'Greecian Gazette' visits the Queen of the Gods at her exclusive Mount Olympus mansion and chats about life, godhood and People's Magazine.
TOUGH, foul-mouthed stand-up Goddess Hera might not immediately conjure up an image of the ideal lead for a romantic divinity, but that is precisely what she wants to be, to great critical acclaim, in her latest attempt at a change of image.
She told 'Greecian Gazette' "I was brought up thinking that this was the way I should be. Evil and vindictive. It was pretty much regarded as a home trade. Personally, I hoped I could do things differently."
Hera has now made foes and followers in a career spanning many centuries. She made her devine debut at a young age, and soon after caused a stir as she married Zeus and became the Queen of the Gods. The Titans brought together Hera and Zeus for the first time. And while she says the reason she was attracted to him was not the chance to be the Queen of the Gods, but to work with him, she still was amazed by the possibilities of power that came with the position.
"In fact, I got so scared that I asked the Titans to arrange a lunch with Zeus so that I wouldn't just meet him for the first time at the marriage ceremony. We got on a like a house on fire. There's something so reassuring about discovering things you have in common, like a dislike of the same people!" But Mount Olympus was never a dead cert for success.
Hera says: "Quite frankly, it was a lot of trial and error. Zeus and I wasted a lot of time and energy. We wasted powers. We made mistakes."
Ever since then, she has studiously resisted attempts at typecasting. The idea of being neatly packaged as a sultry symbol of evil doesn't appeal to Hera, and she admits that her wickedness has become an issue.
"This whole thing about evil can stifle you. As a woman, you have to resist it," she says.
After becoming Queen of the Gods, Hera was harshly introduced to reality: "At first I thought, brilliant, but then I quickly got scared. My life is a series of things where I think I'm going to be found out."
Hera's new attempt at a change of image is already garnering critical acclaim to the point where Olympian insiders are pointing at a complete make-over of the evil Goddess. But the thought makes Hera visibly cringe with embarrassment.
"My fear is that if I don't succeed I'll look like a failure or less than successful. But all of this acclaim is gravy, because the whole thing should have gone by now, been finished with!"
Despite portraying the evil Goddess, Hera admits she is a bit of a softie. "There is nothing I enjoy more than to snuggle up in front of the fireplace with a cup of hot coco after a stressful day."
With her own range of branded lipstick and perfume out on general release soon, Hera insists it's not the fame but simply the idea that makes her name a success. But fame and celebrity status are not of paramount importance to Hera, and away from the spotlight, she keeps a relatively low profile.
"Because of the devine responsibilities I have, I don't think I'm high on the list of big Devine names," she says. "The truth is, I've always tended to make fairly obscure appearances, so I haven't really courted any mortal success. I'm not particularly romanced by fame."
Hera insists that though her fighting against Hercules is as starry an experience as "doing the laundry", she never wanted to be the Evil One. Among the other Gods, Hera has a reputation for round-the-clock work habits. A friend is quoted saying of the Queen of the Gods: "She's a stickler for organisation. I want to shake her and say, 'Stop making the lists'. She's like a huge corporation."
Motherhood has in no way changed Hera's workaholic habits. She says: "I'm like a headless chicken. I'm making my raging plots, planning vicious attacks on Hercules and doing photo shoots. I'm cursing villages, I'm trying to take care of my children. I'm reading petitions... but it is slowly getting on top of me. Warlords are calling me saying, 'You have got to listen to this and make a decision by tomorrow morning.' And I'm like, 'OK, I have no free time'."
Hera admits to alcoholism, sex addiction and a spell in a mental hospital. "My alcoholism was a kind of allergic illness that led to a mis-diagnosis, and one morning I woke up to find myself in a mental hospital." Olympian Alcoholics Anonymous helped her recover. Then there's her "sex addiction" which she confesses to. She says: "Sex is often overrated. It takes up a lot of time and energy, which is why it pre-occupies me less in late middle age."
Part of the reason she's careful about her appearances now is that so much happened so fast early on in her career. These days, she's far more selective.
"I've started to feel much more confident about myself. It's something you work on slowly in this business."
Now past her alcoholism and sex addiction, Hera lives with her still-husband Zeus in their mansion on Mount Olympus. "I know things haven't been going well in our relationship lately, but we are working on it. It might not look it, but we are very much in love."
As to mortals' perception of her, she comments: "The thing about Goodhood is that people can have an idea about you, based on what you've done, and don't trust you to do anything else." Having friends gave her a vital commodity: instant recognition and she now feels ready to go on for more.
No wonder People Magazine voted her one of the year's 25 Most Intriguing People.