Protectress, Bride, Flowery Hera
Greater Deity
Symbol: Fan of peacock feathers
Home Plane: Olympus
Alignment: Neutral
Portfolio: Marriage, women, intrigue
Worshippers: Women, wives, spies, planners
Cleric Alignments: CN, LN, N, NE, NG
Domains: Community, Nobility, Protection, Trickery
Favoured Weapon: Light Mace
The queen of the Olympian deities, Hera (hair-ah) appears as a tall and noble woman. She is patron of marriage but also of jealous wives, for her marriage to Zeus is anything but a model of fidelity. In her jealousy over Zeus’s many dalliances with other goddesses and mortal women, Hera has often acted violently. She conspired with the Titans to have Zagreus killed (see Orphic Mysteries in the Dionysus entry), tricked Dionysus’s mortal mother Semele to cause her own doom, and tried to harm Hercules throughout his mortal life.
Hera is one of the six children of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and is thus Zeus’s sister as well as his wife. She fought valiantly against the Titans at Zeus’s side, but her importance has waned with every new deity or hero that Zeus sires with someone else.
Hera advocates looking out for number one, and she is not shy about advocating underhanded means to accomplish one’s goals. She is a sneak, a spy and a plotter, and many of her followers are proud to be the same. Power, she says, is never freely given — it must be taken. Although Hera has some definite leanings towards evil, she has many good-aligned followers and clerics who emphasize her more positive aspects as a protective and nurturing deity. She is also the patron of nobility and government.
Hera’s clerics wear blue or purple tunics. They preside at weddings, typically offering stern admonitions to the bridegroom to remain faithful to his new wife. They also officiate at ceremonies installing elected officials or crowning kings.
Hera has grand temples located in major cities, but she is not very popular elsewhere.
Source: Deities and Demigods (Page 120)