Het-Heru (Egyptian)

Het-Heru

Greek: Hathor

An ancient cow-goddess, at various times taking on the role of Great Mother and consort of Ra [read: Gaia], protector of Heru (hence her name, "House of Heru), and goddess of love. Her head formed the handle of the powerful ancient rattle known as the sistrum, used to frighten away evil spirits.

She was the goddess of love, but when Ra called, she turned into the vengeful Sekhmet.

She was also the Queen of the Heavens, after Aset. The wife of Horus she took an active role in the fight against Set and his minions. Also known as the Warroir Goddess she was fierce in battle when Sekhmet, but when she was herself, she used the more subtle approach, seduction.

Hestia (Greek)

Hestia

Hestia is Zeus sister. She is a virgin goddess. She does not have a distinct personality. She plays no part in myths. She is the Goddess of the Hearth, the symbol of the house around which a new born child is carried before it is received into the family. Each city had a public hearth sacred to Hestia, where the fire was never allowed to go out.

Hermod (Norse)

Hermod

Messenger of the gods. He rode to Hel's realm after the death of Balder to try and convince her to let Balder come back from the dead.

Hermes (Greek)

Hermes

Hermes is the son of Zeus and Maia. He is Zeus messenger. He is the fastest of the gods. He wears winged sandals, a winged hat, and carries a magic wand. He is the god of thieves and god of commerce. He is the guide for the dead to go to the underworld. He invented the lyre, the pipes, the musical scale, astronomy , weights and measures, boxing, gymnastics, and the care of olive trees.

Hera (Greek)

Hera

Hera is Zeus wife and sister. She was raised by the Titans Ocean and Tethys. She is the protector of marriage and takes special care of married women.

Hera's marriage was founded in strife with Zeus and continued in strife. Zeus courted her unsuccessfully. He then turned to trickery, changing himself into disheveled cuckoo. Hera feeling sorry for the bird held it to her breast to warm it. Zues then resumed his normal form and taking advantage of the surprise he gained, raped her. She then married him to cover her shame.

Once when Zeus was being particularly overbearing to the other gods, Hera convinced them to join in a revolt. Her part in the revolt was to drug Zeus, and in this she was successful. The gods then bound the sleeping Zeus to a couch taking care to tie many knots. This done they began to quarrel over the next step. Briareus overheard the arguments. Still full of gratitude to Zeus, Briareus slipped in and was able to quickly untie the many knots. Zeus sprang from the couch and grabbed up his thunderbolt. The gods fell to their knees begging and pleading for mercy. He seized Hera and hung her from the sky with gold chains. She wept in pain all night but, none of the others dared to interfere. Her weeping kept Zeus up and the next morning he agreed to release her if
she would swear never to rebel again. She had little choice but, to agree. While she never again rebelled, she often intrigued against Zeus's plans and she was often able to outwit him.

Most stories concerning Hera have to do with her jealous revenge for Zeus's infidelities. Her sacred animals are the cow and the peacock. Her favorite city is Argos.

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Children

Ares
Eris
Hephaestus
Hebe

Hephaestus (Greek)

Hephaestus

Hephaestus is the son of Zeus and Hera . Sometimes it is said that Hera alone produced him and that he has no father. He is the only god to be physically ugly. He is also lame. Accounts as to how he became lame vary. Some say that Hera, upset by having an ugly child, flung him from Mount Olympus into the sea, breaking his legs. Others that he took Hera's side in an argument with Zeus and Zeus flung him off Mount Olympus. He is the god of fire and the forge. He is the smith and armorer of the gods. He uses a volcano as his forge. He is the patron god of both smiths and weavers. He is kind and peace loving. His wife is Aphrodite. Sometimes his wife is identified as Aglaia.

Helius (Greek)

Helius

Helius was the Greek sun god. He may be thought of as a personification of the sun. He became rather overshadowed by Apollo the lord of the sun. He was the son of Hyperion, who was also a sun god.

His role was to drive his chariot across the sky to provide daylight. He is accompanied in this daily trip by his sister Eos who heralds his arrival. He returns home at night on the river Oceanus in an enormous golden cup to hide the light. During his daily trip he sees much of what is happening on the earth. Due to his availability as a witness many Greeks swore their oaths in his name. It was on one of his daily trips that he spotted the abduction of Persephone.

Helius was away on his daily rounds when the gods divided up the world. Having otherwise completed this complex task, Zeus was reluctant to reopen the issue. This was resolved when Helius spotted the unassigned island of Rhodes and asked for it. The other gods were happy to give it to him. Helius remained the patron god of Rhodes throughout the classic period. Helius is the figure represented in the famous Colossus of Rhodes statue, that was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Helius married Perse and had a number of children, most of whom had rather unsavory reputations. While Helius did not seem to have these bad traits he remained loyal to all of his children. A number of the children accompanied him from time to time on his chariot.

Helius also had quite a number of mistresses and affairs which produced children as well. The best known being Phaethon .

The most tragically poetic of these affairs began when during his daily tour he noticed Aphrodite and Ares carrying on. As was his habit in these matters he reported it to her husband Hephaestus . To retaliate Aphrodite used her abilities to cause Helius to fall in love with Leucothoe a Persian princess. Helius assumed the form of the girls mother to gain access to her bedroom. Once inside he assumed his normal form and seduced her. Word of this got to one on Helius mistresses, the nymph Clytie. Clytie informed the girls father who then buried Loucothoe alive, killing her. In his grief, Helius changed her body into the first frankincense. This put Clytie on the outs with Helius. She then wasted away. On her death she became the first heliotrope, a flower whose blossom follows the sun across the sky.

Hel (Norse)

Hel

Daughter of Loki and the giant Angurboda. She is the sister of Fenrir (Fenris-wolf) and Jormungand (Midgard serpent). She is the goddess of the underworld. Her realm was Niflheim and her hall, Elvidnir [misery]. She was described as half white and half black.

Heimdall (Norse)

Heimdall

Watches the rainbow bridge, Bifrost , for the coming of the frost giants at the Ragnarok, at which time he will sound his horn Gjallar. In the Ragnarok, he and Loki will kill each other. He never sleeps, can see in the dark, and can hear sheep wool growing. His dwelling place is Himinbjorg [heavenly mountains]. Nine sisters, signifying the waves, gave birth to him. As Rig, he begets Thrall, Carl, and Earl, representing the three classes of man; slave, freeman, and noble.

Hebe (Greek)

Hebe

Hebe is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. She is the goddess of youth. She, along with Ganymede are the cupbearers to the gods. Hebe is Heracles wife.