“HERA” in “Hera”
HERA
Peter Paul Reubens, The Birth of the Milky Way. 1636-1638. Oil on canvas
Mayumi Alino
Peter Paul Reubens’ The Birth of the Milky Way captures the myth of the accidental creation of the Milky Way from Hera’s breast milk. The origin of the Milky Way, according to Greek mythology, is from Heracles’ suckling of Hera’s milk, and as she pulls him away spurts milk which forms the galaxy. Though the accounts may differ with each retelling, in many versions of this myth Hera is tricked into breastfeeding Heracles and realizes as he bites on her nipple, causing her to pull him away. It is then Hera’s divine milk which grants Heracles his immortality and strength which earned him a place in history. The Milky Way, known to early Greek culture as a simple cluster of stars, is our connection to the heavens. (Wintemberg p.235) In providing Heracles with her milk and through it immortality, Hera has provided those in the mortal realm our immortality through this cluster of stars which guide us to the world beyond.
The painting shows Hera spurting milk from her breast, and Heracles (also known as Hercules) being pulled away from her breast as Zeus bears witness from the horizon. Despite Hera being remembered for her vengefulness and jealousy towards her partner Zeus’ constant infidelity, “consistently appear[ing] as the vehement wife and mother who will punish and avenge the romantic escapades of her husband; she consistently acts with matronly severity, the severe champion of morality and marriage.” (Morford p.113) and for most versions of this myth taking note of Hera’s resentment towards Heracles for the child’s origins, Reubens paints Hera’s face with an expression of compassion for the infant. Reubens, who modeled this Hera after his own wife Helena Fourment, positions Hera as a ray of light who bathes the scene with her glow.
While Hera is shown radiating light with her halo above her head and her white robe flowing about as if an aura of her spirit, the other God in the painting—Zeus, her husband and the father of the child she is feeding, is shadowy and ominous, lurking in the corner with a displeased look in his face and his eagle in a pose ready to strike. The other avian creature added in the painting are the peacocks, this time a symbol of Hera, in remembrance of the other myth in which Hera enacts vengeance upon one of Zeus’ unwilling lover Io, by turning her into a cow and guarding her through the “all-seeing” Argus whose eyes she then fixed on the peacock as protection from Zeus. (Morford p.92) In these stories while Hera plays the vengeful wife she is known for in popular culture, she nevertheless upholds her role as mother by protecting Argus and providing Heracles with her milk, willingly or not. In depicting the matriarchal goddess as the creator of the Milky Way she also becomes the mother of our galaxy, whether the ancient Greeks knew it or not, fulfilling the fate of this goddess of marriage and womanhood as our divine giver of life.
Divya Prasad
In Peter Paul Rubens' The Birth of the Milky Way, we can see Zeus, Hera and a baby who is presumably known to be Hercules nestled in Heras lap. The painting depicts Hercules secretly suckling on Hera’s breast which results in him biting Hera and awakening the sleeping goddess. Hera abruptly pulls her breast away from Hercules causing her milk to spill from her left breast over the heavens and creating the milky way. Rubens does an amazing job capturing Hera and Zeus’s rocky marriage all while illustrating Hera’s divine powers.
Rubens’s illustration of Hera’s powers embedded in the painting is truly a work of art itself. Hera is well known as the goddess of “women, marriage and childbirth” (Morford et al. 118) and often appears as “the wife and mother who would punish and avenge the sexual escapades of her husband” (Morford et al. 117). In the painting, we see a Hercules, who was an illegitimate child of Zeus (a deeper analysis forthcoming), sitting on Hera’s lap. Considering Hera is the goddess of marriage and is well known to avenge the sexual escapades of Zeus, it made sense that Hera is depicted as abruptly pulling Hercules away from her. She clearly does not want to be awakened from her slumber to a strange child in her lap suckling from her breast. I find it ironic that Hera is the goddess of marriage and childbirth yet her own husband is so unfaithful.
Zeus is well known to be thought of as a “playboy” considering his countless affairs with many goddess and mortal women. In The Birth of the Milky Way, Rubens illustrates a baby who is known to be Hercules. Hercules was one of Zeus's many illegitimate children. He was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman named Alcmene. Unsurprisingly, Alcmene was tricked into sleeping with Zeus because he pretended to be her husband Amphitryon. Since Hercules lacked immorality, “Jupiter (Zeus) did what any sensible father would do: he sneaked that baby up to Mt. Olympus and placed him at his sleeping wife Juno’s (Hera) breast” (Sturman 1). Rubens did a great job choosing to illustrate Hercules with Hera because it brought to light what type of relationship Zeus and Hera had. Since Hera is the goddess of childbirth, I understand why Zeus thought to have his son suckle on Hera’s breast to gain immortality though if you think about it, it’s kind of messed up.
After researching the backstory of Hercules and taking into consideration that Hera is the goddess of childbirth, marriage, and women, I believe that Rubens did an amazing job strategically portraying Zeus’s antics all while displaying Heras powers. From my perspective, I think Rubens did a great job portraying the myth through his painting.
Works Cited
Morford Mark P, et al. Classical Mythology. 11th ed., Oxford University Press, 2019.
Sturman, Jeannette. “The Origin of the Milky Way [Peter Paul Rubens].” Sartle, 6 Oct. 2021, https://www.sartle.com/artwork/the-origin-of-the-milky-way-peter-paul-rubens.
Wintemberg, W.J. “Myths and Fancies of the Milky Way.” NASA/ADS, Oct 1908 Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Vol. 2, P.235, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1908JRASC...2..235W/abstract.
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