Juno, Hercules, and the Muses at Rome

The Aedes Herculis Musarum (AHM), embodying musical harmony, was a symbolic focal point for political concordia at Rome. The treatment of its cult honorands in high poetry also embraces Juno Regina, whose contemporary temple was adjacent to the AHM. Juno (as Moneta) and the Muses are further associated in the function of "memory," and Juno, when offended, is susceptible to musical propitiation. The AHM is prominently identified with concord and Junonian reconciliation at the end of the Fasti, and in the Aeneid, Vergil evokes his Muse's Roman cult identity in exploring Juno's hostility towards the "Herculean" Aeneas, as also when he foreshadows her assent to the existence of Rome.