Hera

Ήρα





Hera (Ήρα in Ancient Greek) is the goddess of marriage and women. She is the wife and sister of Zeus, and therefore Queen of the Gods. She is the youngest daughter of Rhea and Kronos, and was also swallowed by her father Kronos along with all of her other siblings. Zeus alone was spared by their mother, and he later rescued Hera and the others from their father. Her Roman counterpart is Juno.



Hera spent her childhood in her Titan father Kronos' stomach after she was born by Rhea, her Titan mother. Zeus, the youngest child, rescued her and her siblings, and after the First Titan War ended she married him and became the Queen of the Gods. After accepting Zeus, Gaia gave Hera the golden apples of immortality as a wedding gift, which she placed in her garden at the western edge of the world. Hera employed the Hesperides, daughters of Atlas, to guard the tree, but as the nymphs would occasionally pluck an apple from the tree themselves, she also placed a one hundred headed dragon named Ladon there as well. This orchard was later named The Garden of the Hesperides.

Over time, Zeus was very unfaithful to her, and had many children with mortal women such as Jason Grace, Thalia Grace, and Hercules. This, understandably, frustrated Hera to no end, and she devoted most of her time to keeping Zeus in sight, as well as making the lives of the mistresses and illegitimate children miserable.

Her hatred is most evident in the story of Hercules, whom Hera tried to kill repetitively, and who later ended up as her son-in-law by her daughter Hebe.

Hera gave birth to Hephaestus, god of fire and the forge, but when she saw his unsightly appearance, threw him from Olympus, crippling him forever. This act of cruelty haunted Hephaestus, and was a factor in his bitterness with life and the fact that he preferred to work away from his family in his many forges in active volcanoes.

Other versions of the story say that Zeus was the one who cast him off Olympus, but Hephaestus himself seems to believe that Hera only blames him to "make her seem more likeable." Later in life, Hephaestus gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by making her a magical throne which, when she sat on it, did not allow her to leave. The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go, but he repeatedly refused their pleas until Dionysus, who was the god of wine and another son of Zeus, got him drunk and took him back to Olympus on the back of a mule. Hephaestus released Hera after being given Aphrodite, goddess of love, as his wife.

When Eris threw the Apple of Discord into the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, bearing the inscription "for the fairest," Hera was one of the candidates to claim it. Paris, prince of Troy, was chosen to judge between the three most beautiful goddesses, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Hera offered Paris a reward if he chose her as the most beautiful, willing to give him rule over Europe and Asia. She lost however, to Aphrodite, because of the bribe the goddess of love had offered Paris ( the love of the most beautiful woman in Greece, Helen). Hera engaged along with Athena on the Greek's side in the Trojan War in revenge against Paris for rejecting them.



 Powers 

It is unknown what kind of supernatural powers Hera possesses. In the Labyrinth she makes food appear out of thin air, like Dionysus and Hestia can. As queen of the gods, she seems to wield authority over the entire Earth, and was able to offer Paris kingship over all mortal countries if he chose her as the most beautiful goddess instead of Athena or Aphrodite. She also caused all land masses to shun Leto while she was in labour with two of Zeus's illegitimate children, Apollo and Artemis. She is the goddess of marriage, and might have the ability to bless marriages, or curse them if she is crossed. She is the goddess of motherhood, and might be able to affect fertility (Although this seems unlikely as she likely would have affected that of Zeus' mistresses to prevent any illegitimate children). Hera presumably possesses the standard powers of a god.