Hera
Queen of Olympus
Hera was the Olympian Goddess of Marriage and Queen of the Gods, the sister and wife of Zeus and mother of Ares. Embittered by her husband's affairs and her withering garden, she set Hercules against Kratos before the Spartan snapped her neck and the world's flora died with her.
Hera was the Olympian Goddess of Women and Marriage and Queen of the Gods, the sister and wife of Zeus and mother of Ares and Hephaestus. Long embittered by her husband's endless affairs and his illegitimate children, she crossed Kratos only at the close of his war on Olympus, when he found her drunk and despairing amid her dying garden. (God of War III)
Queen of the Gods#
Hera was one of the original Olympians, sister to Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades, and Hestia, and as Zeus's wife she reigned as Queen of the Gods and mother of Ares and Hephaestus. Her marriage was poisoned by her husband's constant infidelities, and she nursed a particular hatred for his illegitimate children. When Zeus fathered Kratos by the mortal Callisto, Hera urged Zeus to kill him the day he was born, but he took pity on the boy and refused. (God of War: Ghost of Sparta; God of War III; Theogony)
In Kratos's earliest quests Hera did not appear in person; he sought only her emerald necklace in the Caves of Madness to solve a puzzle within Pandora's Temple, and her favored beast Argos was slain by an unknown assassin during a later incident for which Kratos was blamed. (God of War (2005); God of War: Betrayal)
Decline and death#
By the time Kratos reached Hera during his assault on Olympus, the plagues spreading across the world had reduced her to a drunken stupor. She despised what Kratos was doing to the world and voiced her hatred of Zeus for siring yet another mortal child, yet though she relished the prospect of her husband's death, she would not allow Kratos near Pandora. She sent her stepson Hercules into the arena to kill the Spartan for her, laughing as the two did battle. (God of War III)
Kratos found her again in her garden, weakened as the plagues killed her plants. Still drunk and furious, she told him she had urged Zeus to kill him the day he was born and blamed him for the ruin of her garden, swinging at him feebly before he repelled her. As he passed through her marble maze toward the Flame of Olympus, taking Hera's Chalice to aid his passage, he came upon her once more. When she goaded him with an insult against Pandora, Kratos lost control and snapped her neck, silencing her. With her death, all the flora of Olympus, and the world beyond, withered and died, and in death her corpse served as an involuntary weight for the pressure plates that let Kratos escape her gardens. (God of War III)
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Hera in God of War?
- Hera was the Olympian Goddess of Women and Marriage and Queen of the Gods. She was the sister and wife of Zeus and the mother of Ares and Hephaestus.
- Why did Hera hate Kratos?
- Hera was embittered by Zeus's constant affairs and held a particular hatred for his illegitimate children. When Zeus fathered Kratos by the mortal Callisto, Hera urged Zeus to kill him the day he was born, but Zeus took pity on the boy and refused.
- How did Hera die in God of War?
- During Kratos's assault on Olympus, he found Hera in her garden and she goaded him with an insult against Pandora. Kratos lost control and snapped her neck.
- What happened to the world when Hera died?
- With Hera's death, all the flora of Olympus and the world beyond withered and died. Her corpse also served as an involuntary weight for the pressure plates that let Kratos escape her gardens.
- Why did Hera send Hercules after Kratos?
- Though Hera relished the prospect of Zeus's death, she would not allow Kratos near Pandora. She sent her stepson Hercules into the arena as her champion to kill the Spartan, laughing as the two fought.
Gallery
Images via God of War Wiki
Sources
- GameGod of War (2005), Santa Monica Studio, 2005
- GameGod of War: Betrayal, Javaground, mobile phones, 2007
- GameGod of War III, Santa Monica Studio, 2010
- GameGod of War: Ghost of Sparta, Ready at Dawn, 2010
- BookTheogony, Hesiod, around 700 BC
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Ares: the god who made Kratos a killer
Ares tricked Kratos into slaughtering his own wife and daughter to bind him as a weapon. Kratos killed him at Athens and took his place as God of War.
Demeter
Demeter was the Olympian Goddess of the Harvest and Agriculture, a sister of Zeus and mother of Persephone. She held dominion over plants and grain, and her grief at the abduction of her daughter by Hades brought barren winter upon the earth.
Hades: the god whose soul Kratos tore out
Eldest son of Cronos, Hades ruled the Underworld and held life and death in balance. Kratos turned the Claws of Hades on him and ripped his soul out.
Hephaestus: the smith who made the Blades
He forged Pandora's Box for Zeus and the Blades of Chaos for Ares, and lost everything for it. Kratos killed him in the Underworld, defending his daughter.
Hestia
Hestia was the Olympian Goddess of the Hearth, Fire, and Family, the firstborn child of Cronos and Rhea. A virgin goddess who tended the royal hearth of Olympus, she never appears in the games, but in the God of War II novelisation she voices her contempt for the destruction Kratos and his Spartan armies brought upon the worshipers of the gods.
Olympians: the gods Kratos killed off
Zeus led the third generation of Greek gods to victory over the Titans. Kratos then destroyed almost every one of them, and Greece fell with them.
Mentioned in20 entries
Apollo: the Olympian who escaped Kratos
Apollo never faced Kratos in the flesh. His Flame lit the way to the Tree of Life, his Bow lay in the Underworld, and he survived the slaughter.
Ares: the god who made Kratos a killer
Ares tricked Kratos into slaughtering his own wife and daughter to bind him as a weapon. Kratos killed him at Athens and took his place as God of War.
Ceryx
Ceryx was a demigod son of Hermes and a messenger of Olympus. Sent by Zeus to halt Kratos' pursuit of the truth behind the assassination of Argos, he fell to the Ghost of Sparta.
God of War Characters: Every Major Character, Greek and Norse
Every major God of War character in one place, from Kratos and the Olympians of the Greek games to Atreus, Freya, Odin and the Aesir of the Norse saga. Each entry says who they are, what they do in the story and how it ends for them.
God of War III Story and Ending Explained: Plot Summary
The whole story of God of War III in order, from the Titans' climb up Mount Olympus to the death of Zeus. Then the ending in plain terms: why Kratos drove the Blade of Olympus into himself, what Athena wanted, and where that trail of blood leads.
God of War Story Explained: the Whole Saga from Sparta to Ragnarök
The full God of War story in order, one main game at a time. Kratos serves Ares, kills him, destroys Olympus, starts again in the Norse lands and finally ends Odin, with the Valhalla epilogue as the last word.
God of War Timeline: every major event from the Primordials to Valhalla
The full in-universe chronology of God of War, from the war of the Primordials and the fall of the Titans to Kratos's life in Sparta, his war on Olympus, and the end of the Aesir at Ragnarök. The games give almost no calendar years, so events are ordered by story sequence and grouped into eras, with notes wherever the games' own placement is vague.
Greek Gods
The Greek Gods were the pantheon that ruled over Greece across three generations, the Primordials, the Titans, and the Olympians. Once the masters of mortals, monsters, and the natural world, they were brought to near extinction by Kratos in his war of vengeance against Olympus.
Hephaestus: the smith who made the Blades
He forged Pandora's Box for Zeus and the Blades of Chaos for Ares, and lost everything for it. Kratos killed him in the Underworld, defending his daughter.
Hercules
Hercules was a son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, a demigod who had completed twelve labors to atone for killing his family. Consumed by jealousy of his half-brother Kratos, he named the killing of the Ghost of Sparta his unofficial thirteenth labor and died for it in the Forum of Olympus.
Ixion: the kin-slayer bound to the wheel
Ixion was the king of the Lapiths of Thessaly and the first mortal ever to slay his own kin. Pardoned by Zeus and welcomed to Olympus, he repaid the gods by lusting after Hera, and for that treachery he was bound to a winged wheel of fire. In the age of Kratos his ruined body hung chained in the prison of the damned.
Kratos' Throne Room: the seat of the God of War
Kratos' Throne Room was the chamber on Mount Olympus from which the God of War watched over every conflict in Greece. First the hall of Ares, it passed to Kratos for the years of his reign, and its throne returned to him long afterward in Valhalla as the symbol of an office he had to decide whether to reclaim.
+ 8 more
Get new articles in your inbox
No spam. New lore drops, canon conflicts, and deep dives only when they’re worth reading.
Some links on Lore Fortress are affiliate links. If you buy through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.