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.
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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.
Book 1: Io (1)
Queen Juno—Jupiter’s wife—notices that the sunny day has turned to night and suspects that Jupiter is cheating...
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Book 1: Io (2)
...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...
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Book 2: Callisto
Queen Juno hears of Jupiter’s infidelity. Furious, she finds Callisto, who has just given birth to Jupiter’s...
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...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...
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Book 2: The Raven and the Crow
Queen Juno gets in her chariot, drawn by peacocks whose feathers are set with Argus’s 100 eyes....
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Book 3: Semele
...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...
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Queen Juno disguises herself as Semele’s elderly nurse and goes to talk to Semele. She urges Semele...
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Book 3: Teiresias
One day, Jupiter and Queen Juno argue over whether men or women enjoy sex more. To settle their dispute, they decide...
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Book 4: Ino and Athamas
...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...
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Queen Juno decides to pay a visit to Hades. Ovid asks the reader to imagine a cold,...
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...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...
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...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...
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Book 6: Arachne
...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...
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Book 6: The Lycian Peasants
...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.
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Book 6: Tereus, Procne and Philomela
...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.
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Book 7: The Plague at Aegina
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...
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Book 9: Achelous and Hercules
...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...
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Book 9: The Death of Hercules
...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...
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...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...
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Book 9: Alcmena and Galanthis
...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...
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Book 10: Orpheus’ Song: Ganymede
...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.
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Book 11: Ceyx and Alcyone
...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....
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...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...
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Book 14: The Apotheosis of Aeneas
...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...
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Book 14: Romulus
...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...
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Book 14: The Apotheosis of Romulus
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....
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Book 15: The Apotheosis of Julius Caesar
...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.
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