Hera

{{Character|name=Hera|image=|aliases=Queen of the Gods, Lady Matrimony|family=Cronus (father) Rhea (mother) Zeus (brother-husband) Poseidon, Hades (brothers) Hestia, Demeter (sisters) Ares, Hephaestus (sons) Hebe, Eileithyia (daughters) Apollo, Hermes, Dionysus (nephews} Athena, Artemis, Deicidia, Persephone (nieces)|affiliation=Olympians|occupation=|marital=|birthDate=1343 SA 2557 BCE|birthPlace=Mount Othrys|deathDate=2800 TA 1100 BCE|deathPlace=Mount Olympus|species=Goddess|gender=Female|height=5'8"|eyes=Green|residence=Mount Olympus (formerly) Tartarus|status=Deceased (reincarnated as Elayno) |appearances= The Dungeon Master's Theogony The Dungeon Master's Iliad The Daughter of Persephone The Olympians Incarnate (mentioned) The Titan's Wrath The Heroes of Midgard (mentioned) |age=1,457|conflicts=First Titanomachy Trojan War Battle of Olympus}}

Hera was the Olympian goddess of women, marriage, childbirth and familial love. She was the youngest daughter of Cronus and Rhea, as well as the sister-wife of Zeus, therefore making her the Queen of the Gods.

Birth and Rescue
Hera was the youngest daughter and third child of Cronus, the Titan King of Mount Othrys, and his wife Rhea. Since she was their most beautiful daughter, Rhea had hoped that Hera wouldn't get swallowed. However, since Hera was a goddess (a member of a more beautiful and powerful race of immortals than the Titans), Cronus feared that Hera would one day overpower him and quickly proceeded to swallow her whole as well. Hera spent her childhood undigested in her father's stomach along with her sisters, and two younger brothers, who were swallowed shortly thereafter. Since they were immortal gods who couldn't truly die, all five of them had grown to their maturity undigested in Cronus' stomach.

However, Rhea soon gave birth to her final child, Zeus, who she secretly raised on Crete far away from Mount Othrys. After growing up, Zeus successfully infiltrated Cronus' Palace on Mount Othrys disguised as the Titan King's royal cup-bearer. Hera was finally released during the final drinking competition that Cronus had with his Titanic brothers and nephews. The Titan King disgorged all of the contents of his stomach in reverse order of swallowing: first the boulder (which Rhea put in Zeus' place), then Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. Zeus quickly introduced himself to his elder siblings, and all of them promptly escaped Mount Othrys, before their Titanic uncles and cousins came to their senses. In Zeus' Cave, at the base of Mount Ida, Hera happily reunited with her mother, who tearfully embraced her. Shortly thereafter, Hera and the other gods accepted Zeus as their leader and reached a unanimous consensus on declaring war against their tyrannical father. However, since the Titans were well-armed, and the gods still had no weapons, Hera agreed to help Zeus release their Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkerie uncles from Tartarus first.

Rescuing the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkeries
Her brother Hades was very skilled in navigating under the earth and lead them all into Tartarus through a network of Underworld tunnels. There, imprisoned in the maximum-security zone were the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkeries. Their guardian, Kampê, was the most ferocious and fearsome monster in all of Tartarus, frightening even Zeus, Hades and Poseidon themselves. However, the gods overcame their fear and were able to sneak in. Zeus managed to talk to the Cyclopes Brontes and convinced him to forge powerful weapons for him and his siblings behind Kampê's back. The three Elder Cyclopes forged three incredibly powerful weapons: the Master Bolt (for Zeus), the Trident (for Poseidon), and the Helm of Darkness (for Hades). With these new weapons, Zeus killed Kampê and Poseidon shattered the chains of the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkeries, releasing them. Afterward Hades safely guided his siblings and uncles back out of Tartarus. In return, for their release, all six of Hera's uncles agreed to fight on her side in the upcoming war with the Titans.

The First Titanomachy
Shortly after their return from Tartarus, Hera and her siblings officially declared war on Cronus and the other Titans, which resulted in the terrifying 11-year-long Titanomachy. The Elder Cyclopes soon forged a mighty golden Lotus staff for Hera, which she bravely wielded in battle against the Titans. The Titans initially had the upper hand since they were much more experienced warriors. However, as the years passed, the gods quickly became skilled warriors as well, and with the help of their new extremely powerful weapons and the aid of the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkeries, the gods finally prevailed.

While preparing for the final battle of the war, Hera and her siblings ascended to Mount Olympus (the tallest mountain in Greece after Mount Othrys). During the final battle, Zeus used his Master Bolt to shear off the top of Mount Othrys, and hurl Cronus from his Black Throne, defeating the Titan King. Shortly thereafter, the gods invaded the ruins of Mount Othrys and finally overwhelmed Atlas, Hyperion, Iapetus, Crius, and Coeus.

In the aftermath of the battle, the Elder Cyclops chained up all of the defeated Titans, while the Hekatonkeries forced them to kneel before the gods. Atlas, however laughed and stated that the sky would fall if the Titans of the East, West, North and South were all thrown into Tartarus. The Gods had already thought about this however, and punished Atlas by making him hold up the sky. Zeus then took their father's Scythe and sliced Cronus into a thousand pieces, before casting him into Tartarus, along with the rest of his followers (except for Atlas, who was forced to hold the sky). Calypso was punished for siding with the other Titans, and Hera gave invisible servants to the Titaness so she would have some company during her imprisonment in Ogygia. The gods chose Olympus as their official residence and the Elder Cyclopes build magnificent palaces there for them all. As a result, the gods started to call themselves the "Olympians".

Living with Oceanus and Tethys
As the most beautiful Olympian goddess in creation (before Aphrodite's birth), Hera was desired by many gods and Titans. However, she had a fierce and infamous temper, and would arrogantly rebuke anyone who ever tried to woo her. As a result, her mother decided to send Hera to her uncle Oceanus and aunt Tethys in order to learn to tame her temper. Hera spent a number of happy years with them away from Mount Olympus.

After seeing how stable and loving Oceanus and Tethys' marriage was, Hera decided to strive for a similar one for herself. While Hera did manage to tame her infamous temper by the time of her return, many gods were still wary of openly flirting with her since she was determined to find a perfect husband for herself.

Marriage to Zeus
Soon after her return, Hera caught the attention of Zeus himself. While Hera had strong feelings for him as well, she refused to be another conquest for the King of the Gods. However, Zeus was just as stubborn and wouldn't be dissuaded. He applied his excellent singing, dancing, and joking skills to woo Hera, but she wouldn't initially give in. Zeus made a bet with Hera that if she would ever confess her love for him, she would become his bride. A few days later, Zeus proceeded to generate a tremendous thunderstorm around Olympus and disguised himself as an injured cuckoo. The cuckoo flew into Hera's chambers just as she was shutting her windows, and proceeded to fall on the marble floor. She took what she thought was a defenseless creature in her arms, dried its feathers, and revived it with some divine nectar. On the next morning, the cuckoo didn't seem inclined to leave, and affectionately rubbed its beak against Hera's finger. Hera admitted having grown quite fond of the bird herself and gently cuddled it in her arms. At that very instant, the cuckoo transformed into Zeus himself. Although she was embarrassed and outraged by her brother's deception, Hera was very impressed at Zeus' cleverness and agreed to become his consort on the condition that he remained loyal to her a promise which Zeus would not uphold.

Their wedding was held in a spectacular celebration on Mount Olympus and was attended by many gods and neutral Titans. The couple arrived on a huge golden chariot, steered by Eos (who illuminated them with brilliant rosy light), and the ceremony was lead by the Fates. Through her marriage to Zeus, Hera became the Queen of Mount Olympus and the Olympian gods. Hera received great gifts from all of their wedding guests, but her favorite was a magnificent apple tree (with golden apples) that she received from her grandmother Gaia. Hera had the tree taken far off to the west and planted in a beautiful orchard. She employed the Hesperides to guard the tree, but as the nymphs would occasionally pluck an apple from the tree themselves, she put the fierce dragon Ladon there as well. This orchard was later named the Garden of the Hesperides

The newlyweds enjoyed a wonderful honeymoon and were both very happy with each other for 300 years. They had four divine children together: Ares (the God of War), Enyo (the Goddess of War), Hebe (the Goddess of Youth), and Eileithyia (the Goddess of Childbirth). After marrying Zeus, Hera decided to became the Goddess of Marriage, Motherhood, and Familial Love. However, Zeus eventually became restless and began the first of his many affairs. Hera was infuriated and frustrated to no end by his infidelity. She devoted most of her time to keeping Zeus in sight and making the lives of his mistresses and illegitimate children miserable. Her hatred is most evident in the stories of Dionysus and Heracles, whom she tried to kill repetitively.

Birth of Hephaestus
Tired of her husband after several children without her, Hera decided to have children without him as well. Her final son was Hephaestus (God of Blacksmiths) whom she had with herself. However, when Hera saw the unsightly appearance of her son, she threw him from Olympus in fear of being embarrassed by the other gods. Hephaestus landed in the sea, where he was found and raised by the Nereid Thetis. However, Hera's act of cruelty haunted Hephaestus.

After spending nine years under the sea, Hephaestus finally rode back to Mount Olympus. All of the gods (especially Hera) were shocked into silence by his ugliness. However, Hephaestus brought magnificent new thrones for all of the Olympians. Hera's throne was made from shining pure adamantine, making it particularly beautiful. A suspicious Hera finally seated herself and was instantly, tightly bound by invisible and unbreakable chains. The chains grasped Hera so tightly that she couldn't breathe and all of the divine ichor in her veins flowed to her arms and legs. Both Ares and Hermes tried to convince Hephaestus to release his mother, but the latter remained stubborn and inexorable. Dionysus began visiting Hephaestus' forge from time to time and peacefully chatting with him. A week later, Dionysus introduced Hephaestus to wine and finally convinced him to forgive Hera. Hephaestus came back to Mount Olympus, declared his forgiveness of Hera's act of cruelty and releases her. Afterwards, Hephaestus and Hera made peace with each other.

Olympian Riot
Enraged at her husband's abuse of power and infidelity, Hera decided to stage a revolt against Zeus. She managed to gain the support of Poseidon, Athena and Apollo. That evening, Apollo, Athena and Poseidon hid in the hall adjacent to the royal chambers, awaiting Hera's signal. As soon as Zeus had fallen asleep, all four of them quickly bound the King of Olympus with unbreakable and tightening golden chains, which were made by Athena. Even chained up and completely immobilized, an infuriated Zeus looked very intimidating. Poseidon attempted to reason with his brother and demanded that Zeus be a better ruler. Zeus refused, which prompted Hera to advocate leaving him chained up in his chambers until he agrees. Shortly thereafter, the four Olympians departed for the Throne Room for the first (and last) democratic meeting of the Olympian Council, which proved to be a very cumbersome task. The violent thrashing and bellowing King of Olympus was found by the Nereid Thetis. After convincing Zeus to not throw the rioters to Tartarus, Thetis managed to find the Hekatonkerie Briares by the sea shore. Briares quickly unchained Zeus, after which the latter seized his Master Bolt, and barged into the Throne Room, violently ending the meeting.

Zeus remained true to his word, but he still punished them all. While Poseidon and Apollo were temporarily stripped of their godly powers and forced to do hard labor, Hera received the severest punishment of all: She was chained right above the terrifying Void of Chaos. Every day, Zeus would visit her, threaten to sever the chains with his Master Bolt, and watch her tumble into the Void. Hephaestus could hear the wails of his mother all the way from Mount Olympus, which infuriated him as he couldn't bear to hear her suffering such a harsh punishment. As a result, Hephaestus set his mother free with his tools. Hera tearfully embraced her son and promised to never to call him ugly ever again.

Trojan War
When Eris hurled the Apple of Discord into the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, bearing the inscription "For the fairest", Hera was one of the candidates who competed for it, along with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom. The Trojan prince Paris was chosen to judge who was the most beautiful of the three goddesses: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Hera offered to make Paris the master of all Asia and Europe if he chose her. Athena offered Paris endless wisdom if he chose her. Aphrodite offered Paris the marriage of the most beautiful woman in existence: Helen, if he chose her. Paris immediately chose Aphrodite, as no man could resist the temptation of marrying a beautiful woman.

An enraged Hera sided with the Greeks along with Athena in the Trojan War in revenge against Paris. According to the Iliad, the war would have ended in peace, but Hera had a vested interest in its outcome and influenced Zeus to either switch sides or remain neutral.