d peacock.

The first day of every month a ewe-lamb and sow were sacrificed to Hera.
The hawk, goose, and more particularly the peacock[17] were sacred to her.
Flocks of these beautiful birds generally surround her throne and draw her
chariot, Iris, the Rainbow, being seated behind her.

Her favourite flowers were the dittany, poppy, and lily.

JUNO.

Juno, the Roman divinity supposed to be identical with the Greek Hera,
differed from her in the most salient points, for whereas Hera invariably
appears as the haughty, unbending queen of heaven, Juno, on the other hand,
is revered and beloved as the type of a matron and housewife. She was
worshipped in Rome under various titles, most of which point to her
vocation as the protectress of married women. Juno was believed to watch
over and guard the life of every woman from her birth to her death. The
principal temples dedicated to her were in Rome, one being erected on the
Aventine, and the other on the Capitoline Hill. She had also a temple on
the Arx, in which she was worshipped as Juno Moneta, or the {43} warning
goddess. Adjacent to this shrine was the public mint.[18] On the 1st of
March a grand annual festival, called the Matronalia, was celebrated in her
honour by all the married women of Rome, and this religious institution was
accompanied with much solemnity.[19]

PALLAS-ATHENE (MINERVA).

Pallas-Athene, goddess of Wisdom and Armed Resistance, was a purely Greek
divinity; that is to say, no other nation possessed a corresponding
conception. She was supposed, as already related, to have issued from the
head of Zeus himself, clad in armour from head to foot. The miraculous
advent of this maiden goddess is beautifully described by Homer in one of
his hymns: snow-capped Olympus shook to its foundation; the glad earth
re-echoed her martial shout; the billowy sea became agitated; and Helios,
the sun-god, arrested his fiery steeds in their headlong course to welcome
this wonderful emanation from the godhead. Athene was at once admitted into
the assembly of the gods, and henceforth took her place as the most
faithful and sagacious of all her father's counsellors. This brave,
dauntless maiden, so exactly the essence of all that is noble in the
character of "the father of gods and men," remained throughout chaste in
word and deed, and kind at heart, without exhibiting any of those failings
which somewhat mar the nobler features in the character of Zeus. This
direct eman