Previously on ‘As the pottery wheel Turns
We told the harrowing tale of the birth of Alcemene’s son, and how Hera almost stopped it from happening with witches and snakes. You can read more about how Hera was thwarted by another goddess in her attempts and how young Hercules helped form the Milky Way.
Hera’s Our Guest Today
Our vase today, Hera’s Heart, follows the tale of tantrum and tears of one of the most famous gods of Olympus. She’s beautiful and her position as Queen of the gods has afforded her untold power. Today we take an in depth look at the goddess of women, marriage, child birth and family – Hera.
Trophy Wife
In order to try to understand the intricacies of Hera and her penchant for revenge, it is important to get to the root of most of her problems. Her marriage.
It’s not like young Hera had a thing for the bad boys. She had resisted the advances of Zeus for what seemed like forever.
Ladies, other people who have relationships with a certain kind of man, you know this story. We’ve all been there or know someone who has. That man comes along and you try to ignore him, which only makes him want you more. That’s because his attraction is based on the fact that he’s objectified you. Sure, it feels kind of flattering at first, but it gets awfully lonely on that pedestal he’ll put you on.
Part Time Lover
Zeus relentlessly pursued Hera, who had little interest in a relationship with him. She was a busy goddess, with important work, looking after women, their relationships and families. Eventually, though, his relentless advances paid off and the two would wed.
It is questionable whether or not they ever had a honeymoon period. Perhaps that’s because almost immediately after their nuptials, Zeus showed the true colours of his variable emotions by constantly falling in love with other women and having children with them. So much so that his offspring outside his marriage vastly outnumbered those conceived with Hera. In other words, he would definitely have been guest material for a Jerry Springer baby daddy show.
My husband won’t stop having babies with other women
Hera was a proud goddess. After all, she was Queen of Olympus. Unfortunately that pride was often injured. It wasn’t just the fact that Zeus was having affairs and chasing after several mortals, but also he was not the most discreet philanderer.
Couples find ways to work out their troubles oftentimes. But when do you know your marriage is in trouble? If your husband has children in the double digits with other women, it might be advisable to end that relationship.
Unfortunately that wasn’t really an option for Hera in her situation. The constant humiliation and whispers at Mount Olympus ate away at her. She soon become consumed with revenge.
You Better Don’t cross Hera
Girl Code doesn’t seem to have been a thing back in ancient times, at least not among the gods. Sadly, often bested by Zeus, Hera often took her revenge upon his mistresses.
Understand that these women were for the most part blameless mortals relentlessly pursued by a womanizing lothario with untold power and influence. After some time, Zeus must have known that these women he ‘loved’ would become the target of Hera’s wrath.
The moral of the story:
If he thinks he’s a God, He’s Probably Not
Take these words to heart, or yours may be broken!
And that is some sage advice! 🙂
ha! yes it is for sure, so glad you liked it! 🙏 keep well!
I used to have a beautiful blonde trophy wife who had a little dog named Zeus… Not kidding…
Ha! Thats a great addition to this story 🙂
🐄 😂
Whenever I see a cow now im always wondering! ha!
Love the pot
Thank you Vivienne! So glad to hear it resonates with you!
She was one hell of a woman.
Indeed! Literally a story for the ages!
Love this!!
Thank you! So glad to hear it resonates with you 🙏 Keep well!
That glaze is the most glorious blend of different hues. Hera’s Heart is a beautiful thing.
Thank you for your kind comment! I appreciate it 🙏 I hope you have a beautiful day!
Lovely! That bright red seems quite fitting for Hera’s Heart. I must admit I feel for her, though she did go a bit overboard when punishing the often-blameless targets of Zeus’ affairs. I wonder what would have happened if she had heaped all those punishments on him instead? Probably fried Hera, but who knows?
Fried Hera probably! The only way to prevent that is a good Hera conditioner I imagine 😉
But yes, definitely targeting the wrong people!
Very well written…love how you intertwined that with your pottery…BRAVO!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed the story and pottery. Hope you are keeping well!
And I worry about my “to do list”!
Thanks for the point of reference!!
Ha! Wonderful perspective indeed. Thanks for the reminder on this end as well!
A great story, combining mythology and modern mayhem!
Thank you Max! So glad to hear that you enjoyed it! I hope you are keeping safe and well!
There is wisdom to be had here.
Great observations! Indeed, we can learn a lot from the ancients…they had this kind of guy figured out way back when. Thanks for “liking” my blog about Pompeii…lots of “gods” buried in that place.
Absolutely! No need to reinvent the wheel. Thank you for sharing here, and about Pompeii too! It’s super interesting stuff! Keep well 🙏
I’m missing my Alchemist ‘likes’ .. check out my new website by typing in http://www.laurabachynski.com if you wish….
All the best!
Hi Laura! Im not seeing the follow button when i look at the new site. I searched for laurabachynski on the search on wordpress but only your old site came up (which im still following). Do you know what your new wordpress is?
Hello! If you go on the computer or your phone and type in http://www.laurabachynski.com the new site will be there. If you try to follow me from WordPress you will still see the old website. So, long answer…I’m not on WordPress anymore. I’m on Squarespace and there are no ‘like’ buttons but you can comment on any blog and I can see it, and approve it. Sorry it took so long for me to see this.
Mythological stories have always been so interesting! The gods portrayed in the stories are so much similar to mortals; their wraths, jealousy, infidelities are so relatable. Hera’s wrath is pretty justified, as Zeus is never loyal to her.
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