Hera did not know which boy was which, so she attempted to kill them both. Instead, she caused a more distant descendant to prematurely give birth to a son called Eurystheus.Įurystheus would therefore become a king when he was grown while Alcmene’s son would not.Īlcmene gave birth to twins, with one boy being the son of Zeus and the other the entirely mortal child of the man she married. She caused Alcmene’s labor to be painfully prolonged so Zeus’s child would not be the next one born. Hera interfered with the help of her daughter, the goddess of childbirth Eileithyia. When his mother, Alcmene, went into labor, Zeus declared that the next child born of his line would become a great king. One of the most famous stories of Hera’s jealousy was her constant harassment of Heracles. These are some of the most notable stories of how Hera showed her jealousy in Greek mythology. Stories of Hera’s punishments of Zeus’s mistresses and their children are almost as numerous as those of Zeus’s affairs. Instead, Zeus’s mistresses and offspring bore the blame for his actions. Unfortunately for the women in these stories and their children, Hera could rarely take her frustrations out on the king of the gods himself. Her feelings were not unfounded, but based on her husband’s numerous affairs. In Greek mythology, however, Hera had good reason to be jealous. To be jealous without cause is cautioned against and a jealous spouse is seen as a terrible person. Jealousy is usually considered a negative trait.

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