Gaea

Gaea (Γαία in Ancient Greek, or sometimes spelled as Gaia) is the primordial Greek goddess personifying the Earth, and the main antagonist of the second series, The Heroes of Olympus. She was the third (in some stories first) being to arise from Chaos at the beginning of time. Her Roman counterpart is Terra. Terra is the Latin/Roman word for earth. Though sometimes presented as a maternal figure, particularly toward her Titan children, she can also be very cruel. In mythology she mainly exists as an enemy of the Olympians, sending Typhon and later the Giants to overthrow them. She is, however, ironically somewhat responsible for their rise to power. She also hosted the Oracle of Dephi.

History
Gaea and her husband and son Ouranos were two of the first Greek (gods, giants, and Titans) to emerge at the beginning of the world. She was the Primordial Personification of the Earth, and he was the Primordial Personification of the Heavens. They became partners and brought forth the Titans, their children.
 * Oceanus
 * Koios
 * Krios
 * Hyperion
 * Iapetus
 * Theia
 * Rhea
 * Themis
 * Mnemosyne
 * Phoebe
 * Tethys
 * Kronos
 * The Hundred Handed-Ones
 * Cottus
 * Briares
 * Gyges

She also consorted with Poseidon, Zeus, Tartarus, and Pontus.


 * Zeus:
 * Kybele
 * Adgistis (faded)
 * Manes


 * Poseidon:
 * Antaeus


 * Tartarus:
 * Typhon
 * Echidna (though most say she was the daughter of Phorkys and Ceto)
 * Kampê
 * Giants (Gigantes)
 * Ophiotaurus

Gaea also gave birth to the first Cyclopes as well as the Hekatonkheires. She was also the mother of the Protogenos Pontus, the primordial personification of the ocean.
 * Pontus:
 * Aigaios
 * Nereus
 * Phorkys
 * Keto
 * Thaumas
 * Eurybia

After Ouranos pushed the Hekatonkheires in Gaea's womb and the Cyclops into Tartarus, Gaea was furious. She asked her children to get rid of Ouranos so she could save her other children, and only Kronos was brave enough to do it. He took a scythe Gaea made and got rid of his father.

However, Kronos didn't rescue his brothers, and Gaea was angry with him. Gaea then prophesied that Kronos in turn was destined to be overthrown by his own son, and so the Titan attempted to avoid this fate by devouring his young. Zeus, through deception by his mother Rhea, avoided this fate, and later rescues the Hekatonkheires from Gaea's womb and the Cyclops from Tartarus, and forced his father to vomit up his brothers and sisters.

A war then started between the Titans and the gods, Hekatonkheires, and Cyclops. The young gods emerged victorious. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades used their father's sycthe to chop Kronos into a thousand pieces as he did to Ouranos, and banished the other Titans who sided with Kronos into Tartarus with bonds that they will never break.

Gaea's first attempt to avenge the titans was, with the spirit of Tartarus, giving birth to Typhon. Typhon, being the father of all monsters, was one of the worst enemies Zeus and the Olympians had to face. Typhon, with the help of Echidna, was able to render Zeus helpless and (because Zeus is immortal) imprison him in a cave. However, with the help of the other gods, Zeus, with his lightning bolts, was able to trap Typhon under Mt. Etna. Gaea then made peace with the Olympians and promised not to bother the Olympians again.

However, that was not Gaea's last attempt to overthrow the Olympians. She prophesied that Zeus's wife Metis would bear two children, first a daughter, and second a son who would eventually overthrow him. To avoid this fate, Zeus convinced Metis to transform into a fly, and then swallowed her. But it was too late. Metis already conceived a child. A few days later, Zeus received severe headaches. He convinced Hephaestus to axe his head open and out came a matured Athena. It is unknown if Metis escaped or not, but she never conceived the second child, so Gaea's plan, at least for a time, failed.

Some time later, Gaea used the Giants she has been harboring during the First Olympian War to avenge the Titans by attacking Mount Olympus, only for them to be defeated by the Olympian Gods and demigods.

Sometime before the 1940's Gaea had started to stir, and possessed Marie Levesque in order to make Hazel resurrect Alcyoneus.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
Gaea is mentioned by Annabeth in the Battle of the Labyrinth when Percy battles her son, Antaeus (Also a son of Poseidon), in an arena deep within the Labyrinth. At first Percy is unable to harm him, because any wound he receives is instantly covered by sand and healed by Gaea's power. Percy is able to defeat him by causing him to be disconnected with the Earth, baiting Antaeus to climb up some chains hanging from the ceiling after Percy. Percy wrapped him in the chains and then stabbed him, causing him to turn to dust with his mother unable to protect him.

A river nymph also mentions her when she tells Percy that the area around her river, including Geryon's stables, were once part of the ocean when only Gaea and Ouranos reigned. This references the first age of the world, before the Titan's ruled.

The Lost Hero
Gaea appears spiritually when Leo was little and leaving his mom's work and caused the place to burn down. Leo was alive because of his ability to resist fire, but his mom didn't make it out. So Gaea might have been very weak but beginning to wake, when Leo was little. Gaea also appeared during Jason's Quest to save Hera, speaking to Leo through a medium of spilled toiled chemicals. It is officially revealed that Gaea is awakening and using the Giants to try and overthrow the current rulers of Olympus, the Olympians as she did after the First Olympian War. It was said if she fully awoke, she would literally shake civilization apart. Her army revealed they are going to go to Greece and destroy the gods from their roots.

The Son of Neptune
Gaea has become far more active since the events of The Lost Hero. She appears as a face on a mountain in Percy's dream after the war games, stating that he is the key to the gods' defeat. She appears shortly after in another dream telling him to come to Alaska. She later helps Percy win his gamble by telling Phineas to drink the poisonous Gorgon blood, for which she states his death will be more painful than Gorgon's blood. Ella stated that "the lady in the ground" has big plans for him. She later stations Laistrygonians outside the Zhang mansion to kill Frank, and a few days later attempts to capture Percy and Hazel when they fall into muskeg and taunting them when they regained the Eagle. She also appeared and talked to Hazel about Nico di Angelo, Hazel's half-brother, who she kidnapped and held him somewhere in Rome.

Personality
In many ways, Gaea is the ideal mother, loving her children first and foremost. She will do anything to protect them, even if it means taking the most extreme measures. It is because of this protectiveness that she is known to be very cruel to anyone who threatens them. Oddly this includes the Gods who are her own grandchildren.

Abilities

 * She presumably has a goddess' powers,but infinitely stronger as she is one of the Protogeno.
 * She can manipulate the earth
 * She knows whatever happens on the earth
 * She can show other people memories or visions from the past
 * She can appear as a dirt person while sleeping
 * She can possess people for short periods of time

Trivia

 * Gaea, a crater on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter, is named after her.
 * Gaea's Roman name is Terra. However in the series, she is known as Gaea to both Greeks and Romans. Though, like Thanatos, Romans could prefer for her to stay Greek.
 * In The Son of Neptune Nico says that Gaea was stirred in her sleep when the Titans lost. But, when Hazel has her flashbacks, it appears that Gaea has been planing to overthrow the gods since World War ll.