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Yes, Hera was magnificent; great Zeus himself
could not resist her, even though she knew
it was the chase and not the prize that lured him,
the challenge, not the yielding. I recall our youth,
when for a time our dreams ran yoked together
and we would make the world a new Olympus
.the mundane;
» Name: Gray
» Age: 21
» Journal: stone-pygmalion
» Contact: static analyst @ AIM
.the myth;
» Pantheon: Greek
» God(dess): Hera
» Reference: Art History, Greek Myth, Theoi, Pantheon Org, Wiki
» Family: {mother & father} Rhea and Cronus ; {spouse} Zeus
» Played By: Naomi Watts
» Human Alias: Elise Covington
» Human Age: 40
» Ability: the intimidation factor
» Occupation: Marital&Divorce attorney. You heard right :|.
» History: Hera was reportedly a goddess long before Zeus existed (in a historical context, not a mythological one). While literary historians argue about the original basis of Hera's purpose as a goddess in ancient Europe, they do seem to find common ground on the fact that the creation of Zeus (again, historical, not mythological) was a well-delivered attempt to subjugate her and the worship of her. This I provided as a little insight to how she's consequently portrayed in mythology subsequent to worship of Hera as Hera, Queen of the Olympians: a, let's be honest, jealous and over-the-top rage-whore who's very drive in life is to stick it to her husband for every undermining (be they lovers or unlucky bastards).
Hera was one of six children between Rhea and Cronus. And she was among the five who were swallowed by Cronus to maintain the continuation of the Titanarchy. But then of course, Zeus was luckily heralded away to be raised elsewhere, and then he came back to reclaim his brothers and sisters and that whole story is Zeus's history to tell. The important part to know about Hera is that she was the Goddess of women and marriage. And through her association in marriage with Zeus, she became the queen of the Gods on Mount Olympus. She wasn't, however, his first consort. Before her there was Metis, who gave rise to Athena and also Themis, who gave Astraea, Nemesis, and Horae. So when it came to Hera's turn, the major stories (the cuckoo story being more prominent on the internet, at any rate) seem to agree that she was, more or less, tricked and shamed into marriage with Zeus, although the wedding for whatever reason lasted 300 years by some accounts. Officially, their children were Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus.
Beyond those relations, Hera rained vengeance on every possible lover of Zeus, bastard sired by Zeus, and sometimes even Zeus himself. There was Heracles, who Hera tried to screw over every day of his life for being the bastard son of Zeus and Alcmene. From his very infancy, Hera was determined to make this kid die, or make his life a living hell. So after driving him into the crazies and making him kill his children, she let him do his twelve stupid labors to expiate for his crime, but obviously she had to annoy the shit out of this guy even when he was trying to make up for murdering children. There's no definitive answer why Heracles is literally "Hera's man" (Hera's glory). It could be because he was the hero she seemed to follow and hate the most. Although, some myths claim that Heracles saved Hera from the Porphyrion, which caused her to give him Hebe as a bride. There's also some reference to her adopting Heracles when he became immortal.
Then there was Echo, who Hera cursed into verbal mimicry because she was trying to be clever with Hera while allowing Zeus time out to gallivant the nymphy pastures. When Zeus impregnated Leto, Hera proclaimed that the poor woman was not going to give birth anywhere on "terra firma". And of course, Poseidon, the treacherous brother, helped the cow out and found her a floating island. From this, Apollo and Artemis were born. With Semele, Hera forced Zeus into being revealed, and that either killed Semele or baby Dionysus and different variations all lead to baby Dionysus being born just fine. When Zeus turned his lover Io into a cow, she sent Argus and then a gadfly after her. Best story of all was Lamia. Hera turned Lamia into a monster and killed her children, then Lamia became a child-eater forever.
While Hera's main stories involve her attacking Zeus's lovers and illegitimate children, she did revolt against Zeus himself at least once. When Zeus was becoming way super bossy to fellow gods, Hera secretly gathered a following to plot against him; it was almost successful. She and the gods in the circle managed to drug and tie Zeus down. But then a black sheep named Briareus interfered and helped Zeus out. She also used Hypnos a couple of times to mess around with Zeus, and to be honest, kid wasn't another bastard of Zeus's so she was allowed to favor him. Apparently Hypnos did her proud she'd promised him Pasithea. Hera also favored Jason because he was fated to be Pelias's downfall (and Pelias killed his step-grandmother on her altar); she made him happy by providing him her blessings and a love with Medea, but later he fell out of her favor and he died lonely and wretched. Lastly, she also meddled in the Trojan war by helping the Greeks.
» Reincarnations: Elise was born in Kent county of southeast England. Before any memories of Hera came into the equation, she was a sweet, soft-spoken girl. A gentle, proper young lady brought up with good English manners and style. She gravitated toward the more traditional roles and activities of the fairer sex. Knitting and dancing, pink dresses and fairy princess idols. She was 'la femme', and the epitome of that very title, with her girlish blonde curls and natural blue eyes. Elise was calm and well-mannered in school. Neither aggressive nor lackluster with grades, she did as well as an English child was expected to do in the academic arena. She had no real aims, but she did love to plan pretend weddings and play make-believe games of husband-and-wife.
It wasn't until she got past primary school that memories from Mount Olympus began to trickle back. And of course, for the most part, Hera stayed fairly true to her childhood mold -- but for one exception. As gradual as her slow growth phase, she had gone from someone sweet and soft-spoken to someone certain and full of spirit. Along with that came a bit of a tendency for meddling and playing in affairs so long as they pleased her. She dated boys, so many boys, in an attempt to find her one true Zeus; obviously, she never found one (and we don't even know if her ideal mental description matches the real guy, anyway). And in the process, she did quite a bit of damage in the department of vengeance for the fools who thought it was okay to two-time her with some other bimbo.
Inspired as much by the affairs of women such as herself who were wronged by shitty significant others, she'd decided early on that she would become an attorney of some sort to have a direct hand in resolving the fairness issues of marital troubles (and planning). With this goal in mind, she feverishly slammed at the books to do well in A-Levels which could get her into law at an English University. But after she got her bachelor's degree in law, instead of continuing on this path in the UK, she did a complete 180 and took the LSAT to apply for law schools in the US. Got accepted into a law school in New York, obtained her Juris Doctor degree, officially had no life in order to pass New York's bar and the MPRE, applied for jobs, and re-surfaced into the human sphere several years later when she finally settled into a job. The rest became pretty straightforward.
After settling into her apartment (you know, when she had a life again), she let the full gravity of being Hera sink in and get comfortable. And as long as she's meddling in other people's marriages on a legal license, the goddess part of her is a-okay with this wretchedly undivine situation.
» Personality: At the very least, all other things stripped from consideration, Hera is fierce. Vehement when it came to her marriage to Zeus and vengeful when it came to maintaining her superiority when she was undermined, this woman is nothing like hell on earth. She is hell on earth, scorned. But as a woman who will not accept patronizing gestures and attempts to fool her or subvert her in love and lust, she is best described as proud. Wiki says Hera was portrayed as majestic and solemn. That must be the case because, as Queen of the Olympic Gods, she could not and should not be subjugated (more than she has already been subjugated, anyway). Her symbol, the peacock, is a symbol of royalty that speaks for the high position which she holds and possesses, one which she must defend and project even when Zeus insults her with his various love affairs. She spent so much of her own mythology defending her honor; it speaks volumes for this woman's determination and priorities. Dignity and deference comes first.
Strangely enough, despite that Zeus is a shitty husband, she proves to be a faithful wife. This probably goes back to her sense of honor; but perhaps, from a personal level, it hints at the strength of her original affection, loyalty, and love. However, we'd be lying to ourselves if we didn't acknowledge that she was a jealous and raging woman. So, so intolerant is she of her husband's significant others, but her intolerance also extends to all of his bastard children too. It's not that she hates all but her own. She has a pretty good record of raining affection on anyone whose very existence isn't an insult to her queendom. And when Hera is generous, the queen is damn generous. But she has quite a talent for making the favored feel as high as Gods, and for the unfavored to feel like wretches of the earth. When she hates someone, she is pretty spiteful.
The one little part of Hera's personality that keeps her from becoming one dimensional is that she's not opposed to revolting against her husband on the rare occasion. And when she does, she usually has good reason (ok, there were a few petty ones: using Hypnos on Zeus to stick it to Heracles, for instance). Generally, the plans she executes against him are mildly successful. Of course, this shows that she could never, ever, be an acquiescent little wife. But Zeus didn't marry her for her acquiescence anyway (or one can hope that he wasn't dumb enough not to notice that). She does not make it easy for him to be her husband. She's difficult, demanding, easy to rile, and moderately not okay with serious bossiness from him. However, she wouldn't have had to be the bitch in their marriage if only he wasn't a womanizer.
As a human, she possesses all of her old character traits -- and not one drop less. But what's a strong woman without her weaknesses? Hera can not, can not, handle criticism. If she was a goddess still, she would've cursed them before they cried for mercy. But what could she do as a human? She's powerless. She simply does not know what to do with anyone picking at her own faults. She'll shut down and yes, maybe ponder and cry when she's alone and absolutely no one, NO ONE, is watching. Canon already established that Hera's beyond unstable. She does not know where to draw the line, when to draw it, and how to meet confrontation in light of the fact that no one gets to be smited at will by her little finger anymore. That makes things difficult for her: it makes it difficult for her to make friends, to gain alliances, if she can't control via fear.
» Journal: olympianqueen
» Sample Journal: Boys and girls.
I'm sure you've missed me, as surely as I've missed you. Some of you.
We've never met in person, but as far as I know, the polite thing to do now is to change that. The lot of you who try to avoid me on purpose in the next few weeks? Run. Pray. Hug yourselves and wait for me to come talk to you.
» Sample Roleplay: Hera was a pill. She never denied being one. Waking up that night after a two hour crash nap, she found herself staring into the mirror at a woman with red lips (slightly smudged from sleep) and relentless blue eyes, made all the more combative-looking from the dark lighting. Well. She snatched up two or three tissues, wetted them, and began to dab at her dark eyeliner. Going back out this soon would be a huge mistake, she decided. But it's not as if she could just cancel. She wasn't that weak willed. But Gods above, this human body could put up more of an effort to live lengthier days. Hera let out a sigh and fogged the mirror with her warm breath. She reached out to turn the faucet and watched the water run warm and steamy in the sink before she stuck her cold hands under the spout.
The mist that slowly glazed over the glass was met with a sportive smile. Her clean palms were promptly toweled dry. But then a pause when she turned the towel over to one hand. Her free hand was put to work as she pressed up a fingertip and made a note to herself: Lady, you are damn gorgeous. More a motto of confidence than a statement of vanity. Narrowing her eyes and checking her makeup one last time within the tiny windows of her lettering, she stood up and stepped out of the bathroom. The trench coat which had been left in a sorry pile on her bed was swept up on the way as she bee-lined to the door.
While waiting on the elevator she told herself that she was just going to make it a quick call and come back home. But the realistic side of her was already dreading the long night ahead. Somehow, she always got in touch with a scoundrel. And she knew, she just knew, she was going to make him miserable and make herself miserable.
could not resist her, even though she knew
it was the chase and not the prize that lured him,
the challenge, not the yielding. I recall our youth,
when for a time our dreams ran yoked together
and we would make the world a new Olympus
.the mundane;
» Name: Gray
» Age: 21
» Journal: stone-pygmalion
» Contact: static analyst @ AIM
.the myth;
» Pantheon: Greek
» God(dess): Hera
» Reference: Art History, Greek Myth, Theoi, Pantheon Org, Wiki
» Family: {mother & father} Rhea and Cronus ; {spouse} Zeus
» Played By: Naomi Watts
» Human Alias: Elise Covington
» Human Age: 40
» Ability: the intimidation factor
» Occupation: Marital&Divorce attorney. You heard right :|.
» History: Hera was reportedly a goddess long before Zeus existed (in a historical context, not a mythological one). While literary historians argue about the original basis of Hera's purpose as a goddess in ancient Europe, they do seem to find common ground on the fact that the creation of Zeus (again, historical, not mythological) was a well-delivered attempt to subjugate her and the worship of her. This I provided as a little insight to how she's consequently portrayed in mythology subsequent to worship of Hera as Hera, Queen of the Olympians: a, let's be honest, jealous and over-the-top rage-whore who's very drive in life is to stick it to her husband for every undermining (be they lovers or unlucky bastards).
Hera was one of six children between Rhea and Cronus. And she was among the five who were swallowed by Cronus to maintain the continuation of the Titanarchy. But then of course, Zeus was luckily heralded away to be raised elsewhere, and then he came back to reclaim his brothers and sisters and that whole story is Zeus's history to tell. The important part to know about Hera is that she was the Goddess of women and marriage. And through her association in marriage with Zeus, she became the queen of the Gods on Mount Olympus. She wasn't, however, his first consort. Before her there was Metis, who gave rise to Athena and also Themis, who gave Astraea, Nemesis, and Horae. So when it came to Hera's turn, the major stories (the cuckoo story being more prominent on the internet, at any rate) seem to agree that she was, more or less, tricked and shamed into marriage with Zeus, although the wedding for whatever reason lasted 300 years by some accounts. Officially, their children were Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus.
Beyond those relations, Hera rained vengeance on every possible lover of Zeus, bastard sired by Zeus, and sometimes even Zeus himself. There was Heracles, who Hera tried to screw over every day of his life for being the bastard son of Zeus and Alcmene. From his very infancy, Hera was determined to make this kid die, or make his life a living hell. So after driving him into the crazies and making him kill his children, she let him do his twelve stupid labors to expiate for his crime, but obviously she had to annoy the shit out of this guy even when he was trying to make up for murdering children. There's no definitive answer why Heracles is literally "Hera's man" (Hera's glory). It could be because he was the hero she seemed to follow and hate the most. Although, some myths claim that Heracles saved Hera from the Porphyrion, which caused her to give him Hebe as a bride. There's also some reference to her adopting Heracles when he became immortal.
Then there was Echo, who Hera cursed into verbal mimicry because she was trying to be clever with Hera while allowing Zeus time out to gallivant the nymphy pastures. When Zeus impregnated Leto, Hera proclaimed that the poor woman was not going to give birth anywhere on "terra firma". And of course, Poseidon, the treacherous brother, helped the cow out and found her a floating island. From this, Apollo and Artemis were born. With Semele, Hera forced Zeus into being revealed, and that either killed Semele or baby Dionysus and different variations all lead to baby Dionysus being born just fine. When Zeus turned his lover Io into a cow, she sent Argus and then a gadfly after her. Best story of all was Lamia. Hera turned Lamia into a monster and killed her children, then Lamia became a child-eater forever.
While Hera's main stories involve her attacking Zeus's lovers and illegitimate children, she did revolt against Zeus himself at least once. When Zeus was becoming way super bossy to fellow gods, Hera secretly gathered a following to plot against him; it was almost successful. She and the gods in the circle managed to drug and tie Zeus down. But then a black sheep named Briareus interfered and helped Zeus out. She also used Hypnos a couple of times to mess around with Zeus, and to be honest, kid wasn't another bastard of Zeus's so she was allowed to favor him. Apparently Hypnos did her proud she'd promised him Pasithea. Hera also favored Jason because he was fated to be Pelias's downfall (and Pelias killed his step-grandmother on her altar); she made him happy by providing him her blessings and a love with Medea, but later he fell out of her favor and he died lonely and wretched. Lastly, she also meddled in the Trojan war by helping the Greeks.
» Reincarnations: Elise was born in Kent county of southeast England. Before any memories of Hera came into the equation, she was a sweet, soft-spoken girl. A gentle, proper young lady brought up with good English manners and style. She gravitated toward the more traditional roles and activities of the fairer sex. Knitting and dancing, pink dresses and fairy princess idols. She was 'la femme', and the epitome of that very title, with her girlish blonde curls and natural blue eyes. Elise was calm and well-mannered in school. Neither aggressive nor lackluster with grades, she did as well as an English child was expected to do in the academic arena. She had no real aims, but she did love to plan pretend weddings and play make-believe games of husband-and-wife.
It wasn't until she got past primary school that memories from Mount Olympus began to trickle back. And of course, for the most part, Hera stayed fairly true to her childhood mold -- but for one exception. As gradual as her slow growth phase, she had gone from someone sweet and soft-spoken to someone certain and full of spirit. Along with that came a bit of a tendency for meddling and playing in affairs so long as they pleased her. She dated boys, so many boys, in an attempt to find her one true Zeus; obviously, she never found one (and we don't even know if her ideal mental description matches the real guy, anyway). And in the process, she did quite a bit of damage in the department of vengeance for the fools who thought it was okay to two-time her with some other bimbo.
Inspired as much by the affairs of women such as herself who were wronged by shitty significant others, she'd decided early on that she would become an attorney of some sort to have a direct hand in resolving the fairness issues of marital troubles (and planning). With this goal in mind, she feverishly slammed at the books to do well in A-Levels which could get her into law at an English University. But after she got her bachelor's degree in law, instead of continuing on this path in the UK, she did a complete 180 and took the LSAT to apply for law schools in the US. Got accepted into a law school in New York, obtained her Juris Doctor degree, officially had no life in order to pass New York's bar and the MPRE, applied for jobs, and re-surfaced into the human sphere several years later when she finally settled into a job. The rest became pretty straightforward.
After settling into her apartment (you know, when she had a life again), she let the full gravity of being Hera sink in and get comfortable. And as long as she's meddling in other people's marriages on a legal license, the goddess part of her is a-okay with this wretchedly undivine situation.
» Personality: At the very least, all other things stripped from consideration, Hera is fierce. Vehement when it came to her marriage to Zeus and vengeful when it came to maintaining her superiority when she was undermined, this woman is nothing like hell on earth. She is hell on earth, scorned. But as a woman who will not accept patronizing gestures and attempts to fool her or subvert her in love and lust, she is best described as proud. Wiki says Hera was portrayed as majestic and solemn. That must be the case because, as Queen of the Olympic Gods, she could not and should not be subjugated (more than she has already been subjugated, anyway). Her symbol, the peacock, is a symbol of royalty that speaks for the high position which she holds and possesses, one which she must defend and project even when Zeus insults her with his various love affairs. She spent so much of her own mythology defending her honor; it speaks volumes for this woman's determination and priorities. Dignity and deference comes first.
Strangely enough, despite that Zeus is a shitty husband, she proves to be a faithful wife. This probably goes back to her sense of honor; but perhaps, from a personal level, it hints at the strength of her original affection, loyalty, and love. However, we'd be lying to ourselves if we didn't acknowledge that she was a jealous and raging woman. So, so intolerant is she of her husband's significant others, but her intolerance also extends to all of his bastard children too. It's not that she hates all but her own. She has a pretty good record of raining affection on anyone whose very existence isn't an insult to her queendom. And when Hera is generous, the queen is damn generous. But she has quite a talent for making the favored feel as high as Gods, and for the unfavored to feel like wretches of the earth. When she hates someone, she is pretty spiteful.
The one little part of Hera's personality that keeps her from becoming one dimensional is that she's not opposed to revolting against her husband on the rare occasion. And when she does, she usually has good reason (ok, there were a few petty ones: using Hypnos on Zeus to stick it to Heracles, for instance). Generally, the plans she executes against him are mildly successful. Of course, this shows that she could never, ever, be an acquiescent little wife. But Zeus didn't marry her for her acquiescence anyway (or one can hope that he wasn't dumb enough not to notice that). She does not make it easy for him to be her husband. She's difficult, demanding, easy to rile, and moderately not okay with serious bossiness from him. However, she wouldn't have had to be the bitch in their marriage if only he wasn't a womanizer.
As a human, she possesses all of her old character traits -- and not one drop less. But what's a strong woman without her weaknesses? Hera can not, can not, handle criticism. If she was a goddess still, she would've cursed them before they cried for mercy. But what could she do as a human? She's powerless. She simply does not know what to do with anyone picking at her own faults. She'll shut down and yes, maybe ponder and cry when she's alone and absolutely no one, NO ONE, is watching. Canon already established that Hera's beyond unstable. She does not know where to draw the line, when to draw it, and how to meet confrontation in light of the fact that no one gets to be smited at will by her little finger anymore. That makes things difficult for her: it makes it difficult for her to make friends, to gain alliances, if she can't control via fear.
» Journal: olympianqueen
» Sample Journal: Boys and girls.
I'm sure you've missed me, as surely as I've missed you. Some of you.
We've never met in person, but as far as I know, the polite thing to do now is to change that. The lot of you who try to avoid me on purpose in the next few weeks? Run. Pray. Hug yourselves and wait for me to come talk to you.
» Sample Roleplay: Hera was a pill. She never denied being one. Waking up that night after a two hour crash nap, she found herself staring into the mirror at a woman with red lips (slightly smudged from sleep) and relentless blue eyes, made all the more combative-looking from the dark lighting. Well. She snatched up two or three tissues, wetted them, and began to dab at her dark eyeliner. Going back out this soon would be a huge mistake, she decided. But it's not as if she could just cancel. She wasn't that weak willed. But Gods above, this human body could put up more of an effort to live lengthier days. Hera let out a sigh and fogged the mirror with her warm breath. She reached out to turn the faucet and watched the water run warm and steamy in the sink before she stuck her cold hands under the spout.
The mist that slowly glazed over the glass was met with a sportive smile. Her clean palms were promptly toweled dry. But then a pause when she turned the towel over to one hand. Her free hand was put to work as she pressed up a fingertip and made a note to herself: Lady, you are damn gorgeous. More a motto of confidence than a statement of vanity. Narrowing her eyes and checking her makeup one last time within the tiny windows of her lettering, she stood up and stepped out of the bathroom. The trench coat which had been left in a sorry pile on her bed was swept up on the way as she bee-lined to the door.
While waiting on the elevator she told herself that she was just going to make it a quick call and come back home. But the realistic side of her was already dreading the long night ahead. Somehow, she always got in touch with a scoundrel. And she knew, she just knew, she was going to make him miserable and make herself miserable.