Is Transcendent the limit?

[Ragitsu]

Other pantheons have members that seem to play this down a bit, like some of the Native American gods.

[Lord Carnifex]

In some stories, the Greek gods and goddesses can deliberately choose more nondescript forms when they manifest before mortals. So goddesses may have a range of Appearance levels to choose from. That being said, I support the idea that Aphrodite would manifest a separate Power-type ability to enchant both gods and men.

That being said, it is to be remembered that Hera is a more complex character than a lot of retellings of the stories give her credit for. She is queen of the Olympians, and the patron goddess of wives and mothers in a time when one out of three children don't make it to one year old, and any pregnancy has a chance of killing or permanently damaging the mother.

There's a fair amount of evidence, too, that Hera's relations with the Greek Heroes is more equitable than some of the later editing makes it out to be. After all, it's not a coincidence that the greatest hero of the Greek legends is Herakles - there's a growing body of evidence that he started out in the legends as her champion on Earth.

[jeff_wilson]

Originally Posted by Lord Carnifex

In some stories, the Greek gods and goddesses can deliberately choose more nondescript forms when they manifest before mortals. So goddesses may have a range of Appearance levels to choose from. That being said, I support the idea that Aphrodite would manifest a separate Power-type ability to enchant both gods and men.

That being said, it is to be remembered that Hera is a more complex character than a lot of retellings of the stories give her credit for. She is queen of the Olympians, and the patron goddess of wives and mothers in a time when one out of three children don't make it to one year old, and any pregnancy has a chance of killing or permanently damaging the mother.

There's a fair amount of evidence, too, that Hera's relations with the Greek Heroes is more equitable than some of the later editing makes it out to be. After all, it's not a coincidence that the greatest hero of the Greek legends is Herakles - there's a growing body of evidence that he started out in the legends as her champion on Earth.

A lot of that is reconciliation syncretism - the conquering cultures co-opting the gods of their new vassals to keep the new peace. "See, we're not so bad? We also worship Mo, only we call her Juno." "....we also sing the praises of Smackdown, only we call him Heracles" "...we also have a tale of how the Fire Bringer was imprisoned with a snake dripping poison on him, only we call him Loki instead of Prometheus." This largely being a military function in distant frontier provinces, there wasn't any careful ecclesiastical agreement before going ahead, so that Aphrodite/Venus also became a matron goddess of birth, motherhood, and wedded bliss alongside beauty and sex.