Juno Character Analysis in Metamorphoses

Juno is a goddess and Jupiter’s wife. Most of her actions throughout the Metamorphoses are in response to Jupiter’s many acts of infidelity. Juno is always jealous of Jupiter’s love interests, and afraid that her seat on the heavenly throne will be usurped. She punishes the love interests—even if they are the victims of Jupiter’s passion— by transforming them or thwarting their relationships with Jupiter.

Juno Character Timeline in Metamorphoses

The timeline below shows where the character Juno appears in Metamorphoses. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Queen Juno—Jupiter’s wife—notices that the sunny day has turned to night and suspects that Jupiter is cheating... (full context)

...Argus falls asleep. Mercury cuts off his head, splattering the rocks with blood. Furious, Queen Juno sends a demon to terrify Io. Io wanders the world, trying to escape her invisible... (full context)

Queen Juno hears of Jupiter’s infidelity. Furious, she finds Callisto, who has just given birth to Jupiter’s... (full context)

...then transports mother and son through space and implants them as constellations in the sky. Juno is furious to see her rival celebrated in the sky and goes to visit the... (full context)

Queen Juno gets in her chariot, drawn by peacocks whose feathers are set with Argus’s 100 eyes.... (full context)

...Diana’s punishment of Actaeon was too extreme, while others felt that it was appropriate. Queen Juno applauds the punishment because she is still furious that Jupiter slept with Europa and is... (full context)

Queen Juno disguises herself as Semele’s elderly nurse and goes to talk to Semele. She urges Semele... (full context)

One day, Jupiter and Queen Juno argue over whether men or women enjoy sex more. To settle their dispute, they decide... (full context)

...proud of Bacchus, as well as of her own husband Athamas and their children. Queen Juno is furious that her rival Semele’s son Bacchus caused Pentheus’s death, turned Minyas’s three daughters... (full context)

Queen Juno decides to pay a visit to Hades. Ovid asks the reader to imagine a cold,... (full context)

...screams and runs from the palace, calling on Bacchus to help her. From afar, Queen Juno laughs. She has Ino climb up a steep cliff and jump with her other baby... (full context)

...run to the cliff and grieve because they believe she has died. They curse Queen Juno. Angered by their insults, Juno turns Ino’s companions into stone as they attempt to jump... (full context)

...she depicts two mountains that represent two mortals who once aspired to be Jupiter and Juno. In the other two corners, she depicts two women who competed with Juno and were... (full context)

...belong to a local god but to the goddess Latona who was banished by Queen Juno and forced to give birth to Apollo and Diana in exile. (full context)

...Procne to marry Tereus. Their wedding and consummation is attended by the Furies instead of Juno, and so their son Itys is born under a bad omen. (full context)

Aeacus sighs and explains that a terrible plague decimated Aegina. Queen Juno, angry that Aegina was named after one of Jupiter’s mistresses, had infected Aegina with the... (full context)

...that Jupiter is his father and that he has performed many tasks at his stepmother Juno’s request. Achelous retorts that if it is true that Hercules is Jove’s son, he is... (full context)

...through the world, and he becomes famous. The fame of her husband’s bastard son infuriates Juno, so she sends the goddess Rumour to Hercules’s wife, Deianira. Rumour tells Deianira that Hercules... (full context)

...shirt attaches to Hercules’s flesh and starts to sear through it. He calls up to Juno, begging her to kill him. He recounts all the dangerous tasks Juno has forced him... (full context)

...with her legs crossed, ignoring Alcmena. One of Alcmena’s loyal servants, Galanthis, realized that Queen Juno was cursing Alcmena. So Galanthis went up to Lucina and lied, saying Alcmena had had... (full context)

...Ganymede. Jove disguised himself as an eagle and carried Ganymede up to the heavens. To Juno’s annoyance, Ganymede still serves Jove at his table. (full context)

...nights until her husband’s return, sewing new clothes for him. Every day, Alcyone goes to Juno’s altar and prays that her husband will return to her and not to another woman.... (full context)

...cushions. When Iris approaches him, he can barely open his drowsy eyes. Iris gives Sleep Juno’s message, asking him to appear in Alcyone’s dream disguised as Ceyx’s ghost. Sleep looks around... (full context)

...give his grandson Aeneas a place in heaven. Jupiter and all the gods agree, even Juno. Venus thanks Jupiter, then rides her chariot to the bank of a sacred river where... (full context)

...Sabine army, the women’s fathers form an army, too, and silently approach Rome at dark. Juno had opened one of Rome’s gates to help them enter. Venus wanted to close the... (full context)

Romulus’s wife Hersilie weeps, believing her husband is lost. Juno sends Iris to tell Hersilie to cease lamenting because her husband is now a god.... (full context)

...She feels she has suffered an unfair amount of treachery: she had to fight against Juno’s rage to protect Aeneas, and now Aeneas’s only living descendent, Julius Caesar, is under threat. (full context)