Hera

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Hera (Ήρα in Ancient Greek) is the goddess of women and marriage. Her husband is Zeus and she is the Queen of the Gods, due to that marriage. She is the youngest daughter of Rhea and Kronos, and was also swallowed by her father with all of her other siblings except Zeus. Her Roman counterpart is Juno. She is married to her brother Zeus.

[edit] History
A statue of HeraAdded by Trex6Hera spent her childhood in her father's stomach. Zeus rescued her from this situation, and after the war with the Titans ended, she married him and became the Queen of the gods. After accepting Zeus, Gaia gave Hera an orchard with golden apples of immortality as a wedding gift. Hera employed the Hesperides, daughters of Atlas, to guard it, but not trusting them, also employed a one hundred headed dragon named Ladon. This orchard was later named The Garden of the Hesperides.

Over time, Zeus was very unfaithful to her, and had many children by mortal women. This understandably frustrated Hera to no end, and she devoted most of her time with keeping Zeus in sight, and making the lives of the children he had miserable.

Hera was insanely jealous of Zeus's other ladies and gets angry (especially in the story of Hercules) at Zeus's other children who aren't hers. This comes out most evidently in 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, and when she saw his unsightly appearance, she threw him from Olympus, crippling him forever. This act of cruelty haunted Hephaestus for life, and was a factor in his bitterness with life and the fact that he prefered to work away from his family.

Hera is noted to blame this on her husband Zeus. Later in life,Hephaestus gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by making her a magical throne which, when she sat on did not allow her to leave. The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go, but he repeatedly refused. Dionysus got him drunk and took him back to Olympus on the back of a mule. Hephaestus released Hera after being given Aphrodite as his wife. She cursed Leto, the mother of the twins Apollo and Artemis. Hera also caused Hercules to become temporarily insane, and in his madness he killed his wife and children. Hera also had Ares the god of war, Hebe the goddess of youth, and Eris the goddess of discord all through Zeus. As the goddess of marriage she had no other children.

Hera claimed the golden apple that her daughter Eris threw, with the words 'for the fairest' written on it. She lost to Aphrodite, because of the bribe she had offered Paris. Paris was chosen by Zeus to pick who was the fairest. Hera then engaged along with Athena in revenge against Paris for rejecting them which started the Trojan War.

[edit] Appearance
Hera has long chocolate brown hair woven into a braid with gold ribbons, and wears a simple white dress that ripples like oil on water when she moves. She is very beautiful

[edit] Personality
Hera seems the mothering-type, which is induced by being the goddess of women, marriage, and children, but is seen to be very jealous. When cross, even Zeus can be afraid of his wife. She also likes only 'perfect' children. She didn't care anything for Hephaestus because he wasn't her idea of the kind of son she wanted. Hera carries great loathing for illegitimate children and consorts of Zeus, for good reason. In mythology, she is seen as often aware and knowing of Zeus's unfaithfulness, many times tricking him in to getting what she wants. Though perhaps her anger should be more keyed toward her husband, Hera seems to gain revenge through those Zeus has interacted unlawfully with such as atempting to kill the illegitimate children in various ways.

[edit] Powers
It is unknown what kind of supernatural powers Hera possesses. In the Labyrinth she makes food appear out of thin air, like Dionysus 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 labor with two of Zeus's illigitemate 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. Hera presumably possesses the standard powers of a god.

[edit] Family
Hera had few very children with Zeus. Among those is Hephaestus, who she infamously threw off Mt. Olympus because he was ugly. .
 * Hebe
 * Hephaestus
 * Ares
 * Enyo