changes to conform to a type of man who can make a commitment,
then fulfilling Hera’s urge to be a wife may be possible.
HERA THE WOMAN
The modern Hera is easily recognizable. As the radiant bride
walking down the aisle toward her waiting groom, she is the joyful
Hera, anticipating her fulfillment. As the betrayed wife, who discov-
ers her husband is having an affair and rages at the other woman,
she is Hera the shrew. The Hera woman is embodied by countless
women who have been “the Missus”—typically virginal before
marriage or at least until the engagement, then the loyal wife for
decades, until she becomes the widow living on Social Security.
A Hera woman takes pleasure in making her husband the center
of her life. Everyone knows that her husband comes first. The chil-
dren of a Hera woman realize well the order of her universe: the
best is always saved for him. Other people quickly get the picture,
too: she puts them “on hold” until she checks with him.
Many women who are cast in the mold of Hera have a matronly
quality, and are perceived by everyone as “very much married.”
And many other women have Hera as one of several aspects of their
personalities. On the surface, they may not seem to be Hera women,
but as they learn about her they recognize that Hera is a very famil-
iar inner figure.
EARLY YEARS
At age four or five, young Hera can be found playing
house—saying, “You be the Daddy, and go to work,” as she shows
her playmate to the door. Bustling about like a “big person,” she
sweeps up and puts a dinner of grass salad and mud pies on the
table, anticipating the highlight of Hera’s day, which is when he
comes home and sits down for dinner. (In contrast, the young De-
meter, for whom being Mommy is the main event, wheels her doll
in a carriage and spends hours dressing, feeding, and putting her
“baby” to bed.)
But by age six or seven, when the sexes separate into their own
play groups and most little girls think most little
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