"SALONIKA, Greece -- Archaeologists in northern Greece have unearthed a rare statue of Hera, ancient Greek goddess of marriage, which together with an earlier discovery of a matching Zeus statue constitutes the first paired display of Greek gods ever found in the country," according to a Middle East Times article.
When a violent storm brewed, the ancient Greeks believed that Zeus and his wife Hera were quarelling as they usually did.
In Greek mythology, one of Hera's typical portrayals was the jealous and nagging wife of the earnestly womanizing Zeus. Another typical portrayal was the enraged wife punishing Zeus's lovers and their offspring.
As a dedicated fan of Greek mythology, I often read, with a mix of sympathy and amusement, the mishaps of the divine couple. You'd think that a union between sky god and earth mother would be the most natural. But Zeus constantly wronged his beautiful wife: Seducing women in the form of a swan, a bull, and a shower of golden rain.
Bestiality and infidelity aside, the true tragedy of Zeus and Hera is that they are re-united centuries later in the form of their paired statues. If stone could speak, I would have loved to hear Hera's reaction at the tragic irony of being returned to her husband.
Unfortunately, death could not really do them part.
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