After more than twenty years of public service, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has announced her intention to step down “from the high-wire of politics”. Regardless of who wins the upcoming US elections, Clinton recently told staffers that she needs to take some time to “find out how tired she is”.

Despite her insistence that this is the end of her personal political road, speculation persists that Clinton may be taking a long rest in order to raise funding and energy for the elections in four years’ time. For now, however, it seems the most powerful woman in US politics is determined to take a break. Hillary Clinton is a fascinating figure when viewed through the lens of Greek mythology. She first came to international attention as the wife of the US Democrats’ Presidential candidate Bill Clinton. Hillary was Hera to Bill’s Zeus, always at his side, staunchly supporting his bid for the most powerful political position on the planet.

Occasionally, she was snarky, too. Like the time she commented that she wasn’t the sort of wife to sit at home making cupcakes and drinking tea. No, Hillary was the ‘two for the price of one’ First Lady.

When I remember the Clintons inauguration as the new first family in the White House, it’s the vision of Hillary on the stage, clear-eyed and victorious in her blue suit, which haunts my memory of the occasion. The Greek Goddess Hera, partner to mighty Zeus, was used to competition (though she never relished it and those who made unfavourable comparisons between her and other Goddesses were usually punished). At the Judgment of Paris, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite competed for the title of ‘most beautiful goddess’.

Aphrodite promised Paris the beauteous Helen for his bride, so he chose to give the golden apple to her. Hera had promised to make Paris ruler of all mortals should he choose her, and judging by Hillary Clinton’s efforts with Bill, she would doubtless have made that promise come true. But after the Judgement of Paris, things were never quite the same between Hera and the Goddess of Love – and without Aphrodite’s blessing, marriage to Zeus was not always a cosy affair. Like Hera, Hillary Clinton had to deal (very publicly) with the roving eye and numerous rumoured assignations of her powerful husband. Throughout the Monica Lewinsky scandal, she stood by him, saying very little publicly.

Like the Goddess Hera, she might have transformed Lewinsky and any other of Bill’s flirtations into white heifers, birds or other creatures had she been able, but she was savvy enough to know it wasn’t necessary. Instead the Furies, in the form of Kenneth Starr, the Republicans and the media, did the job for her. By the time the proceedings were over, Bill Clinton’s reputation had been seriously dented, but not even a gadfly would have given Monica Lewinsky the time of day.

Hillary remained largely aloof from the fracas, but who could forget the grim set of her mouth as the Clinton family made their first appearance after the hearings – walking a long and uncomfortable path of forced family solidarity across the White House lawn to the Presidential helicopter? Whatever the hearings had concluded, privately Bill Clinton was obviously in very deep trouble with his most powerful political ally, his wife. When their time at the White House was over, it was Hillary’s turn to shine on the political stage. She ran for and achieved a seat representing New York in the Senate, and Bill now took the supporting role, working on his speaking tours and AIDS foundation.

This was the time of George Bush and the September 11 attacks against America – not an easy time for a Democratic New York Senator, but Hillary grabbed the job with both hands and worked through the challenges. She was the first woman to represent New York in the Senate, and the only First Lady to have run for public office. She held the position for two terms, before running her own campaign for President against Barack Obama in the 2008 election. Hera was now in the battle for the highest office in the land. It was a close race for the Democratic nomination, but Obama took a narrow lead and went ahead to win the election, with Hillary Clinton’s support.

Hillary was sworn in as Secretary of State, America’s number one diplomat under the Obama government, in January 2009. Greek mythology tells many stories of Hera’s diplomatic power – she and Athena went to Troy together to support the Greeks (Aphrodite supported the Trojans).

Athena has doubtless travelled with Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State on a number of occasions – the period since she took office having been fraught with international crises and conflicts. The global financial crisis, two unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Arab Spring, the Wikileaks release of 250,000 classified cables, famine in Africa, genocide in West Papua – Clinton has had to dig deep into her personal energy reserves to carry out her responsibilities. For the most part, she has done so with intelligence and grace under pressure.

Now, Hillary Clinton has admitted she is more tired than even she understands. Like Hera, she has had to sublimate her own power to support Zeus (in the form of her husband, and in the form of Obama). But deep down, under the supportive wife, the supportive colleague, the statesperson and the diplomat, lies the heart of the Huntress. Hera-like she may have appeared in public life for more than twenty years, but Hillary’s middle name is… Diane. Diana, the Greek Artemis, virgin Goddess of the Hunt, put no man before her mission to capture her quarry.

Her arrows were swift and accurate. She battled Hera once, and lost. Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton wouldn’t make the same mistake. She learned to embrace the good wife Hera archetype, as the best way to capture her quarry – the career she wanted in public life. She is, and will continue to be, a force to be reckoned with.

* Joanne Lock is an independent writer based in Australia. To contact Joanne or to read more of her work, please visit www.joannelock.com