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Hera is the jealous and powerful wife of Zeus. She is the goddess of marriage and childbirth. It is said that Hera refused to marry Zeus for three hundred years until Zeus created a storm and disguised himself as a
cuckoo in order to win her sympathy. He then made Hera declare her love for it (Zeus). Hera is an older sister of Zeus but marriage among the immortals is natural while incest among the humans is a punishable sin. Not long after Hera and Zeus were wed Zeus' insatiable lust for beautiful women caused noticable frustration for her. As a result, she often took revenge on the women who were the objects of Zeus' affection. Her marriage with Zeus was inevitably a failure. Hera's jealously and hate against Zeus rose to be so great, that she tried to get rid of him. She convinced Poseidon and Athena who agreed upon her plan to bind Zeus down while he slept and throw him out of heaven. Their plan failed. Zeus recognized Hera as the chief conspirator and tortured her until she swore on the river Styx to never attempt treason again. Hera's Roman name is Juno. |
