Hera's modern life - chapter 5
There was no doubt that my husband was a nasty God who was pretentious and arrogant. Speaking of his glorious deeds, he constantly looked for women and had their children. He also overthrew our father’s rule and created a new era of mythology with the support of our mother and other gods. I had to admit that this was still quite remarkable. After all, he was just a weak little boy then. He obeyed Cronos and defeated several Gods who were feared, including a number of Titans. This was not something that could be done by just sitting around.
The story created by humankind claimed that Cronus had devoured several of our brothers and sisters. In fact, we were only being confined in a dark cell in the sky. I didn’t think that there was anything wrong with staying in the hole, since at least then I didn’t have to be afraid of being affected by the interaction between Gaia and Cronus. However, I was thrilled when the cell was opened and the sun shone. I definitely did not miss Poseidon, though. He always pulled on our hair, which was very annoying. He had always been resentful about the color of his hair and had since then he hated any black-haired person.
I still remember the day I first saw Zeus. Zeus’ ragged body was full of blood. One couldn’t find any clean spot on his body. Even his face was turned into a pig.
“I am your sister. I am here to save you, Zeus.”
This scene was nowhere mentioned in the human-made story. But no matter how many years had passed, I would always remember his blond hair shining in the dazzling sun.
It was ridiculous to think, just in such a short moment, I saw the world’s only great God, eternal, perfect, and fell for him. A brother that once gave me the feeling of unmatched pride. This inexplicable sentiment lasted only until I saw him reach into Demeter’s skirt.
At that moment, this incomparable God, the only king of the world, my brother, my husband, the father of my child, was looking at me with a confused expression. As if he didn’t understand what I just said. I watched him, the still young and never more than twenty-five years old man.
After a brief silence, he seemed to have understood. The confusion changed to anger, no longer the sleek playboy. He raised his voice, “Hera, do you want to be human? And marry other men?”
His voice roared in fury as I calmly replied, “Is there anything wrong with that?”
Wrong move. This only fueled his anger.
“Of course!” He screamed, “This is a shameless betrayal against me!”
I stared at him cynically. Who was the shameless person among us? He said this out loud. My brows knitted together in disbelief and confusion. My hatred for him resurfaced. I wanted to strike him with a lightning bolt, but this power was given as a gift by him. As a goddess, I had no power. So I grinded my teeth together and endured.
“Remember your true identity! You are a Goddess. You are my wife!” He exclaimed while emphasizing the word ‘wife’.
I squared my shoulders and boldly stated, “Yes, I am a Goddess. I am also your wife. However, I disobey the supreme glory’s commands.”
I had no choice but to speak the words that were buried in my heart and showed him the emotions that I had suppressed for thousands of years. I sighed in relief and content. Though I didn’t know the consequences, there arose an intense hope of liberation.
Zeus paused for a few seconds and then asked, “You – what do you mean -” His face looked terrible. Although he didn’t touch me, under his incredible pressure, I couldn’t help but take a step back and almost wanted to deny it. However, my newfound self-esteem prevented me from begging for mercy.
I continued to test my luck and explained, “Your wish and command is clear. Since you announced that I am not worthy of being a Goddess and you have always felt that I am getting more unsightly, why bother to get me back? It is better to forget about this encounter. With your power and status, you could go find a woman who is not as unsightly as I am,” I spoke with a serious and definite tone.
He frowned, processing my words. All of the sudden, he erupted in laughter. His loud laugh echoed through my ears.
“Dear, are you still worried about this matter? Yes, I was too impulsive to make you lose your face in front of everyone. But don’t you see? I came down here personally to get you back! There is only one woman that can make me escort her personally, and that is you, Hera, my one true wife. Don’t refuse, although this form is much more lovely than what you are used to, we have plenty of time to experience it,” he said with a condescending smirk.
He thought he understood me. It was just a blame game routine.
He reached out to hold my waist, but I flinched and slapped his hand away.
“I am not joking around, Zeus. I don’t want to be your wife anymore. I want to continue to be a mortal,” I claimed firmly. My patience was running thin.
After my statement, I took off the sacred crown from my head and my form as a Goddess changed. He had personally crowned me that year.
“You are crazy!” He yelled in anger, “You want to abandon your identity to be a mortal? Do you know that once you lose your power, you are just an ordinary human being? You will get sick and get hurt, and you will even die! You would die and stay forever in the underworld!”
I smiled despite the consequences. I said in full honestly, “The underworld is much better than Olympus would ever be.”
He staggered backwards as he heard my reply. No one dared to confront him. The last time a guy dared defy him, he was instantly killed. Zeus never had any relationships based on kindness.
“But…but you are the Goddess of marriage! You are not afraid to be laughed at by other Gods?”
I countered, getting a little annoyed by our little spat, “If I lose my power, I am no longer a Goddess. And even if other gods ridiculed me, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
Seeing that he was too reluctant to take the crown which was made of gold and precious gems, I took the initiative and placed it on the beach sand. In the past, I always had a fear of angering Zeus and losing my place as a Goddess. This crown gave him the reason to have other flings and mistresses. But now he had to understand that I didn’t want to be that Goddess anymore. There was no rule that one couldn’t take the initiative to abdicate.
I stared at Zeus as he stared at the crown on the ground.
“This thing, give it to anyone you desire. Anyone but me.I don’t want it anymore.”
I turned to the opposite direction and took a step away from him. I took another step, and another. My heart grew lighter with each step I took.
However, fate was not too keen on me as a strong and firm grip made me halt from my steps to freedom. Who else had the grip of a God but Zeus.
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Author notes: The first generation of the king of the king, Uranus, was very cruel, so Gaia supported Cronus to overthrow him secretly.
Uranus cursed Cronus before he died, saying that he would be killed by his own children in the future. So the next story, people who have seen the myth of the comic constellation palace should know.
Cronus was afraid of this prophecy, so whenever he and Gaia gave birth to a child, he would directly eat the child.
When Gaias bore Zeus, she used a stone to deceive Cronus, and then quietly sent Zeus to Crete and gave it to three female immortals. He drank the milk of a ewe and the wine from an eagle grew up (hey, so he liked to change into animals so much).
The grown Zeus, like Uranus predicted, hit back with a bunch of new gods, overthrew the rule of Cronus, and rescued several brothers and sisters. Then he took the defeated Titans into the bottomless abyss of Tartarus.
According to the general view, the children born by Gaia and Kronos are Hestia, Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, and Zeus is the youngest child. Hera is his sister.
Zeus then made Mount Olympus (supposedly located between Macedonia and Thessaly in eastern Greece) and became the third generation of the king. The twelve main gods on Mount Olympus are as follows:
Zeus: Lord God, the Thunder
Hera: Marriage
Poseidon: Ocean
Hades: Hades/ underworld
Athena: wisdom
Apollo: sun, medicine, prophecy (in fact, not a Greek name for this, but we generally default this is called)
Al Intuit Artemis: moon, hunting
Aphrodite: beauty and love
Hermes: business, messaging, fraud, thief originator
Ares: war
Hephaestus: flame, casting
Dionysus: wine
The rest of the gods … Another day…, because there are a lot…
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Comments for chapter "chapter 5"
MANGA DISCUSSION
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Anon999
They went all out on the Wikipedia at the end there.
Congrats Hera. What does it matter being the goddess of marriage if your own husband is a philanderer?