Hera

Hera is introduced in Book I as the goddess who sends Athena to stop Achilles from killing Agamemnon, and she is immediately in conflict with Zeus over the fate of Troy. She is not a warrior goddess; her weapons are speech, anger, and the obligations of marriage. She can argue with Zeus, trick him, and outlast him.

Her hatred of Troy goes back to the judgment of Paris, when the Trojan prince chose Aphrodite over her. The Iliad does not narrate the judgment, but Hera refers to it, and her partisanship is personal as well as political.

In Book XIV Hera decides to distract Zeus so that Poseidon can help the Achaeans. She borrows Aphrodite’s girdle, persuades Sleep to help her, and seduces Zeus on Mount Ida. While he sleeps, the battle turns against the Trojans. The episode is comic and alarming: the queen of the gods uses desire as a tactical weapon, and the father of gods is deceived by his own wife.

When Zeus wakes, he is furious, but Hera’s position is secure. She cannot overturn his overall plan, but she can delay and shape it. The Iliad’s Zeus is stronger; its Hera is more persistent.