雅思阅读材料之古希腊主神赫拉

　古希腊神话中的天后，她是克罗诺斯(Κρόνος)和瑞娅(Ρέα)的长女，宙斯(zeus)的姐姐和第三位妻子，相对应于罗马神话的朱诺。赫拉是古希腊神话中奥林匹斯主神之一，主管婚姻和家庭，被尊称为“神后”。她在奥林匹斯山的地位仅次于她的丈夫宙斯。

　　Hera ( /ˈhɛrə/; Greek Ἥρα, Hēra, equivalently Ἥρη, Hērē, in Ionic and Homer) was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and thepeacock were sacred to her. Hera's mother was Rhea and her father Cronus.

　　Portrayed as majestic and solemn, often enthroned, and crowned with the polos (a high cylindrical crown worn by several of the Great Goddesses), Hera may bear a pomegranate in her hand, emblem of fertile blood and death and a substitute for the narcotic capsule of the opium poppy. A scholar of Greek mythology Walter Burkert writes in Greek Religion, "Nevertheless, there are memories of an earlier aniconic representation, as a pillar in Argos and as a plank in Samos."

　　Hera was known for her jealous and vengeful nature, most notably against Zeus's lovers and offspring, but also against mortals who crossed her, such as Pelias. Paris offended her by choosing Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess, earning Hera's hatred.