Hera Olympios

Hera Olympios, Juno, Queen of The Gods, Queen of The Cosmos, Queen of The Earth, Goddess of Marriage, Women, Marital Harmony and Childbirth.

Hera, known as Juno to The Romans, is an enormous Protogen, usually depicted as 41 feet tall, with soft blue fur, a white underbelly, pointed triangular ears, purple LED eyes and mouth displayed on her visor face and a long fluffy tail. She’s often depicted wearing a long linen dress of deep purple, along with a crown of a simple golden band and a belt of silver. A lover of peacocks and crows, Hera is almost never seen without either bird.

Born the third eldest to The Titans Cronus and Rhea, Cronus, thanks to a prophecy telling him that his children would overthrow him, swallowed his six other children. Unable to bear any more, Rhea commanded an eagle to take an infant Zeus to the island of Crete, while she wrapped a stone in swaddling cloth and tricked Cronus into thinking it was Zeus.

Growing up raised by Nymphs and The Earth Titan Gia, years later, Zeus returned to Mount Othrys and made Cronus regurgitate his siblings, either by punching him in the stomach or by using a poison inducing sickness. Zeus then led his siblings, along with The Cyclopes, Hecatonchires and The Titans Prometheus, his brother Epimetheus and Zeus’ foster mother Gia, into the decades long war known as The Titanomachy. The war finally ended after Zeus cut up Cronus into portions and tossed him into Tartarus.

After securing victory over The Titans, he and his brothers Poseidon and Hades argued who would rule what, wanting to avoid another conflict, Hera demanded that they drew lots, agreeing, Zeus would pull the longest lot, granting him rule over The Sky and the rest of The Gods, while Poseidon was given the seas and oceans, leaving Hades with The Underworld and the responsibility of overseeing The Dead.

After moving The Gods to Mount Olympus, The Cyclopes gifted Zeus his Thunder Rod, which would become his symbol. Forged from bronze and plated with gold and capped on both ends with jagged edges resembling a thunderbolt, The Thunder Rod crackles with electricity and symbolizes Zeus’ power over the sky and the other Gods.

Zeus originally married Metis, The Goddess of Wisdom and Deep Thought, but accidentally swallowed her after she turned into a fly. Afterwards he decided to marry Hera in her stead.

With Hera, Zeus fathered Ares, Eileithyia, Hebe and Hephaestus, however Hera would cast Hephaestus from Olympus due to his misshapen appearance, but Hephaestus would return years later with a new throne that he had crafted for his mother, Hera accepted the gift, only for it to trap her on the seat, Hephaestus only agreeing to release her if his place on Olympus was restored, to which Zeus acquiesced.

While Zeus is famous for his sexual escapades, Hera is rather infamous for brutally punishing his lovers, often with tragic or ironic transformations, sometimes even getting Zeus to kill his lovers instead, like the time she tricked Semele into getting Zeus to reveal his true form, which led to the birth of Dionysus.

One evening, Hera and Zeus got into a particularly nasty argument, leading Hera to retreat to her sanctuary in Euboea. Without their Queen, the cosmos became unbalanced, Zues with the help of a minor mountain God, dressed a tree in the shape of a woman in a bridal dress, setting up a false wedding ceremony, Hera, ever the ever jealous, immediately crashed the ceremony and tore away the dress to reveal the tree, using this moment, Zeus would apologize and seek forgiveness, in some versions of the story even swearing to finally remain loyal. Hera would eventually acquiesce and return to Olympus restoring balance.

Like most Gods, Hera was honored with the sacrifice of goats, rams and cattle, which were placed before her alters or burned. She was predominately worshipped at Samos and particularly Argos, as it was considered her abode second to Olympus.

Her holiday, The Heraea, was a women-only festival held at Olympia and Samos featuring footraces for young unmarried women divided by age groups, celebrating female vigor and readiness for marriage. Sacred marriage festivals where communities reenacted the divine union of Zeus and Hera to bless mortal marriages and societal fertility.