Hera

"Giving you answers would make those answers invalid, That is the way of the Fates. You must forge your own path for it to mean anything. Already, you three have surprised me. I would not have thought it possible ..."

- Hera

Hera (Ήρα in Ancient Greek) is the wife as well as one of the sisters of Zeus. She is also the goddess of motherhood, women and marriage (which includes divorce). Since her husband is Zeus, she is the Queen of the Gods. She is the youngest daughter of Rhea and Kronos, and was also swallowed by her father Kronos with all of her other siblings except Zeus. Her Roman counterpart is Juno. She mostly known to be Zeus' jealous wife and takes out her anger at Zeus' mistresses or children of other women. Hera is portrayed by Erica Cerra in The Lightning Thief (film).

History
Hera spent her childhood in her Titan father Kronos' stomach after she was born by Rhea, her Titan mother. Zeus, her brother, rescued her and her siblings, and after the First Titan War ended she married him and became the Queen of the Gods. Hera is actually Zeus' third wife. He first married Metis, a Titan and Athena's mother, but ended up swallowing her to avoid a prophecy and his daughter, Athena, was born from his splitted head. His second wife was Themis, Goddess of divine justice. After accepting Zeus, Gaea/Gaia gave Hera the golden apples of immortality as a wedding gift, which she placed in her garden at the western edge of the world. Hera employed the Hesperides, daughters of Atlas, to guard the tree, but as the nymphs would occasionally pluck from the tree themselves, she also placed a one hundred headed dragon named Ladon there as well. This orchard was later named The Garden of the Hesperides.

Over time, Zeus was very unfaithful to her, and had many children with mortal women such as Jason Grace, Thalia Grace, and Hercules. This understandably,frustrated Hera to no end, and she devoted most of her time to keeping Zeus in sight, as well as making the lives of the mistresses and illegitimate children miserable.

Her hatred is most evident in the story of Hercules, whom Hera tried to kill repetitively, and who later ended up as her son-in-law by her daughter Hebe.

Hera gave birth to Hephaestus,god of fire and the forge, but when she saw his unsightly appearance, threw him from Olympus, crippling him forever. This act of cruelty haunted Hephaestus for life, and was a factor in his bitterness with life and the fact that he preferred to work away from his family in his many forges in active volcanoes.

Hera is noted to blame this on her husband Zeus. Later in life, Hephaestus gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by making her a magical throne which, when she sat on it, did not allow her to leave. The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go, but he repeatedly refused their pleades until Dionysus, who was the god of wine and another son of Zeus, got him drunk and took him back to Olympus on the back of a mule. Hephaestus released Hera after being given Aphrodite, goddess of love, as his wife.

Hera claimed the golden apple that Eris threw, with the words 'for the fairest' written on it during the Judgement of Paris when Thetis, nymph goddess and mother of Achilles, was married. Paris was then chosen by Zeus to pick who was the fairest of all. She lost to Aphrodite, because of the bribe the goddess of love had offered Paris ("If you pick me as the fairest, I will give you the most beautiful woman on earth(Helen)"). Hera, engaged along with Athena who also lost to Aphrodite joined the Greek's side in the Trojan War in revenge against Paris for rejecting them in the Judgement of Paris.

The Titan's Curse
In The Titan's Curse, Hera is present at the Winter Solstice with the other Olympians. She votes for Percy and Thalia to live.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
In The Battle of the Labyrinth, She helped Percy multiple times; by feeding Percy's group, banishing Janus, paying to give the group a free pass through the Triple G ranch, and helping Percy kill Geryon by causing his arrow to fly straight.

However, Annabeth accused Hera of only wanting a "perfect family," after Hephaestus told her the story of how she threw him from Olympus after the goddess says that everything is alright and Percy doesn't agree with her objective. She also doesn't think much of her brother Hades and his family, and is very dismissive of Nico and his problems. Hera responded with rage and said that Annabeth "will be sorry" for being so disrespectful towards her. She proceeds to curse Annabeth with her sacred animals, causing cows to bother her all year.

Hera claims that her jealous behavior is all in the past now and she and Zeus have received some "excellent marriage counseling." Nevertheless, when Percy mentions Thalia, Hera casts a dangerous look and refers to "her" with a sneer.

The Last Olympian
In The Last Olympian, Hera joins the gods in the battle against Typhon. A statue of Hera almost falls on top of Annabeth as Mount Olympus begins to crumble. Thalia pushes Annabeth out of the way in time, but the statue lands on Thalia's leg and she is unable to follow Percy and Annabeth as they confront Luke. Annabeth assumes that Hera was trying to kill her, but this could just be an over reaction based on an arguement they had in The Battle of the Labyrinth. After the battle is over, Hera, somewhat disdainfully, congratulates the heroes on their triumph. She seems to force Ares to thank them as well, showing that she is grateful to them despite her general dislike of demigods. Annabeth also says that Hera's sacred animal, the cow, has been bothering her all year.

The Lost Hero
Before the book begins, she is trapped by Khione in a cage that drains her power to awaken Gaea/Gaia, and bring Porphyrion. She mostly appears in dreams and other messages to get Jason, Piper, and Leo to free her. After she is freed by Leo and Piper, she is trying to kill Porphyrion, and she goes into her Divine Form and Jason sees her in that form. She is very surprised that he was brought back to life by Piper after seeing her in her Divine Form and dying. She went against Zeus' orders when she contacted Jason, even after being saved. Throughout it she reveals more about herself and her view on things. She confesses to often never understanding Zeus' moods, but that his current actions are baffling even to her bordering on paranoia. She admits to Jason that she is so bitter towards heroes because she does not have any of her own heroes. She becomes Jason's patron goddess, whether she or Jason likes it or not.

Appearance
Hera has long chocolate brown hair woven into a braid with gold ribbons, and wears a simple white dress that ripples like oil on water when she moves. She is very beautiful, and looks like 'an average Mom,' according to Percy. Hera is supposedly a very intimidating sight with 'eyes glazed with power.' When first appearing to Percy and his party, he is unsure if he is any better off with Hera than with Janus.

Juno
Hera can change her appearance and become her Roman counterpart, Juno. As Juno, she becomes more disciplined, warlike, and militaristic. Juno is described in the series as wearing a black hooded robe with a goatskin cloak over her shoulders. The Greeks envisioned Hera as a proud and vengeful being whereas the Romans envisioned Juno as more protective in order to better assume her role as the patron goddess of Rome. This can be seen in her defiance of Jupiter/Zeus' orders where she stated that as Hera, she might have complied but as Juno, she needed to try and help stop the giants.

Personality
Hera seems to be a mothering type, which is likely caused by her status as the goddess of women, marriage, and children, but is seen to be very jealous. When cross, even Zeus can be afraid of his wife. She also likes only 'perfect' children. She didn't care anything for Hephaestus because he wasn't her idea of the kind of son she wanted. Hera carries great loathing for the illegitimate children and mistresses of Zeus, for good reason. She is seen as often aware of Zeus' various affairs, many times thwarting them and tricking him into getting what she wants. Though perhaps her anger should be more keyed toward her husband, Hera seems to gain revenge by punishing the women involved as well as the children that result from his affairs. As goddess of marriage, Hera is "used to perseverance," and is always reconciled with Zeus despite his frequent infidelity. She expresses sadness over the loss of faith seen in the minor gods, and reminds Percy's group to always look at the big picture.

Although she often seems often and bitter, in The Lost Hero it is strongly implicated that Hera knows her duties of queen and co-head (along with Zeus) of the Olympian family and takes them seriously, going against her husband's will and devising a plan to unite Greek and Roman demigods whom she personally dislikes. She is ready to overcome her own wishes in order to save the gods and Olympus and thus, the Western civilization.

Hera, like some gods, has a personality that wants everything to be perfect and gives favors to people or gods that give something to her in return. Site the action she did in the Battle of The Labyrinth, she helped Annabeth, Percy, Tyson and Grover in their quest just to have Daedalus dead.

In some stories, Hera is portrayed as solemn and majestic,often enthroned and crowned with the polos, ( a high cyndrical crown worn by several Great Godesses). Although, she is also noted for being vengeful and jelousness to Zeus other affairs and offsprings. She is a nightmare to every child of Zeus, as Thalia Grace put in The Lost Hero.

Powers
It is unknown what kind of supernatural powers Hera possesses. In the Labyrinth she makes food appear out of thin air, like Dionysus and Hestia can. As queen of the gods, she seems to wield authority over the entire Earth, and was able to offer Paris kingship over all mortal countries if he chose her as the most beautiful goddess instead of Athena or Aphrodite. She also caused all land masses to shun Leto while she was in labor with two of Zeus's illegitimate children, Apollo and Artemis. She is the goddess of marriage, and might have the ability to bless marriages, or curse them if she is crossed. She is the goddess of motherhood, and might be able to affect fertility. Hera presumably possesses the standard powers of a god.

Family
Hera's Children with Zeus: Hera's children through parthenogenesis:
 * Ares
 * Enyo
 * Hebe
 * Ilithyia
 * Hephaestus

Although she is a matron goddess, Hera is known to regain her virginity every year by a sacred bath so she can celebrate her hierogamy (sacred marriage) to Zeus again. She is one of the most beautiful goddesses in Olympus and she was often desired by other men. Despite his many infidelities, Zeus was very jealous and punished everyone who approached her: the handsome Endymion, the extremely strong brothers the Aloades, the giant Porphyrion are examples. When King Ixion tried to seduce Hera, Zeus sent Nephele, the goddess of clouds, to him under the disguise of Hera. By this union the centaurs were born.

The Lightning Thief
Hera is played by Erica Cerra. She makes a brief appearance near the end of the movie, attending the Olympian Council.

Trivia

 * Her name is an anagram of her mother's name, Rhea.
 * Both Thaliaand Annabeth hate her.