The book starts at the point where Zeus starts to court his sister Hera – though she is not interested, he keeps pursuing her and asks her to marry him and become his queen. Hera eventually accepts as she likes the idea of being the queen of the Gods but then Zeus tells her she’ll be the goddess of marriage. Hera takes on this role begrudgingly while her dislike of her husband grows with every extra marital dalliance and progeny. She tries to punish the women that have been seduced by Zeus, sometimes even involving their daughter Eileithyia, the Goddess of Childbirth. Heracles, Zeus’ son with the mortal Alcmene, who became one of Greece’s greatest heroes was the favourite of Hera’s wrath despite his name meaning to the glory of Hera (or maybe because of it).
I love Jennifer Saint’s retelling of the Greek myths. This book was good, but I think she barely scratched the surface of the Hera myths (having said that, you could probably fill 5 books with all the myths). It was nice to learn more about Typhon and Ekhidna.
Read for the Read Between the Lines Reading Challenge 2025
Prompt 37: Title Contains a Deity (God, Buddha, Hera, Odin etc)
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
