Hera Accomplishments

Hera is the queen of the ancient Greek gods, and is the goddess of marriage and family. She descended from her father Cronus and mother Rhea. Cronus swallowed her at birth along with her sisters, Demeter and Hestia, and her brothers, Poseidon and Hades; however her youngest brother, Zeus, was hidden from this fate and he later helped rescue his siblings. Because of Hera’s natural physical beauty she was forced to marry her brother, Zeus, when he fell in love with her. Many people deemed becoming married to Zeus as one of Hera’s accomplishments; however, she did not see it this way. Together they had three children, Ares, the god of war, Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, and Hebe, the goddess of youth. Hera also had another child named …show more content…
When Hera saw Hephaestus she was so ashamed for having birthed a crippled and ugly son, that she threw him off the side of Mt. Olympus. Although Hera was the goddess of marriage, she did not have a good marriage herself. Zeus had affairs nonstop with goddesses, nymphs, or mortals, “Hera constantly battled with her husband Zeus’ infidelity and she often took swift revenge”(Ancient History). For instance when Hera found one of Zeus’ mistresses, Callisto, she turned her into a bear and tricked Artemis into thinking she was a real bear, then Artemis hunted her and killed her. Hera’s responsibility was to protect women in their marriage, and she had the power to bless or curse and marriage she pleased. Her other powers consisted of strength, immortality, and resistance to injury (similar all of the gods). She also had the ability to protect women from men’s unwanted advances, death during childbirth, and help preserve woman’s overall health. Hera’s main flaw was her immense jealousy for Zeus, which lead her to have great cruelty towards all of his lovers, even if they were innocent. Hera represented the ideal woman for everyone to