Hera

Marly Paul

The silver state of olympia were coins minted by Olympia to serve as a coinage at the sanctuary for Zeus and Hera. Dated in c. 380-365 BCE, they are an example of Hellenistic artistry. They were created by Olympia, Elis, Greece, and published around the 1950’s by part of the Lawrence University and Buerger Coin Collection. After beginning to collect the coins, they had a total of 38. Zeus and Hera represent divine marriage, authority, and the power of Greek mythology. Their ability to inflict power and make decisions distinguishes them from other gods and goddesses. These coins act as a remembrance for their work. The detailed and elegant headpiece above Hera’s head represents feminine and divine characteristics. It shows her elegance, sexuality, beauty, grace, and power. Hera is the “queen of the world” (La Fond), meaning she set up marriages and instructed certain actions. For example, she conspired to make Heracles socially inferior to his cousin, Eurydstheus by messing with the timing of their births which disrupts his power and authority, causing him to be upset. Additionally, the eagle represents Zeus’ power, because it is standing on a thunderbolt, and Zeus was the sky god. Both Hera and the eagle have a wreath around them. This reinforces the theme of legitimacy and victory. This piece is reflective of the divinities’ characteristics that we learned about in lecture, because it “symbolizes their strength and divinity” (Olympia). The worn out and dull color is reflective of its historical charm and rich political history in the Hellenistic world. It demonstrates power dynamics between the divinites and is a foreshadow to the current age. While these coins were used for artistic and historical purposes the fact that it is a coin, relates to the historical progression we have experienced up to this present moment. Our currency and form of payment has grown from a barter system, to coins, to physical cash. Without coins we would not have gotten to the point we are at today.  The history of the Olympic games is of importance because they represent more than history. They were a “lucrative business and provided a political and cultural forum” (Augustin) that brought people together. The coins served as a means of funding the games as a form of currency as well as representing the characteristics of Zeus and Hera with the eagle and the headpiece. These represent strength from the eagle and beauty from the headpiece.

Works cited:

Augustin, R. A. (2023, March 28). Ancient coins – coinage of the ancient Olympics. CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors. https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins-coinage-ancient-olympics/

Olympia, Elis, Greece. Silver Stater of Olympia, Elis, Greece, 12.01 g. c. 380–365 BCE. JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.9483578. Accessed 19 Feb. 2025.

Kiera Debacker

During the fifth to the third century BCE near the city of Elis, the Olympic Games took place, silver coins would often be spotted within the crowds, getting spent and collected. They occurred every four years and thousands of people gathered to watch the sporting events, with many festivals to celebrate the games, similar to the Olympics we know today. These games were so important to the Greeks that they not only suspended wars, but created their own currency for the duration of the events. These special silver coins were created and minted in Olympia with intricate designs that were updated every four years. They were used for food, game fees, sleeping quarters, or even souvenirs.

The coins today sell for thousands of dollars and are very rare. The coins featured had many different designs but the two main designs included Zues and Hera, king and queen of the gods. Hera was Zeus husband and sister and she was the goddess of women, childbirth, and marriage. Both had their own temples honoring them, Hera’s being the oldest and most important (La Fond). Hera’s mint coin has a portrait of her head on one side, and an eagle on the other. She was featured on many designs and was known to be seen wearing a crown-like headpiece called a polos. The eagle on the other side is seen to be surrounded by olives, representing power, strength, and guardianship. The eagle symbolizes Zeus, he lays on one side and Hera the other.  Hera’s head represents beauty, femininity, and power (Markowitz). These coins with Hera were also presented to the winners of the competition to honor them.

There is less mythology about Hera compared to other gods and goddesses. A large portion of her stories are tied with Zeus (Morford). Hera would go through cycles of her life where she restores her maidenhood since she rules over sovereignty. While Hera is referred to as the queen of the world, (La Fond) she is most known for being Zues’ wife. Comparable to how Hera is featured on the coin but Zues still joins her on the reverse side. The beauty of Hera and her power over marriage being on the other side of the coin contrasts Zeus' destruction and infidelity over Olympus. While they are very different, just like being on the opposite side of the coin, they are united together on one piece of art, much like the nature of their relationship, joining together in marriage and family to birth multiple children, and rule the world together.

Work Cited

Augustin, Russell  A. “Ancient Coins - Coinage of the Ancient Olympics.” CoinWeek, 28 Mar. 2023, coinweek.com/ancient-coins-coinage-ancient-olympics/.

Cadete, Claudia. “The Coins of the Ancient Olympic Games.” Baldwin’s, 13 May 2020, www.baldwin.co.uk/news/ancient-olympic-coins/.

Markowitz, Mike. “Hera on Ancient Coins - Queen of the Gods.” CoinWeek, 30 Nov. 2023, coinweek.com/hera-on-ancient-coins-queen-of-the-gods/.

Morford, Mark P. O., et al. Classical Mythology. Oxford University Press, 2023

Olympia, Elis, Greece. Silver Stater of Olympia, Elis, Greece, 12.01 g. c. 380–365 BCE. JSTOR,

“Research Guides: Persistent Links for Library Resources: JSTOR.” JSTOR - Persistent Links for Library Resources - Research Guides at University of Oregon Libraries, researchguides.uoregon.edu/persistentlinks/jstor.

Margaret Young

The Silver Slater of Olympia coin with Hera and the eagle of Zeus illustrates the mythological tensions over marriage. The front side of the coin showcases a profile of Hera adorned with a crown inscribed with "of the Eleains" . The other side displays an eagle representing Zeus. The first aspect is the contrast of Hera as the legitimate wife of Zeus represents with the idealized role of the Greek wife as evidenced by her relationship with Zeus. Hera is “only ultimately [a goddess] of marriage,” according to the myths, changing in stages from a “maiden or ‘virgin’” to Hera Teleia, “of fulfillment.”(La Fond) This aspect of her identity suggests that marriage was intended to function as a sacred, ever-renewing process.Hera on the coin emphasizes her divine power as overseer of marriage, a subtle reminder of her role in maintaining the sanctity and order of married existence.  In contrast, Hera and Zeus’s marriage is rife with conflict. “They are a long way from a happy couple,” as written in the article titled Hera, The Perfect Wife? Features and Paradoxes of the Greek Goddess of Marriage. The discussion continues as Guerro writes, “but despite that they were worshipped in ancient Greece as the paradigmatic married couple.” (Fernández Guerrero, O. (2021) This tension mirrors a larger cultural awareness that marriage, even divine marriage, is not without its difficulties. Hera’s refusal to wholeheartedly accept Zeus’s supreme rule illustrates a power struggle that resonates with the experiences of countless women in a world defined by patriarchal ways of being. The representation of Hera on the front of the coin while Zeus on the reverse opens the floor for considering the complex Greek ideals of power dynamics in marriage. The eagle, a symbol for the authority of Zeus, distinguishes him from Hera, emphasizing as it does that though she is a strong goddess, she is in a relationship with a super god and the very nature of the relationship abounds with marked imbalance.

The coin featuring Hera and Zeus is very meaningful. It’s an artifact that captures all the trouble marriages have in Greek mythology--a really profound artifact at that. It embodies the dualisms of power and submission; as Hera is both defending marriage and trying to maintain some control within her tumultuous relationship with Zeus. This insight leads us to understand not only the society’s expectations of women, but also so long as one persists against odds there will still be marriage. From studying the coin’s symbols we can gain an understanding of how the institution of marriage was thought about in ancient Greece: not simply as love and cooperation, but an intricate play between power, duty and discord. By such reflection, eventually, the coin invites us to ponder issues such as those whether relationships are between gods or people; and what they have to reveal about our views towards commitment, power and living in different societies at different times.                                        

Citation

Fernández Guerrero, Olaya. "Hera, The Perfect Wife? Features and Paradoxes of the Greek Goddess of Marriage." Journal of Family History, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1177/03631990211031280. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.

“Lesson 2: Video Lectures.” Video #5 - Destination Olympus: Introduction to the Olympian Gods.