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.
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, correctly predicting that the child would one day doom Olympus, demanded that Zeus kill him at birth, but he took pity on the boy and refused.
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.
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 as her champion to kill the Spartan, laughing as the two did battle.
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.
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 predicted the child would one day doom Olympus and demanded Zeus kill him at birth, but Zeus 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
- WikiHera — God of War Wiki entry
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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.
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Hades was the Olympian God of the Dead and ruler of the Underworld, the eldest son of Cronos and brother of Zeus and Poseidon. He kept the balance of life and death over the Greek world until Kratos turned his own Claws against him and tore out his soul, loosing chaos upon the realm of the dead.
Hephaestus
Hephaestus was the Craftsman of Olympus, the smith who forged Pandora's Box, the Blades of Chaos, and the Gauntlet of Zeus. Cast down to the Underworld and stripped of his standing, he died protecting his daughter Pandora from Kratos.
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 did not appear during the fall of Greece, but voiced her contempt for the destruction Kratos and his Spartan armies brought upon the worshipers of the gods.
Olympians
The Olympians were the third and final generation of gods to rule over Greece, led by Zeus after they overthrew the Titans in the Titanomachy. First the allies of Kratos and then his enemies, they were slain almost to the last across his years of vengeance, their fall bringing ruin upon all of Greece.
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Apollo
Apollo was the Olympian God of Light, Music, the Sun, and Archery, the son of Zeus and twin of Artemis. Though he never appeared in person during the fall of Greece, his Flame guided Kratos to the Tree of Life, his Bow passed through the Underworld, and his colossal statue on Delos was raised once more by the Spartan's hand.
Ares
Ares was the first Olympian God of War, the eldest son of Zeus and Hera and the most hated god on Olympus. Coveting his father's throne, he tricked Kratos into killing his own family to forge the perfect weapon, and so set in motion the fall of the Gods before dying at that same Spartan's hand.
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.
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
Hephaestus was the Craftsman of Olympus, the smith who forged Pandora's Box, the Blades of Chaos, and the Gauntlet of Zeus. Cast down to the Underworld and stripped of his standing, he died protecting his daughter Pandora from Kratos.
Hercules
Hercules was a son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, a demigod raised to godhood after completing twelve labors. 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.
Kratos
Kratos was the demigod son of Zeus who rose from a Spartan general to the Greek God of War, destroyed the pantheon of Olympus in a quest for vengeance, and then began again in the Norse realms as a father seeking to leave his bloody past behind.
Pandora
Pandora was the living creation and adoptive daughter of Hephaestus, forged as the key to Pandora's Box. Imprisoned by Zeus and freed by Kratos, she sacrificed herself in the Flame of Olympus to release the power of Hope.
Pandora's Temple: The Vault of Pandora's Box
Pandora's Temple was a vast trap-laden temple built upon the back of the wandering Titan Cronos to house Pandora's Box and keep it from the enemies of Olympus. After 2,500 years of failed attempts by countless heroes, Kratos became the only mortal to reach the Box within.
Second Titanomachy
The Second Titanomachy was the war Kratos set in motion against the Olympian Gods, when he led the Titans up Mount Olympus to take his vengeance on Zeus. It ended with the death of nearly every god and Titan and the ruin of Greece.
The Arena
The Arena, also called the Forum, was a small coliseum at the edge of Mount Olympus where the gods watched and joined in battle. Hercules commanded it for his own amusement, and within it Kratos slew his half-brother.
Titanomachy
The Titanomachy, also called the Great War, was the long war between the Titans led by Cronos and the Olympians led by Zeus for mastery of Greece and all mortals. It ended in victory for the gods and the imprisonment of the Titans.
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