Hera/Lore

## Biography

### **The Golden Traitor**

Hera was the last of three Goddesses created by the Fertility Goddess Metis, who crafted her from starlight and the sweetest earth. Metis created her daughters to aid her in ending Kronos’s reign as ruler of the cosmos, inadvertently raising them alongside his sons.

Early into the period that would come to be known as the Titanomachy, Hera was tasked by Metis to help tend to Aidoneus, who suffered severe injuries when he was rescued from Kronos. Timid at first, the young goddess slowly began to help Aidoneus with his bandages, speaking to him and acknowledging that he had been alone for 13 years. Although in pain, the injured god gently caressed her face. Smiling at him, she moved towards him and the two shared a kiss. However, Zeus, who had "claimed" Hera for himself, grew jealous over the romantic tension between them, and put down Hades' attempts to court Hera. At some point, Hera entered into a more official romantic relationship with Zeus, although it is unclear if it was before or after Hera and Aidoneus’ kiss.

During the rebellion, Kronos began to slowly descend into madness. Realizing that his power still outmatched their own, Zeus and Hera developed a plan together to take advantage of Kronos' loneliness. Hera would seduce Kronos and slowly poison him over time with the same poisonous plant that Zeus had initially used to free Hades and Poseidon. Despite the protests of Metis and Aidoneus, Hera went on with the plan.

Hera initially caught Kronos' attention by having him "save [her] from [her] nakedness," claiming that a group of satyrs had thrown her clothes up into a tree while she was bathing, and she needed help retrieving them. Once he had done so, Hera thanked him and began to leave. However, Kronos was fascinated by her being "the color of blood," and requested to keep seeing her, falling into the trap. The two would continue to meet, culminating into Hera allowing him to "bed" her. At one point, Kronos told Hera he loved her, although her response to this is unknown. Hera would state that although she was aware it was an act, her spirit was unable to keep up. Zeus became jealous and upset, as it all seemed to work too well for his liking. In response, Hera grew resentful, as she was just doing as the two had planned.

When Kronos eventually discovered her deceit, he grabbed Hera on the battlefield and ripped her in half, giving her the X-shaped scar she has on her stomach in the present day. Although she was terribly injured, thanks to her sacrifice Kronos had been defeated and the war was over. As Hera recovered, Demeter and her other friends comforted her. Despite Zeus’s attempts to comfort Hera, however, he could not understand the pain that Kronos had inflicted upon the others through their scars. Hera found comfort in Hades instead, as he could better empathize with her.

Zeus, jealous of how close the two were getting, pushed Hades into becoming the ruler of the Underworld, so as to keep him and Hera separated. Though Hades asked Hera to come with him, she declined as she had been offered the chance to be Queen of the Gods if she married Zeus, something she desperately wanted, feeling she had earned it by playing her terrible role in the Titanomachy. Many beings judged Hera for her original deception, earning her the derogatory title “The Golden Traitor”.

Overtime, Zeus proved himself to be an incompetent ruler and unfaithful husband. He would frequently cheat on Hera during their marriage. In retaliation, she had her own long term affair with Hades which eventually ended in the 80s.

Over the next thousands of years Hera had at least three children with Zeus; her sons Hephaestus and Ares, and recently her daughter Hebe.