JUNO, in the ancient heathen mythology, was the daughter of Saturn and Rhea, or Ops, the sister and wife of Jupiter, consequently the chief of the female deities, and therefore styled the queen of heaven. She was born in the island of Samos, where she continued to reside during time period of her virginity.
The character of Juno is represented in no very amiable light. Her haughty and rebellious disposition is said to have subjected her, in some instances, to the displeasure and chastisement of her husband. She was excessively jea lous ; but, as it would appear, not without reason ; and she punished, with an unrelenting severity, Europa, Semele, Io, Latona, and the other ladies with whom Jupiter indulged himself in the pleasures of illicit love.
Juno was time mother of Vulcan, Mars, and Hebe. She was worshipped under the name of Lucina, having been considered as presiding over marriages and births. She is
usually represented in a chariot drawn by peacocks, with a sceptre in her right hand, and a Crown on her head. Homer describes her in a chariot adorned with precious stones, the wheels of which were of ebony, and which was drawn by horses with reins of gold. In her temples at Corinth, she was represented on a throne, with a crown on her head, a pomegranate in one hand, and in the other a sceptre, with a cuckoo on its top.
As the queen of heaven, her usual attendants were Ter ror and Boldness, Castor, Pollux, and fourteen nymphs ; but her principal attendant, and peculiar messenger, was Iris, or the Rainbow, the daughter of Thaumas and Electra.
A particular festival, called Junonalia, was celebrated by the Romans, in honour of Juno, and is fully described by Livy, lib. vii. dec. 3. (z)