Hera
Queen of the Olympian gods and goddess of marriage. Known for her jealous rages against Zeus's lovers and their children.
The Myth of Hera
Hera was the eldest daughter of Kronos and Rhea, swallowed at birth and freed when Zeus overthrew their father. As queen of Olympus and goddess of marriage, she presided over the sacred bond between spouses — an irony given her turbulent union with Zeus. His affairs drove her to legendary vengeance. She persecuted Heracles from cradle to grave, sending serpents to kill him as an infant and later driving him to madness. She hounded Leto across the earth, delaying the birth of Apollo and Artemis on Delos. When Zeus fathered Dionysus by Semele, Hera tricked the mortal into demanding Zeus reveal his true form, destroying her. She tormented Io, setting Argus Panoptes as guard. In the Trojan War she sided with the Greeks against Troy, nursing a grudge since Paris judged Aphrodite fairer. She conspired with Athena, and her son Hephaestus once trapped her in a golden throne.
Parents
Kronos and Rhea
Children
Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe, Eileithyia
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Milky Way was said to have formed from Hera's breast milk when she pushed the infant Heracles away.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Hera
⚡ godQueen of the gods and guardian of marriage
The queen of Olympus and goddess of marriage who defended the institution of matrimony with a wrath that shaped half the myths.
Hera Teleia
⚡ godmarriage, completion
An epithet of Hera as goddess of marriage and its fulfilment, worshipped as the divine model of the married woman and protector of the wedding ceremony.
Alecto
⚡ godUnderworld
One of the three Erinyes whose name means "Unceasing" and who embodies relentless anger
Aphrodite
⚡ godGoddess of love, desire, and beauty
The goddess born from sea-foam whose power over desire could override the will of gods and mortals alike.
Juno
⚡ godMarriage, childbirth, women, the state
Queen of the Roman gods and protector of women and the state, counterpart to the Greek Hera
Aphrodite
⚡ godGoddess of love, beauty, desire
Goddess of love and beauty, born from the sea foam. Aphrodite's power to inspire desire was so great that even the gods were not immune.
Zeus
⚡ godKing of the gods, sky, thunder, lightning, law, order
Supreme ruler of the Olympian gods and lord of the sky. Zeus overthrew his father Kronos and divided the world among his brothers.
Megaera
⚡ godUnderworld
One of the three Erinyes who punishes oath-breakers, the jealous, and those guilty of marital infidelity
Venus
⚡ godLove, beauty, desire, fertility
Roman goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, identified with the Greek Aphrodite but also revered as ancestress of the Roman people
Ares
⚡ godGod of war, violence, bloodshed
God of the brutal, savage side of war. Unlike Athena's strategic warfare, Ares represented the raw violence and chaos of battle.
Lyssa
⚡ godMadness and frenzy
Goddess of mad rage and rabid frenzy who drove Heracles to murder his own children
Enyo
⚡ godGoddess of war and destruction
Enyo was a goddess of war who delighted in bloodshed and the destruction of cities — she accompanied Ares and Eris into battle.