Hera and Hercules: The Detrimental Relationship Between the Goddess and the Hero

During the time of hercule’s birth, Zeus it clear that a child of Perseus, would rule Mycenae. Hera, because she was jealous, persuaded the goddess of childbirth, to hold back Alcmena's delivery, and made it that Eurystheus, also a descendant of Perseus, is going to be arrived already seven months old. Heracles lost the throne of Mycenae because of this. Heracles was eight months old when, Hera, wanting him to die, sent two serpents to him. But with his strength he killed them with his bare hands (Hercules 1) Hercules's family is from Argos, since his mother was Alcmene, daughter of the Mycenaean king Electryon.

Alcmene’s faithful servant Galanthis fooled Lithia long enough for baby Hercules to be born. Alcmene, fearing the goddesses wrath abandons Hercules, but this plan will not suffice. Athena finds the lad and cares for him. She brings Hercules to Hera to be breastfeed giving him his superhuman strength. “After Athena returned, Hercules’ his jealous stepmother, Hera, tried to murder the infant by putting a serpent in his cradle” (Leiff).

He goes to Delphi to ask if he will someday have a son but the priestess tells him no and also tell him that this daughter will have a son who will some day kill him. He did not want to kill his daughter because he loved her but also because he feared the anger of the gods. So he built an underground bronze house and imprisoned her there. It was there that Zeus visited her and made her pregnant. When the King found out about this he had his daughter placed in a chest and put out to sea.

When Hercules grew up and had become a great warrior, he married a young woman named Megara. They had two children together and lived very happily. However, things didn’t turn out as they do in the movie. One day, Hera sent a fit of madness to Hercules that put him into so great a rage, that he murdered his wife and both children. When Hercules regained his senses and realized what he had done, he asked the god Apollo to rid him of his sins.

Hephaestus's sister, Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, was born from Zeus's head because Gaia said his son (Even though Athena turned out to be a girl) would overthrow him once he was born. Zeus swallowed Athena before she was born so that she would be unable to overpower him, but Hephaestus used an ax to bust open Zeus's head and allow Athena to be born. Zeus and Hera had many other children besides Athena and Hephaestus. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, was Hephaestus's wife. Zeus forced Aphrodite to marry Hephaestus in exchange for Hera's freedom from the throne he made for her that imprisoned her.

Hercules was conceived by Zeus of divine nature and a mortal woman named Alcmene. Zeus appeared to her one night disguised as her husband Amphitryon. Amphitryon then appeared to her “again” causing her to have two sons one of divinity and the other of morality, their names were Hercules and Iphicles. Hera, not too pleased by her husband’s deceitful ways made Zeus swear that the next descendant of Perseus to be borne will be the high king. Zeus agrees to this thinking that the next borne will be Hercules, but Hera has plenty of tricks up her sleeve.

(paraphrased) *Son of Zeus because Zeus disguised himself as Alcmene’s husband Amphitryon but did have an affair with her; Hercules born (paraphrased) *Hercules was strong man and married Megara(daughter of the King of Thebes). They had children together. Hercules never was able to settle down with his family because his stepmother Hera cause a fit to overtake him and Hercules killed his wife and children. *Hercules went to the oracle at Delphi; asked how he could makeup for killing his wife and children. Told to go serve King Eurystheus of Argos.

Cronus and Rhea were brother and sister, but they were married, having six children, the olympians. Her father was afraid of the prophecy that his children would overthrow him, so he swallowed all his children except one, Zeus, Hera’s brother. For Zeus not to be swallowed, Rhea wrapped a stone in a blanket, making it look like Zeus, and Cronus swallowed the stone while Hera’s younger brother was hidden. When Zeus grew older, he defeated and banished Cronus with the other titans and the siblings were released. Also, some other legends say Zeus received a potion and gave it to his father to vomit the five olympians.

Hercules had a jealous god after him. The jealous god was Hera, wife of Zeus. She hated Hercules because he was Zeus’s son but he wasn’t her son. Zeus cheated on Hera, he did a lot and it drove Hera crazy. When Hercules was a baby Hera sent two snakes to kill Hercules.

The Gods were angry and told Narcissus love is something he could never have Echo and Narcissus cried and Narcissus’ body disappeared and Echo went and cried with the rest of the nymphs.”Oedipus, the Sphinx, Electra: “A boy named Oedipus who is the son of the King and Queen of Thebes was born a prophecy which stated that he would be the cause of his father’s death. When his parents found out they had the baby taken out of the city to be killed. But the herdsman saw the baby and gave the baby boy to another herdsman and basically kept passing him along. When Oedipus grew up he learned about his prophecy and left the place where he grew up. This got him into a predicament with his real father Laius, killing him.