese, Euboea, and Boeotia
• VII. The Great Goddess of Samos and Paestum
• Abbreviations
• List of Works Cited
• Index