_anthea (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} _anthea) wrote,@ 2017-01-03 09:06:00 |
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| Entry tags: | bio, ooc |
Attack life. Hera's going to kill you anyway.  PERSONALITY In Italian, a belladonna is a beautiful lady; in English, it's a deadly poison. When it all comes down to it Hera is not a happy person. She hates just about everyone she comes into contact with, all while putting on a false sense of security which she instills in others. Those who know her reputation are hard pressed to back the eff off and let the woman do as she pleases, because when she doesn't get what she wants be prepared for an explosion of fury of epic proportions. And those who have no idea who they're dealing with are welcomed by a seemingly warm and caring woman, with certain ideals about marriage. More often than not she had helped marriages fall apart rather than helping to fix them - it isn't a stretch to assume she does it on purpose. As far as Zeus' little lovers are concerned, now she couldn't care less about them. She still holds the title Queen of the gods and wife of Zeus, but there is hardly any happiness between the two. When given the chance Hera will do whatever she can to bring him down because in the end, she believes herself to be the better ruler. She still feels she has the right to make her claim on Zeus. It gives her pleasure and amusement to watch those below her squirm, especially those who have done her an injustice in the past. Whatever their crime, Hera's hate runs deep and she does not forget. Those with whom she has a rocky past she pretends to be indifferent, but it's her actions that show her true feelings. And she's actually pretty good at covering her tracks. She is just as jealous, confrontational, and stubborn today as she was thousands of years ago. Hera isn't entirely bad, however. What she does is a reflection of the life that went horribly wrong because of infidelity. Those who receive her favor are few, but it's not impossible to receive it. It takes a lot of work and time, but there are some who even Hera likes. In the end, everyone is a pawn in Hera's game. Ice Queen is an accurate depiction. It's safe to say that with Roman influences, Hera's has toned it down a little. She's more laidback than in olden days when she was killing Zeus' lovers left and right, or else tormenting or cursing them. She still has a mean streak, but it's much more lax than before. HISTORY When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend. Born to the Titans Kronos and Rhea, Hera was swallowed whole by her father just as her siblings were. With the exception of Zeus. When Zeus grew older he forced Kronos to regurgitate his siblings, leading to the ten year Titanomachy. The Olympians eventually drove the male Titans into Tartaros and the Olympians gained rule over the Greeks. Some stories say Hera was reared by the Horai, others by Tethys. Other stories claim that the daughters of the river Asterion, Euboia, Prosymna, and Akraia, were Hera's nurses. Hera was the goddess of marriage and women, later the queen of the gods, and also a goddess of the sky and starry heavens. Sometimes she was called goddess of the moon, the stars, and nature. During Hera's years as a maiden Zeus changed form to appear as a cuckoo. He did so in order to seduce her. They were later wed, Hera receiving the garden of the golden apples as a wedding gift from Gaia. Their marriage, of course, was hardly a pleasant one. Hera was no simple, sweet wife - in fact, she was often described as confrontational and stubborn and even Zeus was sometimes frightened by her anger. She was a woman of fidelity and when Zeus dared to seek love from other women Hera was not slow to strike. Hera's own accounts of jealousy and rage are not small in number. Though stories say that the Titan Leto was Zeus' wife before Hera, Hera never accepted the title. She chased Leto throughout the country, giving orders that none were allowed to let the woman stop to rest and give birth to her children or else face severe punishment. When the goddess finally found solace on the floating island Delos Hera was hardly pleased, but there were no rules broken as the island was not connected to any land. Others who have fallen prey to Hera's jealousy and rage were Semele, Echo, Io, Callisto, Inyx, and many more! There is also the judgment of Paris, in which Hera competed with Aphrodite and Athena for the title of fairest of the goddesses and for the Apple of Discord (because Eris is a funny bitch, yo). Hera offered Paris to be king of all of Europe and Asia. Athena offered wisdom and skill in war, and Aphrodite offered the love of the most beautiful woman in the world. Naturally, the man chose Aphrodite's offer (and of course dropping her robe swayed his choice~). That only lead to yet another person who was under Hera's hate radar (or hate-dar), as well as Hera's siding with the Greeks during the battle of Troy. (And the list only goes on!) Others to fall victim to Hera's rages were the bastard sons of Zeus, Heracles and Dionysus (because they had everything to do with being born). After Zeus seduced Alcmena, with whom he had Heracles, Hera was pretty pissed and even while he was only an infant sent snakes to poison him. To her displeasure the infant strangled the snakes all by his little self. Well, that didn't bode well with Hera but that would not be the end of her hatred and attempts to kill the bastard child and be rid of such a burden. Heracles would wed and have a family, which Hera just had to fix. One day Hera had Lyssa strike Heracles with madness and in this state he killed his family - much to Hera's sick delight. As punishment King Eurysthesus sent him to fulfill twelve labors - twelve supposedly-impossible labors. Much to Hera's dismay Heracles eventually completed these labors, doing some unimportant things in her eyes and losing another wife along the way. Upon completion of the twelve labors Heracles was permitted to marry Hera's most favorite child, Hebe. While stories suggest a friendship had blossomed, Hera remains as hateful toward the brute as she ever has. As is obvious, Hera's wrath is not difficult to gain. In fact, there are few in her favor and more often than not her intentions are wholly for the sake of keeping her own power in tact. Her daughters alone have felt that little kindling of what could possibly be described as love - with the exception of Enyo. Not even her own children are safe from her anger. Hephaestus was tossed from Olympus when he was a mere infant, all because he was lame and not at all what she had expected. Some stories say she gave birth to Hephaestus on her own after Athena came forth from Zeus' head, because jealousy is Hera's middle name and no one is allowed to one-up her in anything. And yet another story simply makes Hera and Zeus both Hephaestus' parents, though no matter the story Hera always tossed the child without a care. Which later resulted in Hephaestus trapping Hera on a magical, binding throne as punishment for being a cruel bitch. Even young, happy couples deep in love were not free of Hera's rage. For saying that their love was stronger than that of Zeus' and Hera's, Polytekhnos and Aedon were sent Eris. She provoked discord between the two lovers. In a strange, yet oddly appropriate competition they agreed that whoever worked faster with their hands to complete a task (Polytekhnos finishing a standing board for a chariot, and Aedon weaving a web) that the loser would send a female servant to the other. Aedon won and Polytekhnos was angered by this, raped Aedon's sister, then sent her to Aedon disguised as a servant. Upon discovering who they were the women killed Polytekhnos' son and fed him to his father. And then the family was changed into birds. Hera's accounts of jealousy are almost endless, even to this day. Her power has hardly faltered and she remains perhaps one of the strongest and best known of the Greeks. And she's sure to make everyone remember that. She isn't necessarily loyal to Zeus, considering he is a cheating scum of the earth, but he is her King and as Queen of the gods she followed him wherever he went. Right into New York. Now her biggest problem is deciding whether to usurp Zeus or to side with him. She can never be sure that things will work out with a cheating bastard. It doesn't help that when she conspired with Athena and Poseidon to put Zeus in chains that Zeus beat her; yeah that made everything better and lovey-dovey~ |  HERA original ice queen DEITY: Hera ALIAS: Juno Daedala NICKNAMES: Call her anything but Hera (or her alias, accordingly) and she just may hunt you down. APPARENT AGE: Late thirties MARITAL STATUS: Single SEXUALITY: Heterosexual OCCUPATION: Marriage counselor (pffffffffft) CURRENT RESIDENCE: NYC PARENTS: Kronos and Rhea SIBLINGS: Hestia, Demeter, Hades, Poseidon, Zeus CHILDREN: Ares, Eileithyia, Enyo, Hebe, Hephaestus  • Goddess of marriage and women, of sky and starry heavens • Symbol: Royal scepter •Sacred Animals: Peacock, cow, lion, cuckoo • Sacred Plant: Pomegranate  NAME: Angela PB: Lucy Lawless |