Leto, on the brink of childbirth, traveled far and wide searching for a place to have her children. She cursed Leto so that she would be entirely unable to give birth while touching solid ground. When she became pregnant with the twins Artemis and Apollo, Hera was incensed. Leto was a lover of Zeus and a daughter of Titans. He served as the herald to the gods and his goals often aligned with Hera’s. Unlike most of her stepchildren, therefore, Hera had a good relationship with Hermes. By the time Hermes finished feeding, Hera had already bonded with him. So, he arranged things so that Hera mistook him for Ares and suckled him at her breast. However, Hermes was born with adult intelligence, and he knew that he would be under threat from Hera if he did not act fast. Hermes, like many, many others, was a product of one of Zeus’s affairs – this time with a nymph, Maia.
She officially recognized him and even gave her daughter Hebe as his wife. Later, Heracles and Hera overcame their differences after he saved Hera’s life. For example, when he fought the Lernaean Hydra, she sent a giant crab monster. She also intervened in his Labors, sending extra monsters to harm and kill him. When Hera realized the trick, she pulled the infant from her breast, spilling milk that became the galaxy.Īs an adult, Heracles attempted to make sacrifices to Hera, but she always rejected them, eager to prevent any glory upon her step-son. Zeus brought Heracles to Hera and tricked her into nursing the child, pretending he was Ares. Sadly, the attempt at flattery did nothing to soothe Hera’s ire. To protect him, his mother renamed him Heracles (or Hercules), meaning ‘The Glory of Hera’. However, he strangled them and played with the bodies like a toy. When the boys were toddlers, she sent poisonous snakes to kill Zeus’s son. Then, she interfered with Alcaeus’s birth so that his twin (Amphitryon) was born first. Hera tricked Zeus into promising that Alcmene’s firstborn son would be blessed. However, Hera discovered the pregnancy and was extremely unhappy about it. He was to be raised by his mother and his foster-father, Amphitryon. With a woman named Alcmene, Zeus produced a son, Alcaeus. Finally, Zeus offered Hephaestus the hand of Aphrodite in marriage, and he agreed to let Hera go. The other gods begged, but Hephaestus would not budge. However, the throne was bespelled so that she could never escape until Hephaestus agreed to it. As an adult, he built a gilded throne for Hera, which she sat in. In another version, he was cast from Olympus by Zeus while trying to protect Hera from his advances.Įither way, the treatment left Hephaestus bitter and angry. In one version of the story, a disgusted Hera tossed him from Olympus and into the sea, where he was rescued and raised by Thetis. However, Hephaestus was born with a crippled foot. In revenge, she created her son, Hephaestus, through parthenogenesis. This made Ares very angry, and Hera became jealous of Zeus’s love for a daughter that was not her own. One day, Metis’s child, Athena, was born fully adult and battle-ready from Zeus’s forehead.Īthena quickly became Zeus’s favorite child. Previously, Zeus had swallowed his wife Metis while she was pregnant to prevent a prophecy where he would be overthrown by his son. With Zeus, Hera had several daughters, but only one son, Ares. She was then crowned the queen of heaven. Hera, embarrassed and ashamed, agreed to marry him after this. Zeus transformed back into his original form and raped Hera. Hera took the sparrow inside and held it to her breast to warm it, unaware it was Zeus. He flew through a storm and landed, freezing, at her feet. Zeus decided to take advantage of Hera’s kindly nature toward animals and turned himself into a sparrow. He had fallen in love with her, unlike his previous wives, many of whom he just approached with desire. Zeus took several wives, but he set his heart on the seventh and most important being his sister, Hera.
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