If you missed my last Gods Of Smite article on Medusa, you can find it here.
Hi guys, I am back with another Greek person from mythology, this time a goddess. I figured with Mother’s Day being here, I would write about the Olympian’s queen of the gods, Hera, Zeus’s long-suffering wife. Hera is the goddess of women, marriage, and childbirth. Her Roman equivalent is Juno. She has a laundry list of epithets including Cow-Faced, White-Armed, and Virgin.
Hera being the queen of the Olympian gods had many offerings and was the subject of a lot of art, therefore she had many things attributed to her. Animals that she was associated with are cows, cuckoo birds, and peacocks. In fact with the peacock part, in the show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995-1999), when Hera was involved the was a flash of peacock feathers and women’s eyes. Her plant symbols are the lily, lotus, and pomegranate. Hera’s other symbols are the sceptre and crown though a polos or diadem fit too.
Hera’s family is huge and messed up. Her parents are Cronos, leader of the Titans, and Rhea, a mother goddess. She has six siblings, Poseidon, god of the sea, Hades, god of the Underworld, Demeter, goddess of the harvest, Hestia, goddess of the home, Zeus, king of the Olympian gods and god of the skies, and Chiron, the great teacher. Hera is married to Zeus. Her children are: Hephaestus, god of the forge and fire, Angelos, a goddess of the underworld, Ares, god of war, the nymph Arge, the Charities, Eileithyia, goddess of childbirth, Hebe, the goddess of youth, Eris, goddess of discord, and Eleutheria, the personification of liberty.
Hera is a vain (as most of the Olympian gods are) and jealous goddess. Well, maybe she got some therapy and has grown. If she did, I hope she got marriage counseling too. Anyway, Zeus gave her good reason for his cheating on her every time she blinked. I don’t think I would have blamed the women in this case unless they knew it was Zeus, they are blameless, and even if they did, the child is innocent. This didn’t stop her from being vengeful with said women and children. The most famous examples of this are Hera and Herakles (Hercules is his Roman equivalent so Juno’s thorn). I mean, she sent serpents to hill him when he was an infant for crying out loud. She was also horrible to Semele and Dionysus, Callisto and Arcas, and Io and Epaphus among others. I don’t think she will be winning any Step-Mother Of The Year awards any time soon.
I’m sure Mother Of The Year awards are out too after what she did to Hephaestus. To those who don’t know, Hephaestus was born to Hera and only Hera, but was born crippled. So, she tossed him down the mountain. Don’t worry, he got back at her. He crafted a beautiful throne and when she sat on it she was trapped and only Hephaestus could release her. He kept her there until Aphrodite became his wife. Go Hephaestus!
An example of her vanity is her and Athena causing the Trojan War. It started because Eris was barred from the wedding of Peleus and Thetis that all of Mt. Olympus was invited to, so she threw an apple addressed to the fairest into the wedding reception. The three that were convinced it was theirs were Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera. Paris, a prince of Troy, was told he would choose the most beautiful of them, and when he chose Aphrodite, Hera and Athena were enraged so they sided with the Greeks in the Trojan War. Talk about a temper tantrum and grudge.
Needless to say, at least in ancient times, she was not a very good mother in any sense of the word. She is/was certainly a bit unhinged. They say, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” so maybe make sure she is pissed off at Zeus before battle in Smite? Have you played Hera in Smite? How was it? Do you think Hera should be getting any motherhood awards? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, have fun storming the castle!
