Goddess of marriage, goddess of childhood, I am.
I was once loving, I was once alien.
But Zeus, oh, Zeus, he fooled me.
He said I was his love.
A cuckoo bird did no one see.
I was lovely, gracious, kind.
But often, Zeus' winglets fray.
So, I've been angry.
Is that a crime?
I've lost respect to my dismay.
And now, they will feel my anger.
They will feel my wrath.
All those who visited their beds.
Hera was the Olympian goddess of marriage and childbirth
and queen of the gods in Greek mythology.
She was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea,
the wife of Zeus, king of the gods,
and the mother of Ares, god of war,
Hebe, goddess of youth,
Hephaestus, god of arts and crafts,
and Illithia, goddess of childbirth.
Hera is associated with family and welfare
and is known by the Romans with the name Juno.
A mighty queen, she was one of the fairest goddesses on Mount Olympus.
She was the protector of children, marriage,
and a symbol for married women.
Hera is usually represented as a fully clothed,
regal woman of solemn beauty,
wearing a radiant crown or a wreath and a veil,
and sometimes carrying a scepter as a symbol of fertility.
She sometimes appears alongside Zeus
and is also often accompanied by a peacock,
which is one of her sacred animals,
or a cuckoo as a token of the way she was wooed by Zeus.
The Greek stories tell that Zeus seduced Hera into marriage.
Knowing fully well that the goddess loved animals dearly,
he transformed himself into a sick cuckoo
and approached the goddess looking distressed and starved,
then reverted to his original form,
only when the goddess took him to her breast to warm it,
not knowing who the poor creature was.
Hera consented to marry Zeus thereafter.
Now, Hera is known to be an extremely jealous goddess.
Her marriage to Zeus was an unhappy one,
mostly due to the reason that Zeus had numerous affairs
with other goddesses and mortal women alike.
Jealous and vengeful, but knowing she could not hurt nor stop her husband,
Hera directed her anger towards Zeus' lovers
and ensured she filled their lives with a great deal of suffering.
One of her unfortunate victims was Semele,
whom she killed by tricking her into forcing her lover, Zeus,
to reveal himself before her in all his glory.
And since humans can't look upon at gods without perishing,
Semele perished into thin air.
Others who have suffered the powerful goddess's anger,
include Callisto, whom she turned into a bear,
for giving birth to Zeus' child, Arcus.
Leto, whom she pursued for a long time,
and delayed her giving birth to Apollo.
And then, Heracles, whose birth she delayed,
costing him the throne of Argolid,
and additionally subjecting him to a lifetime of trials and hardship.
Hera was as much a vain goddess as she was a jealous one.
Like most of the other Greek goddesses,
when it came to her beauty, she was easily offended.
This was shown when she sent Orion's wife to the underworld,
because the woman had boasted that she was as beautiful as the goddess.
Also, after Paris chose Aphrodite instead of her,
Hera turned a sworn enemy of Troy.
