January 9: Wedding Month

Some adaptations picture Zeus and Hera as a harmonious couple, which they weren’t. Hera was Zeus’ seventh choice, and he even unalived one of his wives, the first: Metis, titan goddess of wisdom. To absorb her knowledge, he tricked her into changing into a fly and swallowed her. It left him with a splitting headache, and he needed Hephaistos’ help, to free daughter Athena from his head. Another titan-aunt, Themis, a justice goddess, took Metis’ place, and among their children were the Horai- and Moirai-triplets (the “seasons” and the “fates”). Another titan was to follow, Mnemosyne, goddess of memory, with the nine muses as their offspring. With the ocean nymph Eurynome, he fathered the Charites, or “graces”. Next, he chose his sister Demeter, and daughter Persephone became queen of the underworld. He left her for his niece Leto, mother of Artemis and Apollo. Finally, he settled for his eldest sister, Hera, but didn’t stay faithful to her either. And he didn’t even like Ares, god of war and their only son together.