Greek Mythology: Hera and Her Enemies Quiz

Answer: Hestia and Demeter

Hestia is the oldest child of Cronus and Rhea, Titans of Greek mythology. Hestia is the virgin goddess of the family, the hearth, the state and the family home. When Cronus swallowed his children to prevent a prophecy coming true from Gaia about his sons overthrowing him and stealing his power, Hestia was the last to be regurgitated, therefore is considered both the eldest and the youngest of Cronus and Rhea. Later, when Poseidon and Apollo were both trying to become her suitors, a repulsed Hestia begged Zeus to allow her to stay a virgin for life. Zeus accepted and Hestia took her place at the royal hearth.

Demeter is the goddess of wheat, corn and harvest. She is known for the tale of the abduction of her daughter, Persephone. Hades, god of the underworld abducted Persephone to marry her. Demeter intervened and her Hades agreed to share custody of Persephone, for half a year each. This was the explanation in Greek mythology for the yearly change in weather seasons.

Answer: Hades and Poseidon

Poseidon is god of the sea and storms. He is also considered a tamer of horses. Two Ancient Greek poets, Hesiod and Homer, both assert that Poseidon became god of the sea when Cronus was overthrown.

Cronus and Rhea's eldest son, Hades, is god of the underworld having also gained this title when Cronus was defeated.

Answer: Cuckoo

Zeus had previously attempted to court Hera, but his attempts were unsuccessful. He decided trickery would work better and disguised himself as an injured cuckoo. Hera took pity on what she thought was an injured bird, and held it to her breast. Zeus then revealed his real form and ravished her.

Answer: Hephaistos

Hephaistos was the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalwork and fire. He was usually depicted with a beard and holding a hammer and tongs, sometimes riding a donkey.

Hephaistos had his revenge for Hera's rejection and exile of him, by building her a cursed throne which bound her to it, not allowing her to leave. The other gods pleaded with him to release her, but he refused. This was until Dionysus, the god of wine and theatre, got Hephaistos drunk and convinced him to release Hera.

Answer: Cow

In Zeus' pursuit of Io, he covered her with clouds so that she would be hidden from Hera. Hera, however, suspected Zeus was up to something, and descended under the clouds. Zeus turned Io into a cow, specifically a heifer - a pure white cow, as he knew Hera was especially fond of them.

Hera suspected this was a ploy, and asked Zeus if she could keep the cow. He agreed, not wanting to arouse her already apparent suspicions. Hera had Io chained to a tree in Olympus and set Argos, a giant with many eyes, to guard Io. He could sleep with some eyes open, and would always be watching her.

Zeus eventually sent Hermes to distract then kill Argos. Once Io was free, Hera sent a gadfly to torment her as she wandered the world. Io eventually escaped to the Ionian Sea, where she was restored to human form by Zeus.

Answer: Hesperides

Ancient Greek poet Callimachus asserts that Hera and Zeus' wedding feast lasted 3,000 years. Hesperides was Hera's orchid where (depending on the version of the tale) a single apple tree grows, or a single grove grows, producing golden apples.

Answer: Arcas

Arcas was a hunter who rose to become King of Arcadia (a region in southern Greece).

As Callisto would not lie with any man because she was dedicated to the goddess Artemis, Zeus disguised himself as Artemis to get close enough to embrace Callisto before having relations with her. The result of this was the birth of Arcas.

Despite the fact that Zeus had tricked Callisto into their encounter, Hera was furious with both of them. She could not however, hurt Zeus as he was more powerful than her. She transformed Callisto into a bear, and when Zeus was afraid the same fate would befall Arcas, he hid him in the area of what would later become Arcadia.

Years after when Arcas became King of Arcadia, he was hunting and spotted what he did not know was his mother, in the form of a bear. He did not recognise Callisto as she came to embrace him after not seeing her son for so long. As he was about to shoot her with an arrow, Zeus intervened by turning Arcas into a bear alongside his mother, turning them into asterisms and setting them in the stars. This is where the the Big Bear and the Litte Bear constellations get their names.

Answer: Leto

Leto was a Titan, the daughter of Coeus and Phoebe. She was already pregnant by Zeus by the time he and Hera married. Hera flew into a violent rage when she was made aware of this, and pushed Leto from the top of Mount Olympus. She also swore a great bloody vengeance on any land who took pity on Leto and took her in. Leto was forced to wander the Earth. This was until Zeus' assistance when he guided her to the barren island of Delos, whose citizens had nothing to lose and so Hera could not inflict much more upon them.

Hera had one final act of cruelty towards Leto, however. One of Zeus and Hera's daughters is Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth and fertility. Hera kept Eileithyia away from Leto when she was going into labour, preventing Eileithyia from assisting her at every turn. This turned Leto's childbirth into an agonising 9 months long. After 9 months, Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis, who then shielded their mother from any more of Hera's revenge.

Answer: Alcmene

Alcmene was a mortal, the daughter of Greek hero Perseus and Andromeda. She was married to Amphitryon, son of the King of the Tiryns of Argolis (southern Greece), Alcaeus. She had two children with him, Iphicles and Laonome. Hesiod asserts that Alcmene was the tallest woman in the land, beautiful and wise.

Alcmene met Zeus when she was in Thebes, and her husband was away on a military expedition. Zeus disguised himself as Amphitryon, and spent three nights of passion with Alcmene under the guise of being her husband. Alcmene was Zeus' great-great grandaughter. During one of these nights, Heracles was conceived. Her real husband returned after three days, and after some confusion with Alcmene insisting she had just spent three nights with him, Amphitryon eventually realised what Zeus had done.

As a baby, Heracles strangled the snakes sent by Hera to kill him. Out of all the children Zeus had with other women, Hera hated Heracles the most because the seed and power of Zeus was most apparent in him.

Answer: To be made King of Asia and Europe

Zeus was first asked to judge this beauty contest; however, upon seeing Hera's wrath at his previous indiscretions, he declined the offer, deciding to pass the dubious honor on to Paris, a noble mortal of Troy. It was Aphrodite who offered him Helen of Sparta, the world's most beautiful woman, and Paris accepted this gladly, declaring Aphrodite the winner.

Hera was furious, even though the contest was clearly about the goddess' choice of bribery rather than actually about their beauty. Nevertheless, she took it personally.

The Trojan War began after Helen was taken from Sparta to her new husband, Paris.

Answer: Antigone

Antigone (not to be confused with King Oedipus' daughter Antigone, in the play "Antigone" by Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles) was reported to be the daughter of King Laomedon of Troy, and sister of Priam. After her hair was turned into snakes, some accounts say that another god (unspecified) took pity on Antigone and turned her into a stork.

Some accounts say that Hera decided to turn her into a stork.

Answer: Ares

Ares is the god of war and bravery. He was not as favoured as Athena as a war god by the Greeks, because Athena employed strategy and leadership, whereas Ares was more associated with physical strength, brute force and bloodlust.

Ares was persuaded to side with the Trojans by Aphrodite. Athena appealed to Zeus for permission to intervene, and Zeus granted her wish. Hera joined Athena in persuading a Greek mortal hero, Diomedes, to stab Ares. Ares' screams made both sides of the battlefield shake, with the Trojans falling back once Ares had fled to Mount Olympus.

Answer: Pomegranate

Hera was depicted as a motherly, matronly beauty, the pomegranate symbolising fertile blood and marriage. It has been speculated that the pomegranate also serves as a substitute for the opium poppy seed, which was popular in Ancient Greece.

To this day, because of the association with fertile blood and marriage, in some places of Greece couples throw a pomegranate at the door of their newly purchased house with such force, the seeds burst everywhere. This tradition is said to ensure a happy marriage, with many children.

Answer: Semele

Hera discovered Zeus' affair with Semele when Semele became pregnant with Dionysus. Hera also learned that Zeus had sworn to grant Semele her every wish, and decided to use this to her advantage. Hera disguised herself (in some accounts as an old woman) and "befriended" Semele, deliberately scoffing at her proclamations that Zeus was her lover, challenging Semele to ask Zeus to reveal his true form. Hera knew this would kill her.

Zeus begged Semele to retract her wish to see him in his full form, but she was not to be dissuaded. Zeus, in all of his power, glory and thunderbolts revealed himself to Semele, who to Hera's gratification, was destroyed in the process. Zeus tried to use his tamest thunderbolts and as little lightning clouds as he could manage, but a mortal simply cannot have gods completely revealed to them like this without incinerating. Zeus was, however, able to save Dionysus.

Answer: Lamia

Lamia was once a beautiful Libyan queen, who had attracted the attention of Zeus. Once Hera found out of their affair, Hera would always separate Lamia from her children once she had given birth to them. In some stories she killed them, in some accounts she made Lamia do it, in some she simply kidnapped them and it is unknown what became of them. Lamia went mad in all of these instances. Hera in one tale even deprived Lamia of sleep, so she could not escape grieving for her children there. She began to steal other women's baby's so that she could eat them. This hideous action permanently disfigured her, turning her into a monster for her monstrosities.

In an attempt to stop her murdering children, Zeus had her eyes removed and only allowed her to use them at night, re-attaching them. Lamia was, however, free to look for victims at night, and became a story to frighten the children of Ancient Greece into being careful at night, and generally behaving themselves.