Percy Jackson's Greek Gods

“Now you’re going to ask, Okay, so, if the sky was killed, why do I look up and still see the sky?

Answer: I dunno.

My guess is that Kronos killed Ouranos’s physical form, so the sky god could no longer appear on the earth and claim kingship. They basically exiled him into the air. So he’s not dead, exactly, but now he can’t do anything but be the harmless dome over the world.”

This is one of many places where Percy anticipates a potential question from readers, declares that he doesn’t have the answer, and then speculates based on what he understands about Greek myth. Such interjections remind readers both that Percy, despite being a demigod, doesn’t have all the answers and also that the world of Greek myth is complex and, like the human world, imperfect. Percy’s speculation likewise points to how the myths may vary depending on who’s telling them. Since Percy’s perspective is based on his knowledge and experience, it’s specific to him; someone who has a different understanding of the gods and myths may draw a different conclusion about Ouranos’s demise. In addition, such speculative passages help inspire readers to think independently or to seek and discuss different interpretations of the myths.

“Mnemosyne was born with a photographic memory long before anyone knew what a photograph was. Seriously, she remembered everything—her sisters’ birthdays, her homework, putting out the garbage, feeding the cats. In some ways, that was good. She kept the family records and never ever forgot anything. But in some ways, having her around was a drag, because she would never let you forget anything.

That embarrassing thing you did when you were eight years old? Yep, she remembered. That promise you made three years ago that you would pay her back that loan? She remembered.”

Throughout the book, Percy illustrates the positive and negative aspects of the gods’ powers, and this passage about Mnemosyne exemplifies Percy’s analysis of how godly powers affect a god and those around them. It also shows how the gods use their gifts to benefit or inconvenience themselves and others. While Mnemosyne’s memory enables her to keep things running smoothly for all the gods, she can call them out on errors they’ve made that they may wish to forget. In addition, Mnemosyne’s inability to forget burdens her with memories she may not want to recall either.

“Rhea didn’t want to take little Hera to Kronos, but it was a tradition back then. Dad got to hold the baby. It was one of those natural laws that Themis always insisted on. (There was also a natural law against eating your kids, but Themis was too afraid to mention that to Kronos.)”

Thematically highlighting The Effects of Power Dynamics, Themis (the goddess of law and order) maintains the laws deemed natural among the Titans and gods—in this case, that Kronos, despite his history of harming his children, gets to hold his newborns. In addition, this moment highlights the power disparity between Kronos and Rhea. While Kronos’s treatment of his children devastates Rhea, who bore them, Themis gives her no choice because, as a woman at the time, her desires are second to those of Kronos, a man and her husband. Themis’s fear of Kronos’s wrath, however, raises questions about the balance of power considering her duties to uphold law and order.

“‘There’s an opening at the palace for a cupbearer,’ she said.

‘But I have no experience bearing cups,’ Zeus said.

‘It’s easy,’ Rhea promised. ‘Whenever King Kronos asks for a drink, you bring it to him. The pay isn’t great, but the job has good side benefits, such as overthrowing your father and becoming lord of the cosmos.’

‘I’m down with that,’ Zeus said.”

This exchange between Rhea and Zeus occurs shortly before Zeus takes a position in Kronos’s palace in preparation for destroying the Titan. Percy’s modernization of the dialogue and signature humor helps readers follow the conversation while retaining the essence of the Greek myth. In addition, the dialogue weaves in a definition of “cupbearer” for readers who may not be familiar with the term. Rhea’s description of the job and Zeus’s response represent the casual way in which the Titans and gods view violence and death. Rhea has no problem sending Zeus to kill Kronos, and Zeus is more than willing to accept the job once he realizes it entails the potential for ultimate power after he destroys his father.

“‘Perhaps we can make peace,’ Hestia suggested.

The others stared at her as if she were crazy. Hestia was the eldest and gentlest of the gods, but her siblings didn’t take her seriously. You have to wonder how the world might’ve been different if Hestia had been put in charge, but, alas, she wasn’t.”

As the Olympian gods prepare to battle the Titans, this exchange between Hestia and her siblings highlights how she differs from them. As goddess of the home and hearth, Hestia oversees gathering places and sanctuaries where the gods can obtain help if they need it. Consequently, she suggests peace because she knows the power it holds. The other gods don’t take her seriously, though, which reveals their violent natures. Like Ouranos’s demise, this moment also shows how the immortals learn as they go. They don’t have enough history to look back and realize that peace solves more than war, so they move forward with their desire to eliminate Kronos and seize power.

“‘They could learn to be more like us,’ Prometheus said. ‘They could build houses, make cities, all sorts of things.’

‘That,’ Zeus said, ‘is the worst idea I’ve ever heard. Next, you’re going to want to arm the cockroaches. Give humans fire, and they’re going to take over the world. They’ll get all uppity and decide they’re as good as immortals.’”

Prometheus has just suggested that the gods give humans fire, citing all the ways their lives could improve. Like Hestia, Prometheus sees the benefits that fire has brought to the gods (both as a gathering place and a source of warmth), and he believes that he has a duty to help humans better their existence. Zeus’s response reflects his more negative view of humans, which thematically highlights the effects of power dynamics and reveals Zeus’s prejudices. He believes that the gods are above other creations and that, in particular, humans can’t be trusted to act wisely if they’re given any power.

“Word got around. The mortals decided that maybe they should take Demeter seriously. Anybody who controls food can bless you—or they can curse you very, very badly.”

Demeter recently cursed someone who attacked her sacred grove by making them unable to quench their appetite or thirst, highlighting the danger of angering the gods. Though Demeter doesn’t have Zeus’s raw power or Hades control over death, she can inflect just as much damage and torment through suffering rather than through immediate violence. This description thematically exemplifies The Darkness in Everyone. Under normal circumstances, Demeter is calm and wise, befitting her power over grain and farming. However, when tested, even she can do unspeakable things.

“I HAVE TO BE HONEST. I never understood what made Persephone such a big deal. I mean, for a girl who almost destroyed the universe, she seems kind of meh.

Sure, she was pretty. She had her mother’s long blonde hair and Zeus’s sky-blue eyes. She didn’t have a care in the world. She was sure the whole world had been invented just for her pleasure. I guess when your parents are both gods you can come to believe that.”

This description of Persephone highlights both the goddess’s vanity and the differences between her and the demigod children of Riordan’s world. Persephone’s oblivious nature gets her caught in a confrontation between Demeter, Hades, and Zeus, and while the gods rage and batter the world, Persephone throws tantrums because she has no concept of responsibility. As a demigod who has faced multiple challenges, plus threats from monsters simply for existing, Percy can’t fathom why Persephone has gained notoriety for being pretty and vain. After having to repeatedly prove himself to many others, Percy believes that facing adversity and emerging unscathed is far more worthy of fame.

“Weeks passed. Then months. Humans starved by the thousands. And when humans starved they couldn’t make burnt offerings to the gods. They couldn’t build new temples. All they could do was cry out in agony, praying to the gods twenty-four/seven, Help us! We’re starving! Which gave Zeus a huge headache.”

When Zeus refuses to intervene to get Persephone back from the Underworld, Demeter causes a famine that leaves humans starving and weak, again showing how she can use her powers to inflict massive suffering. Additionally, this situation reveals the power she holds over both the gods and humans. Though the gods don’t directly suffer, the lack of food means that the gods’ lives are disrupted through a lack of sacrifices and an abundance of desperate prayers. In the end, Zeus relents because he doesn’t want to deal with the inconvenience. More broadly, Demeter’s famine symbolizes how inconveniencing one population has long-reaching consequences that cause a chain reaction throughout the world.

“‘It’s just…well, he’s a guest in my house. He’s eaten our food. I can’t incinerate him without good reason.’

‘WITHOUT GOOD REASON?’ she cried. ‘He made a pass at your wife!’

‘Yes, yes. And that’s very serious. Still, I need indisputable proof.’

‘My word is not good enough?’”

This exchange between Zeus and Hera thematically exemplifies the effects of power dynamics. As king of the gods, Zeus holds tremendous power, and though he often incinerates humans for minor infractions, he’s bound by the rules of etiquette. In addition, the exchange points to the idea of due process and not condemning someone without proof. Hera’s insistence that her word is proof enough reflects the societal tendency to disregard the truth of a woman’s account of events, particularly regarding the actions of men. While her word is enough to accuse, though, it should not, alone, condemn someone, and once Zeus finds proof, he acts accordingly to destroy the offender, showing that he does take Hera seriously.

“For some spirits of the dead, however, the Lethe was actually a blessing. Crowds of ghosts were always gathered at the banks, drinking from the river so that they could forget their former lives, because you can’t miss what you don’t remember.”

In Greek myth, the River Lethe (named after the Greek spirit of forgetfulness and oblivion) flows through the Underworld, and all spirits who drink from it or pass through it forget their mortal lives. Before this passage, the book describes this concept as unfortunate because robbing spirits of their memories renders those spirits lost and confused. Here, however, Percy highlights how the loss of memory can be an asset for spirits who don’t wish to recall their mortal lives. Like Quote #3 regarding Mnemosyne’s inability to forget, this quote about the River Lethe comments on both the power of forgetting and the strength inherent in memory.

“The gods adjourned to the throne room and held their very first (and very last) meeting of the People’s Republic of Olympus.

They quickly found that voting on everything was messy. It took a long time. Just deciding on a design for the new Olympian flag took hours!”

The gods have just trapped Zeus and demanded that he give them all equal say in affairs of the gods and world. When Zeus refuses, the gods proceed without him, believing that a democratic assembly will function far better than Zeus’s dictatorship. These lines, however, show that every type of government has flaws. While Zeus’s dictatorship unfairly puts all other beings at the mercy of his decisions, it’s efficient. However, as the gods learn here, the democratic process is messy and time-consuming because all perspectives must be heard in order to arrive at solutions tenable for everyone. This point is as relevant in today’s world as in ancient Greece.

“At this point, some of you may be thinking, Hey, a guy escapes a big flood and floats to safety while the rest of the wicked human race drowns. Wasn’t there another story like that? Some dude named Noah?

Yeah, well, every ancient culture seems to have a flood story.”

Zeus has just flooded the world to wipe out humanity and start over, though a few humans survive. Percy’s aside here points to the universal stories that exist across many myths and belief systems. Zeus’s flood closely matches the biblical story of Noah’s Ark and other mass flood tales. Such stories also symbolize water as a purifying force in the world.

“The cloth is made of threads—millions of them going up and down, back and forth. Somebody had to take the material, like wool or cotton or whatever, brush it out so all the fibres go in the same direction, then spin it and twist it into those tiny little threads. Then they had to line up a zillion sideways threads, all parallel to each other like guitar strings, and weave the up-and-down threads into them.

Sure, now we’ve got machines to do that. But imagine, back in the day, doing it all by hand. Every square inch of cloth took hours and hours to make.”

These lines come during the tale of Athena and Arachne. Here, Percy describes the skill and talent required to weave a product from scratch, offering context to readers who don’t realize how much work today’s machines do (and how many hours of labor they save). In addition, this quote highlights Arachne’s abilities and why she feels she owes her talents to hard work rather than to Athena. As a weaver, Arachne has practiced and honed her craft. Cultural norms dictate that she should pray to Athena in thanks for her talent, but Arachne refuses because she doesn’t want to give anyone else credit for her accomplishments, illustrating the ideas inherent in the thematic discussion of What Makes a Society.

“My real question: what was Aphrodite thinking? If she knew this whole Pandora thing would give women a bad rep for eternity, why did she go along with it? Me, I think she just didn’t care about the consequences. She wanted to make Pandora beautiful. She wanted to prove that love could succeed where the other gods had failed—even if it caused a global disaster.”

Referring to Pandora’s opening the jug (or “box”) containing the evil spirits and unleashing them on the world, Percy’s analysis shows how this one event has had long-lasting consequences because it put labels on women and associated beauty with a lack of intelligence. This situation is another instance in which Aphrodite’s dedication to love causes problems. She’s so concerned with a happy ending that she doesn’t stop to consider the other potential consequences of her actions. This reflects Aphrodite’s vapid personality and thematically represents The Darkness in Everyone.

“The city of Sparta? They loved Ares. Of course, they were the manly men of Greece who ate nails and steroids for breakfast, so I guess that made sense.

In the centre of town they had a statue of Ares all chained down, the theory being that if they kept Ares in shackles he couldn’t desert them, so the Spartans would always have courage and victory.”

Amid Percy’s analysis of Ares’s role in Greek myth, this passage suggests that while the war god wasn’t a popular choice as a patron in many cities, he was a central figure in Sparta. This city was known for its warlike culture, which Percy pokes fun at, using sarcasm to comment on the diet of “manly men.” The second paragraph highlights how war-based cultures use startling images to show how tough they are. Chaining down a god (even the representation of one) seems dangerous in a world where minor infractions incite swift, brutal punishment, but the Spartans use this image to prove that they aren’t afraid of Ares’s wrath.

“He rode a donkey up the mountain, because he liked donkeys. They were ugly and stubborn, comical, but strong and sturdy. Hephaestus could relate to that. And if you underestimated or mistreated a donkey you were likely to get your teeth kicked in.”

Hephaestus is on his way to the gods’ palace on Mount Olympus so that he can take revenge on Hera for throwing him off the mountain as a baby. The description highlights how Hephaestus differs from the other gods, who are all traditionally beautiful. By contrast, Hephaestus is considered ugly, but he doesn’t let this assessment of his looks define who he is. His appearance gives the god respect for other creatures who are considered ugly (like the donkey), and he’s proud to be in such company because he, like the donkey, is strong and will defend himself.

“At first, Hephaestus was furious. He wanted to yell at them to take this seriously. He was in pain. He was humiliated!

Then he took a deep breath and realized: no, Aphrodite and Ares were humiliated. The other gods would be telling this tale for centuries. Every time the two lovers walked into the throne room, the Olympians would smirk and try not to laugh, remembering Aphrodite’s messed-up hair and Ares’s stupid boxers and red socks. Every time people told embarrassing stories at family get-togethers, this would be Embarrassing Story Number One.”

Hephaestus has just trapped Aphrodite and Ares to prove that Aphrodite has been cheating on him. Here, Hephaestus’s realization reveals the necessity of putting responsibility where it belongs. At first, Hephaestus is humiliated because he gave Aphrodite and Ares the power to humiliate him. Once Hephaestus realizes that he’s in control of his own fate, he understands that he needn’t be humiliated, because he did nothing wrong. His realization sends the message that no one has the power to make him feel a certain way.

“See, Marsyas, you think you’re special, but you’re a fad. I’ll be famous forever. I’m immortal. You? All glitter, no gold. Scratch the surface, and you’re just another mortal satyr—flesh and blood.”

After Apollo challenges a satyr to a music contest and wins, his words reveal his arrogant personality and show how he’s particularly offended when beings he deems lesser than himself exhibit talent. Apollo’s words offer a comparison to Athena’s challenge against Arachne. Though Athena likewise becomes enraged when a mortal dares to challenge her, her self-confidence enables her to belatedly realize that she’s wrong to punish someone for having skill. In contrast, Apollo’s insecurities bolster his dialogue, showing that he must insult others down to feel better about himself. This tendency invites comparison to modern-day bullies.

“Afterwards, Kallisto was too ashamed to say anything. She was afraid it was somehow her fault. Pro tip: if you’re attacked by a creep, it’s never your fault. Tell somebody.”

This story from Artemis’s chapter thematically highlights both the effects of power dynamics and what makes a society. Though Kallisto doesn’t intentionally give up her “maidenhood,” she’s forced to leave Artemis’s group because Artemis has established strict rules to govern her hunters, and she won’t break down the structure of her society for this exception. In addition, these lines illustrate the problem inherent in power dynamics between genders, particularly involving gods. Kallisto was violated and forced to carry a child, and because of the stories passed down about the gods, she believes that the situation was her fault because she was too tempting for a god to resist. The last sentence in this quote is a message to Kallisto and readers (specifically girls) that they aren’t responsible for the poor behavior of others and shouldn’t accept blame for someone else’s actions.

“The argument got more and more heated, because up in Olympus Aphrodite was inflaming their passions. Sure, she was the goddess of love, but there really isn’t much difference between love and hate. They both get out of control easily, and one turns into the other.”

This excerpt again shows how Aphrodite’s obsession with love causes trouble for mortals. In addition, it reveals that Aphrodite doesn’t only have power over positive types of love. This quote describes the passion of an angry love for one’s own viewpoint and a need to defend it, thus protecting oneself. As Percy notes, this type of love differs little from hate, since hate and love are both high-intensity emotions. One of the arguers subsequently kills the other in passion, symbolizing the pain that love can bring.

“IT WOULD BE FASTER to list the things Hermes wasn’t the god of, because that guy had a lot going on. He was the god of travel, so he was the patron of anyone who used the roads. That meant merchants, messengers, ambassadors, travelling performers and herders bringing their livestock to market. It also meant bandits, thieves, drifters and those annoying caravans of retired people in motorhomes heading south for the winter,

Hermes was in charge of guiding dead souls to the Underworld. He was Zeus’s personal FedEx service, carrying his boss’s messages all around the globe with guaranteed overnight delivery.”

This list of Hermes’s duties as the messenger god reveals the complex nature of the gods’ powers. Both businesspeople and bandits must pray to Hermes for good travels, showing how travel itself is neutral and takes many different forms. In addition, Hermes power exemplifies how the different gods overlap. Hades may be the god of the Underworld, but Hermes is responsible for ensuring that souls successfully travel to the Underworld so that Hades can do his job. In addition, Hermes’s status as Zeus’s personal courier reveals not only how much power Zeus has over the other gods but also how he needs the other gods to maintain his power.

“And he’d learned that you couldn’t hide who you were just by putting on different clothes. Later on, he became the god of anybody who felt confused about his or her own gender, because Dionysus could relate.”

Having been raised as a girl, Dionysus became the god of those questioning who they are. This passage shows that people who identify outside the gender binary have always existed and that in the world of Greek myth such individuals were welcome and received guidance like any other individual. Percy’s reference to “his or her,” however, dates this collection since it doesn’t intentionally include those who use nonbinary pronouns to identify themselves.