Forgiving Hera

 Hera is, in my opinion, the single most interesting and second most potent character in Greek Mythology. She is a victim, a monster, a mother and an extremely powerful goddess. There is no simple way to portray her, and yet that is what everyone does. They make her a monster, deeply and easily ignoring the fact that she is one of the most tragic beings in the mythos of Greek Mythology.  What do I mean by that? Hera was the victim of several tragedies, for one she was tricked and later assaulted by Zeus in an attempt to get her to marry him which she did in order to mask the stain on her honor. From there, Zeus would cheat on her with countless beings, gods and mortals alike, giving the children he created from those affairs positions of power on the council. Hera would have to watch as her own children with him, bar Ares, not really matter and have no positions of powers.  After nearly overthrowing Zeus for being a poor ruler, she was chained to the sky and tormented by Zeus for quite some time. That cannot have been easy to deal with, nor could it have not left her with scars inside or out. We see the abuse on the outside, what is presented to the public, but what would have happened to her behind closed doors? There are a million ways you could go with this, if you plan to write Hera as a character. You could make her, as the Goddess of Mothers and Women, a victim of Postpartum depression exacerbated by abuse and mistreatment and the constant cheating, for one example. There is so much room for growth here, so many places to go with an under used or overly simplified character.  Hera is a sadly complex, tragic character that is forced into a repetitive box without looking at her reasons, the purpose of her actions or anything beyond the simplicity of the situation. Let us see her as she could be, where and who she could become...  So do better and take advantage of one of the most interesting goddesses in mythology. I mean we did it with Zeus in a million different stories, why not Hera? So... yeah!