Hera (U432)

Hera was the wife of Zeus, the Queen of Olympus, and the Olympian Pantheon of marriage. As such, she is also the deity most associated with family and the welfare of women and children. Her marriage was happier with Zeus than expected, though Zeus still occasionally had affairs (U432). Jealous and vengeful, Hera made sure to give each of his consorts some hard time.

## History

### Marriage

Zeus tricked Hera into marriage. Knowing full well that the goddess loved animals, he transformed himself into a distressed cuckoo and reverted to his original form only when Hera took the poor creature to her breast to warm it. Ashamed for being taken advantage of, Hera agreed to a marriage.

### Hercules' Baby Shower

At the birth of her youngest son, Hera and Zeus held a gathering at Olympus. Being a playful and caring mother, she teased her young child who had an affinity for playing with her wreath.
She told the young child to behave himself, while Zeus acted aloof and played with the child. They noticed that the child is strong, even in his infancy.

Meanwhile, Hermes was quick to rush past everyone else and bring Hera a bouquet of flowers. The gesture wasn't very moral, but was rather done just to get on her good side. It had seemed to work, as Hera appreciated the flowers and called them lovely. In his typical fashion, he made a witty remark. He said “I had Orpheus do the arrangement. Isn’t that too nutty?” The joke here was in the double use for the word “arrangement” - as in “floral arrangement” and “musical arrangement”.

Hermes then went to talk to and appease to Zeus, and while the two were talking, Hercules snatched one of Zeus' pocket lightnings. Hera was nervous and advised Zeus to keep them away from the infant, but Zeus affirmed that he would not hurt himself. Nevertheless, he got zapped when he tried to bite the bolt. The disgruntled infant then threw the bolt away, causing members of the party such as Apollo, Dionysus (who noticed first), Aphrodite, and Helios. Athena then deflected the bolt into one of the cloud formed pillars, which instantly repaired itself.

Taking the infant back in her arms, Zeus found the whole thing endearing and patted the boy on the head. He then on behalf of his son thanked everyone at the party for their gifts, which were far too abundant and overtly luxurious. He then on behalf of his son thanked everyone at the party for their gifts, which were far too abundant and overtly luxurious. Hera then asked Zeus about their own gift, and after thinking Zeus cloudweaved Pegasus.

### Hercules' Internship Week

Hera thought Hercules should have stayed at Gyro World, and she voted for Zeus during the vote of no-confidence. She encouraged Zeus to apologize to Hercules once the entire fiasco was cleared up.

## Appearance and Personality

### Appearance

Hera was a fully clothed matronly woman of solemn beauty, wearing a cylindrical crown called polos or a wreath and a veil. Sometimes she carried a scepter capped with a pomegranate and a cuckoo. She has a purple-red glow.

### Personality

As the guardian of marriage and the spouse of the King of Gods and Men, Hera didn’t have much choice but to be a faithful wife. Even though she was beautiful, not many men – and not one Pantheon – dared to lay hands on her. Just like most of the other Greek goddesses, when it came to her beauty, Hera was easily offended.

Once, Orion’s wife Side boasted that she was as beautiful as Hera, so the goddess sent her to the Underworld. When Laomedon’s daughter Antigone did the same, Hera turned her into a stork. Finally, after Paris chose Aphrodite instead of her, she became a sworn enemy of Troy.

Her love for horses encouraged many of the aesthetic designs of Olympus, and also Zeus' adoption of Pegasus.

Hera is a much more serious parent than Zeus, who often just fools around.

## Differences

* Hera is less vengeful
* Hera is the mother of Hercules
* Hera's love for horses inspires the design of Olympus and Pegasus' adoption