JUNO, in Pagan worſhip, was the ſiſter and wife of Jupiter, and the goddess of kingdoms and riches; and alſo ſtyled the queen of heaven: ſhe preſided over marriage and childbirth, and was repreſented as the daughter of Saturn and Rhea. She married Jupiter; but was not the moſt complaiſant wife: for according to Homer, that god was ſometimes obliged to make uſe of all his authority to keep her in due ſubjection; and the ſame author obſerves, that on her entering into a conſpiracy againſt him, he puniſhed her by ſuſpending her in the air with two anvils faſtened to her feet, and golden manacles on her hands, while all the other deities looked on without a poſſibility of helping her. However, her jealousy made her frequently find opportunities of interrupting her huſband in the courſe of his amours; and prompted her to puniſh with unrelenting fury Europa, Semele, Io, Latona, and the reſt of his miſtreſſes. Jupiter himſelf having conceived without any commerce with a female, Juno, in revenge, conceived Vulcan by the wind, Mars by touching a flower pointed out to her by the goddess Flora, and Hebe by eating greedily of lettuce.
Juno, as the queen of heaven, preſerved great ſtate: her uſual attendants were Terror and Boldneſs, Caſtor, Pollux, and 14 nymphs; but her moſt faithful attendant was the beautiful Iris, or the rainbow. 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. But ſhe is more commonly painted drawn by peacocks. She was repreſented in her temple at Corinth, ſeated 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. This ſtatue was of gold and ivory.
Some mythologiſts ſuppoſe that Juno ſignifies the ſir: others, that ſhe was the Egyptian Iſis; who being repreſented under various figures, was by the Greeks and Romans repreſented as ſo many diſtinct deities.