Riordan Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Riordan Wiki
Chatstar

Earth
This article is written from a real world point of view.

Percy Jackson's Greek Gods is a collection of stories from Greek mythology told from the demigod Percy Jackson's point of view. The book talks about the origins of the Olympian gods (and of their ancestors, the Titans and the Protogenoi) and other stories from their lives. The book was released on August 19th, 2014.

Development

On April 21, 2013, Rick Riordan announced on his Twitter that he was writing a new book based on the stories of Greek mythology from the demigod Percy Jackson's point of view.[3] He later confirmed this in his blog.[4] Riordan will be reading an excerpt from the book during his House of Hades tour. [5] While on tour for The House of Hades Rick Riordan also revealed that the book is 450 pages long, with illustrations throughout the entire book and will come out in August 2014. [6] John Rocco, the illustrator of the book, announced that there will be 60 full-color paintings drawn by him in the book, and gave a sneak peek of one, depicting Hades stealing Persephone. [7] A preview of the first chapter was included in the free e-book Mega-Awesome Adventures on March 4, 2014.[8] Two more previews came out from Waterstones Blog and the Guardian.[9]

Description

Who could tell the origin stories of the gods of Olympus better than a modern-day demigod? Percy Jackson provides an insider's view with plenty of 'tude in this illustrated collection.

"A publisher in New York asked me to write down what I know about the Greek gods, and I was like, Can we do this anonymously? Because I don't need the Olympians angry at me again. But if it helps you to know your Greek gods, and survive an encounter with them if they ever show up in your face, then I guess writing all this down will be my good deed for the week."

So begins Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, in which the son of Poseidon adds his own magic--and sarcastic asides--to the classics. He explains how the world was created, then gives readers his personal take on a who's who of ancients, from Apollo to Zeus. Percy does not hold back. "If you like horror shows, blood baths, lying, stealing, backstabbing, and cannibalism, then read on, because it definitely was a Golden Age for all that."

Dramatic full-color illustrations throughout by Caldecott Honoree John Rocco make this volume--a must for home, library, and classroom shelves--as stunning as it is entertaining. [10]

Plots

Percy Jackson explained that he wrote this book on the Greek Gods at the request of a publisher in New York. At first, he declined in fear of the gods getting mad, but he decided to do it as people will know more about Greek Mythology.

Percy explained how Chaos first created the world including Gaea, Ouranos, Pontos, and Tartarus. Later, Nyx, Hemera, Eros and the twelve Titans were created. Then things started to get rough between Gaea and Ouranos. It got worse when Ouranos threw their next children, the Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires, into Tartarus. Gaea decided to have one of her children cut Ouranos up with a scythe. Only Kronos was willing to do it, though Koios, Krios, Hyperion and Iapetus joined in to hold Ouranos down from the sky. Kronos was successful in chopping up his father and throwing him into the sea, but not before he cursed his son that his own children will overthrow him. The Furies, dryads and satyrs were born in the process.

Kronos wasn't so bad of a ruler at first. Koios, Krios, Hyperion and Iapetus each got a corner of the world for their participation. Kronos' tyranny began when he reimprisoned the Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires he freed, but first the titans had children together. Oceanus and Tethys had Klymene, Iapetus and Klymene had Atlas and Prometheus, Koios and Phoebe had Leto, Hyperion and Theia had Helios and Selene, but Kronos and Rhea did not have a titan. They had a goddess named Hestia. Kronos, fearing Ouranos' curse, swallowed her whole, but Hestia was still alive in his stomach. It was the same with their next four children, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. But when Zeus was born, Rhea gave Kronos a rock instead and gave Zeus to Amaltheia.

Hestia

Hestia, the virgin goddess of the hearth

As soon as Zeus grew up, he came to his father to be his cupbearer. He gave him a blend of nectar and mustard for Kronos to puke out Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. The gods fled and flew into Tartarus to free the Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires, but this time they were guarded by Kampê. Zeus had them make the Master Bolt, which he used to kill Kampê, the Trident for Poseidon, and the Helm of Darkness for Hades. They made a base at Mount Olympus and eventually, they were able to chop up Kronos and send him and his brothers into Tartarus. Zeus had Atlas hold up the sky as it would crush the world without Koios, Krios, Hyperion and Iapetus. In a game, Zeus won the heavens to rule over, Poseidon won the sea, and Hades won the Underworld.

Hestia

Percy Jackson mentioned that almost every book about Greek Mythology started with Zeus. But instead, he's going to start with Kronos' firstborn, Hestia. He explained that Hestia did not want to get married, especially after Zeus married Themis and had the Horai and Fates. Both Poseidon and Apollo wanted to marry Hestia, but she wanted to take care of Mount Olympus' hearth instead. Percy also mentioned the time a donkey saved Hestia from Priapus. When Prometheus stole fire from the hearth to give it to the rest of the world, Percy said that Hestia must have helped him. Nevertheless, Zeus punished the titan by having an eagle eat his liver which would always grow back.

Demeter

Demeter-Viria

The goddess of agriculture

Demeter was liked by all the male gods, but she preferred to wander the earth. After Zeus dumped Themis, he tried to get together with Demeter. They turned into serpents and a chase eventually led to Persephone being born. A few years later, the same thing happened with Poseidon, only with horses instead, they had Despoine and Arion. But then Demeter actually fell in love with a human prince named Iasion, only for Zeus to zap and kill him, although Demeter managed to give birth to Ploutos. Another prince named Erisikhthon gathered some friends of his to chop down trees in a grove of Demeter to build a mansion. The goddess first appeared as a regular-sized woman then grew to a massive height and cursed Erisikhthon with eternal hunger.

Persephone

Persephone RR

The goddess of springtime

Persephone lived with Demeter, but Hades had a massive crush on her. Alas, he knew she was out of his league and when he visited Mount Olympus, Zeus told him that talking to Demeter wouldn't gain the hand of her daughter. He suggested a kidnapping, so Hades rose out of the ground in his chariot and took Persephone to the Underworld after Zeus made some flowers grow to lure her away from her nymph bodyguards. Helios saw this but did nothing, and when Hecate heard Persephone scream, she waited until nightfall to cast better spells. She gave Demeter torches to help find her daughter and she stopped in Eleusis where Queen Metaneira was offering a prayer to her for her son, Demophoon. The queen's firstborn son, Triptolemus, sent riders in all four directions to spread the news. As repayment, Demeter tried to make Demophoon immortal but Metaneira inadvertently prevented it. After hearing about it from a rider, Demeter went to Helios, who told her about Hades. Demeter furiously went to Zeus only to find out that he was an accomplice and that there was nothing she could do. In fury, she allowed the rest of earth's crops, except Eleusis's, to die. Zeus sent Hermes to bring Persephone back. She didn't like Hades but she did like his palace, power, and especially his garden made by Askalaphos. Even though Hades told her about Demeter, he refused to give her back, but Hermes revealed that if she ate any food she'd have to stay there forever. Persephone just ate one-third of a pomegranate. When Demeter found out she turned Askalaphos into a gecko, and the gods agreed to let Persephone stay two-thirds of each year with her mother. Hecate became one of Persephone’s attendants and Demeter made Triptolemus the god of farming.

Hera

Hera

The goddess of marriage and motherhood

Hera was sent off by Rhea to live with Oceanus and Tethys. When she returned, Zeus tried to marry her but she kept saying no. The following night, a cuckoo bird flew near Hera who she decided to keep overnight. The next morning the bird revealed himself as Zeus, and Hera agreed to marry him as long as he was a good husband to her. When a nymph named Chelone refused to attend the wedding, Hermes dropped her house on her and she changed into the world's first tortoise. Hera's last present at her wedding was a tree with golden apples that was replanted in the Garden of the Hesperides and guarded by Ladon and the Hesperides. Zeus and Hera had Ares, Hebe, and Eileithyia. But then Hera got mad that Zeus was having kids with other women, so Hera decided to have a kid all by herself, Hephaestus.

When Ixion visited Mount Olympus, he thought Hera was beautiful. She pushed him away and locked herself in a room when he tried to kiss her. Zeus didn't believe her until Ixion made out with a fake Hera and had Centaurus. Ixion was then made immortal and put on a flying wheel on fire. Princess Semele of Thebes was said to be as beautiful as Hera. The goddess saw Semele was pregnant after Zeus left, so she disguised herself as Beroe, Semele's nursemaid, and convinced her to let her see Zeus' true godly form which resulted in her disintegrating. Zeus hid Semele's baby in his right thigh and he later became Dionysus. When Aigina heard about Semele, she was worried about Hera but passed away before anything happened to her. Her son was named Aeacus and he became king. When Hera found out about Aigina, she put a snake in his island's river, filling it with venom. Aeacus asked Zeus to turn some ants into men for his army. He complied and they were called the Myrmidons, who were soon led by Achilles. Percy Jackson finished the chapter off by mentioning how Hera can sometimes be a friend after she helped Argos after Poseidon flooded it.

Hades

Hades

The god of the Underworld

When Hades first took over Erebos, he became gloomy and decided to do some redecorating. He added five rivers: the depressing River Cocytus, the fiery River Phlegethon, the painful River Acheron, the forgetful River Lethe, and the hateful River Styx. A Daimon son of Nyx named Charon came to guide to the ghosts of the dead to the Underworld. The Judges of the Underworld determined which people would go into which group. Originally, the judges were living people who judged when people were still alive, but after Hades took over he had deceased kings be the judges inside the Underworld. His first were Minos, Aiakos, and Rhadamanthys. Then he made the three Furies be his enforcers, convinced Hermes to guide people to the Underworld, and had Cerberus guard the entrance. Good people went to Elysium or the Isles of the Blest, neutral people went to the Fields of Asphodel, and bad people went to the Fields of Punishment.

One example was Tantalus, who was forced into eternal hunger in a receding pool with high fruit above him for trying to feed his son, Pelops, to the gods after stealing ambrosia and nectar. Another was Sisyphus, who was forced to push a boulder up a hill for eternity after Ares freed Thanatos from him when he tried to cheat death. Persephone's daughters, Melinoe and Makaria, became the daimon in charge of ghosts and nightmares and goddess of blessed peaceful deaths, respectively. Hades once had an affair with Leuke, one of Oceanus' daughters, which made Persephone mad, so he turned Leuke into the first poplar tree. He became depressed until he saw Minthe, daughter of the River Cocytus. After a kiss, Hades took her to the town of Pylos and quickly left. Minthe ranted about being more beautiful than Persephone, which caused the goddess herself to turn her into the first mint plant. Percy Jackson mentioned other heroes meeting up with Hades then introduced the reader to his dad.

Poseidon

Poseidon Creating Horses

The god of the sea

Salty Poseidon liked winning the sea in that dice game. He used his trident to stir up hurricanes and summon tidal waves. Usually, he stays calm, riding his chariot pulled by hippocampi, but if he's not sacrificed to there's a chance he will destroy fishermen's ships.

When Rhea sent Poseidon to live with the Telekhines, he was taught the ways of the ocean until he decided to build his own palace. Poseidon decided to become a patron god of a city above. He tried one in Attica but Athena had already arrived. She decided that they will create a gift for the city, Poseidon used waves to create horses but after Athena won by creating the first olive tree, the city was named Athens. After Poseidon failed to get Argos, Aegina, and Corinth, he got so mad he created a monster that terrorized the coast of Africa until it was defeated by Andromeda's husband. Her mother, Cassiopeia, was placed into the stars by Poseidon. After that, all the Nereids wanted to marry him except for one named Amphitrite. Poseidon loved her but she eventually disappeared. When Delphin offered to look for her and was successful, he promised Amphitrite that Poseidon would treat her nicely and they got married. Their children were Triton, Rhode, and Kymopoleia, but Poseidon still had other girlfriends. One of them was Koroneis, whom Athena turned into a raven after she prayed for help. Another was Medusa, whom Athena turned into a hideous monster after she and Poseidon got romantic in her temple. But some relationships worked out better: Eurynome gave birth to Bellerophon and Aethra gave birth to Theseus. Poseidon also gave both Mestra and Periclymenus the ability to shapeshift, but among his children, there were also Polyphemus and Antaeus. He also turned Theophane into a sheep when she tried to hide, then as a ram, he made love resulting in the birth of Krysomallos, the ram with the Golden Fleece.

Then one day, Hera got the idea to overthrow Zeus. She rounded up Poseidon, Athena, and Apollo for help. But a nymph named Thetis had Briares untie him, on the promise of Thetis he didn't kill the gods. He had Hera suspended over the abyss of Chaos, Apollo and Poseidon were turned into humans and forced to work as laborers for King Laomedon of Troy, yet Athena got off scot-free.

Zeus

Zeus

The god of lightning

Percy Jackson described Zeus as a powerful god who would reward them if they treated him nicely but punished them if not. One example of this was Salmoneus, a prince of Thessaly with six brothers who made their own kingdoms. Salmoneus honored himself before the gods. He even pretended that he was actually Zeus to get food. When people accused him of being a fraud, the real Zeus came down and killed Salmoneus and destroyed Salmonea as some residents offered him food and believed him. Once he even tried to destroy the entire human race with a flood. The original humans were called the Golden Race. Among the flood's survivors were Deucalion, a son of Prometheus, and his wife, Pyrrha, as Prometheus warned his son beforehand. They created new humans for the earth by throwing rocks over their shoulders.

Zeus usually shape-shifted to try and woo women. He turned into a bull for Europa, who had three sons after being taken to Crete. A prophecy stated that his son from the nereid, Thetis, would be greater than him, so Zeus dumped her and she fell for Peleus. One time, Zeus was forced to fight Typhoeus, the son of Gaea and wife of Echidna, who wanted to usurp the gods, alone after the other Olympians fled. Typhoeus ripped his tendons out and stole his lightning bolts, but when Hermes, Aegipan, and other gods returned to Zeus, he got an idea. After Aegipan lured Typhoeus with his panpipes, the latter got out Zeus' tendons for a harp then fell asleep. Hermes returned Zeus his tendons and bolts, then trapped Typhoeus under Mount Etna by crushing him with it after zapping him.

Athena

Athena

The goddess of wisdom

Athena was born from Zeus and Metis, who was swallowed by him after a prophecy stated their son would take his place. Metis faded away after giving birth to Athena in Zeus' gut. Athena made her way to her father's brain, giving him a big headache. Hephaestus split his skull open and Athena grew once she got out. When she was young, she was sent to the nymphs of Lake Tritones. One of them was named Pallas whom she became good friends with.

One day, Zeus saw the two of them mock fighting and mistook it for a real fight, so he showed her the Aegis shield Athena gave him. Pallas was startled and Athena accidentally killed her. Percy thought that was why the goddess is sometimes called "Pallas Athena." Then there was the time she had a weaving contest against the slightly arrogant Arachne. Athena called it a tie but killed Arachne after she insulted her, but then turned her into a spider out of pity. Athena was the one who invented the first flute, but she cursed whoever played it again to have the worst fortune after the other goddesses made fun of her playing it. One day after that, a man named Teiresias came to Athena while she was in a river and the goddess blinded him out of shock, but she also gave him the ability to understand birds.

When Hephaestus tried to get into a relationship with her, he kept going towards her until he got his sweat and snot on her leg. She wiped it off with a cloth and threw to earth where it turned into a baby. Athena decided to adopt the boy and named him Erikthonius. In order to make him immortal, she put Erikthonius in a chest with a snake and gave it to the daughter of King Kekrops. But the curiosity caused them to open the chest and got freaked out so much they jumped to their deaths. Erikthonius did not become immortal, but he did overthrow Kekrops when he grew up.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite

The goddess of love.

Aphrodite was born from the sea after Ouranos was torn apart. When she came to the island of Cyprus, she rose from the sea and met the three Horai. They gave her some clothes and took her to Mount Olympus. When she got there, all of the gods wanted her as their wife, but Hera chose Hephaestus to marry her and most of the gods agreed, but they did not make the best couple at all. Aphrodite started an affair with Ares right after the marriage. Athena had a weaving contest with her too, although she failed miserably. She had a magical belt and Hera borrowed it after an argument with Zeus.

When Zeus tried to punish all humans for having fire, he gave the brother of Prometheus, Epimetheus, a pithos of evil spirits that would attack the mortals when they escape. At Aphrodite's suggestion, the gods created Pandora for Epimetheus to marry while the goddess dropped off the pithos. Pandora opened it one day while Epimetheus was out and things like sickness and misery came out. The only good thing was Elpis, the spirit of hope. However, not all of Aphrodite's creations were bad. She brought a statue that Pygmalion, the sculptor, made to life. Zeus once made Aphrodite fall in love with Anchises until the spell broke, but she got pregnant with Aeneas and returned him when he turned five. Smyrna refused to worship Aphrodite, so the goddess made her pregnant and her father chased her until she turned into a myrrh tree. The tree gave birth to a baby boy named Adonis, whom Aphrodite gave to Persephone. When he grew up the goddesses fought over his custody, so Zeus decided that he'd spend one-third of the year with one of the goddesses while the remaining third he'd be on his own. Aphrodite and Adonis had a daughter named Beroe, and the goddess turned him into anemones after he was killed by a boar.

Ares

Ares

the god of war

Even as a baby, Ares was incredibly strong, so Zeus and Hera hired Thero as his nanny. She took the into the land of Thrace for training until he was on the council. Despite being the god of war, there were many times where he actually chickened out. His twin sons, Phobos and Deimos, were his charioteers and he had his own fortress in the mountains of Thrace. However, pretty much the only Greeks that loved and pretty much worshipped Ares was Sparta, who were manly men.

Another group of Ares lovers were the Amazons, and they built a temple for him with sacred birds. Ares also had two sacred groves in central Greece and Colchis, and they each contained a dark forest of oak trees guarded by dragons. The teeth of these dragons would grow into Skeleton Warriors if planted, but both of them were eventually killed by Cadmus. He went into one of the grooves to make a new city. Athena gave him protection at the time so he could found a city named Thebes and taught him how to create spartoi. Cadmus married Ares' daughter, Harmonia, but Ares turned them both into snakes. They died and went to Elysium. The other dragon guarded the Golden Fleece, King Aeetes would often make skeleton warriors in the field with his extra security, but that didn't stop Jason. When Ares killed Halirrhothius for trying to rape daughter, Alcippe, Poseidon had him stand trial but he was acquitted. The twin giants, Otis and Ephialtes, kidnapped Ares by putting him in a bronze jar. Eriboea gave Hermes the location of Ares which resulted in his freedom and the Alodai's defeat.

Hephaestus

Hephaestus

The god of the forge

Hera created Hephaestus all by herself, but tossed him right off Mount Olympus after his birth due to his ugliness. He fell into the sea but was rescued by Thetis who raised him underwater. After nine years, he grew up to be as good as a crafter like the Elder Cyclopes. He decided to ride a donkey to Mount Olympus and won the trust of the other gods by giving them thrones, except he cursed Hera's with chains as revenge. Hephaestus left for the mortal world, Zeus sent Ares to have him free Hera but he got blasted with fire. Dionysus, however, managed to make Hephaestus drunk and convinced him to forgive Hera. After she tried to rebel against Zeus, Hephaestus was the one who saved her from Chaos. When Zeus found out, he threw him off the mountain. Before returning, he landed on Lemnos, home to the Sintian tribe where Hephaestus became their patron god. He made thrones, weapons, armor, chariots, and even an underground mansion for the king of Chios, but his speciality was automatons. He made King Alcinous two dogs, King Laomedon a growing golden vine, and King Minos a giant named Talos. He began to notice that the children he had with Aphrodite, Eros and Harmonia, didn't look like him. Helios confessed that Aphrodite was cheating on him with Ares, so he made a net that trapped the two and showed them to the other gods who laughed at them. Hephaestus also gave Harmonia a necklace that brought bad luck. He had an affair with Aglaia, one of the three Charities, and had several daughters. He also dated Etna, the goddess of Mount Etna, and they had the palikoi. He had an affair with a sea nymph named Kabeiro and had Alkon and Eurymedon, the Kabeiroi.

Apollo

Apollo Viria

The god of the sun

Apollo was born with his twin sister, Artemis, from Zeus and the Titan Leto. Hera got mad that Zeus had yet another affair so she cursed the pregnant Leto to be unable to give birth on any land. She finally managed to give birth to the twin gods on the floating island of Delos. As soon as he was old and skilled enough, he slew Python as revenge for chasing his mother while she was looking for help. Then he took over the Oracle of Delphi and hired a Pythia to tell his prophecies. Apollo took Helios' place as the god of the sun after they forgot about the latter.

When Princess Elara had Tityos from Zeus, he grew in an underground cave and was taken care of by Gaea. When the ugly giant emerged, Hera sent him to rape Leto as revenge, but Tityos was slain by Apollo, who then had Hades make vultures eat his liver that grew back. Queen Niobe of Thebes had fourteen perfect kids, and when the city held a festival for Leto, the queen announced that she didn't think she was beautiful. This made Apollo turn all the residents to stone and kill her children and husband with Artemis. This caused Niobe to turn into a rock on a mountain but Zeus revived the petrified residents. Marsyas the satyr found the flute Athena made and became popular with its music. Apollo had a contest with him then flayed him alive after he won. Apollo had dated the nine Muses, but soon made Eros angry and he made Apollo fall in love with Daphne. Gaea turned her into a laurel tree so she could escape Apollo.

Artemis

Artemis RR3

The goddess of the hunt

Artemis hated men ever since she was born. She came out first and helped deliver Apollo, that's why she was called the childbirth goddess with Eileithyia. Upon seeing his daughter, Zeus gave her any wish. She chose to be a maiden forever and to have many followers. She got her bow and arrow from the Cyclopes, Pan gave her her hunting dogs, and finally, she gathered her followers, including Britomartis who helped catch the Ceryneian Hind. Artemis was the one who slew the Alodai, Otis and Ephialtes, and sent the Kalydonian Boar on Kalydon after King Oineus forgot her offering. His son, Meleager, gathered up hunters. including Mopsos and Ankaios to kill the boar, but after it was killed, Artemis caused a civil war.

A student of Chiron and dog trainer, Actaeon, fell in love with Artemis but she turned him into a deer and he was eaten by his own dogs. Sipriotes did the same thing and was turned into a girl. Zeus turned into Artemis to win the hand of one of her followers, Kallisto, who got turned into a bear by Artemis, gave birth to Arkas, and was turned into Ursa Major. After Orion got new eyes, he became the first male ever to join the hunters. But then he went crazy and killed lots of animals, so Gaea had a giant scorpion kill him and he was turned into a constellation. Hippolytos, the son of Theseus, was Artemis' last best friend. After his father angrily killed him, Artemis went to Asklepios who revived Hippolytos with the Physician's Cure. After Aphrodite and Hades complained, Zeus killed Asklepios, yet Hippolytos lived a long life.

Hermes

Hermes

The god of travel

Maia, Titan daughter of Atlas, gave birth to Hermes in Mount Cyllene from Zeus. She took care of him as a baby, but one day he snuck out to steal Apollo's Cattle. On the way, he made the first lyre out of a tortoiseshell and sheep tendons. Then he made snowshoes out of myrtle trees to get close to fifty cows, but a farmer named Battus saw him and confessed to Apollo. He was turned to stone because of that betrayal. Hermes and Apollo became friends after exchanging a syrinx flute and the ability to tell fortunes with dice. When Zeus turned Io into a cow and gave it to Hera prevent her from finding out about their relationship, he had Hermes steal her back despite it being guarded by Argus. When Hera found out, she turned Io into a cow permanently and sent a gadfly to sting her for the rest of her life.

Dionysus

Mr

The god of wine

Dionysus was the child of Zeus and Semele. After his father freed him from his leg he told Hermes to give him to Semele's sister, Ino, and her husband, Athamas. They disguised him as a girl to hide his identity from Hera. After she grew suspicious, Zeus turned his son into a goat. Athamas killed his older son, Learkhos, when Hera turned him into a deer and Ino killed her younger son, Melikertes, by boiling him. They jumped off a cliff after realizing this.

Originally, Dionysus' name was just Bacchus, but Zeus added another one after bringing him to Mount Nysa so the nymphs and satyrs can take care of him. When his friend, Ampelos, found a new vine, he died from falling after climbing the tree trying to reach it. Blaming himself, Dionysus created the first grapevine from both the satyr and the vine. Upon bringing wine back, Silenos made him the god of it. The beverage spread throughout all of Ancient Greece and Dionysus became famous. One of the Bacchae, his followers, suggested he become a patron god. Dionysus tried with King Lycurgus but he ended up whipping everyone, even killing a nymph name Ambrosia. Upon encouragement from Thetis, Dionysus drove Lycurgus to madness and he killed his son, Dryas. Then the god caused every plant in the city to wither. After Lycurgus's death, the people of the town worshipped the god.

King Pentheus of Thebes resisted Dionysus because he saw the god's army dangerous. He spied on one of Dionysus' parties, finding his mother among them. When he got caught, Pentheus was torn to pieces. One day, Dionysus got captured by pirates. He scared them by turning into predators and turned them into dolphins. Then he got off on Naxos where he found Ariadne who was left by Theseus. Taking pity on her, Dionysus made her his immortal queen. When Dionysus invaded India with Hercules and the Kabeiroi, the Indians were a lot stronger then he thought. Dionysus built a pair of pillars on the banks of the Ganges River, then took his place on Mount Olympus.

Afterword

Percy Jackson concludes this book by saying he couldn't go over all the Greek gods, there are so many. He said the reader would probably know enough about Greek Mythology to avoid getting turned to ash. But now he had to meet up with his girlfriend, Annabeth Chase.

Characters

Protogenoi

Titans

Monsters

Gods

Demigods

Mortals

Chapter List

  1. Introduction
  2. The Beginning and Stuff [11]
  3. The Golden Age of Cannibalism
  4. The Olympians Bash Some Heads
  5. Zeus
  6. Hestia Chooses Bachelor Number Zero [12]
  7. Demeter Turns Into Grainzilla
  8. Persephone Marries Her Stalker (or, Demeter, The Sequel)
  9. Hera Gets a Little Cuckoo[13]
  10. Hades Does Home Improvement
  11. Poseidon Gets Salty
  12. Zeus Kills Everyone
  13. Athena Adopts a Handkerchief
  14. You Gotta Love Aphrodite
  15. Ares, The Manly Man's Manly Man
  16. Hephaestus Makes Me a Golden Llama (Not Really, But He Totally Should)[14]
  17. Apollo Sings and Dances and Shoots People
  18. Artemis Unleashes the Death Pig
  19. Hermes Goes to Juvie
  20. Dionysus Conquers the World With a Refreshing Beverage
  21. Afterword.

Trivia

  • Although Percy states that the ivory statue brought to life by Aphrodite had no name, post-classical writers call her "Galatea".[15]
  • This book is written after The Last Olympian because in the afterword, Percy says that he is late to a date with his girlfriend.
  • Percy mentioned Noah regarding the story of Deucalion as both were stories about floods. He also mentioned Adam and Eve regarding how Pandora opened the pithos.

References to Popular Culture

There several examples of Anachronism in this book, probably for jokes.

  • When Gaia tries to get the Titans to chop up Ouranos, she promised to make cookies for them.
  • Hera asked Zeus if Rhea, Demeter, and herself would be cheerleaders since he only got the Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires to make weapons for Hades, Poseidon and himself.
  • When explaining her olive tree, Athena said they were good for pizza and perfume.
  • Zeus sent Hermes, with a Candygram, and Hephaestus, as a cable guy offering a free HDTV box, to Epimetheus when trying to give him the pithos of evils.
  • Thero, Ares' babysitter was seen reading Olympian gossip magazines.
  • When talking about Tityos' punishment, Percy Jackson thought that Prometheus filed a copyright infringement suit against him.

Gallery

The book features 60 full-color paintings by John Rocco, which are shown below. One was released as a sneak peek on Rocco's blog[16], the other two on Rick Riordan's Instagram. [17][18]

References

The Heroes of Olympus
Core Series: The Lost Hero | The Son of Neptune | The Mark of Athena | The House of Hades | The Blood of Olympus
Main Characters: Jason Grace | Piper McLean | Leo Valdez | Percy Jackson | Frank Zhang | Hazel Levesque | Annabeth Chase | Iapetus/Bob | Reyna Ramírez-Arellano | Nico di Angelo | Gleeson Hedge
Secondary Characters: Hylla Ramírez-Arellano | Dakota | Tyson | Ella | Octavian | Halcyon Green | Dr. Howard Claymore | Alabaster C. Torrington | Lamia
Minor Characters: Rachel Elizabeth Dare | Grover Underwood | Thalia Grace | Clarisse La Rue | Fleecy | Mrs. O'Leary | Kinzie | Arion | Calypso | Lou Ellen Blackstone | Chiron | Will Solace | Tristan McLean | Don | Julia | Jacob | Michael Varus | Burly Black | Medea | Midas | Lityerses | Phineas | Otrera | Echo | Narcissus | Sciron | Pasiphaë | Lycaon
Olympian Gods: Zeus | Hera | Poseidon | Hades | Ares | Demeter | Athena | Apollo | Artemis | Hephaestus | Aphrodite | Hermes | Dionysus
Minor Gods: Achelous | Aeolus | Asclepius | Boreas | Eurus | Hecate | Iris | Hypnos | Keto | Khione | Kymopoleia | Mithras | Nemesis | Nike | Notus | Phorcys | Serapis | Thanatos | Triptolemus | Zephyros
Roman Gods: Jupiter | Juno | Neptune | Pluto | Mars | Minerva | Ceres | Lupa | Bellona | Fortuna | Janus | Terminus | Vulcan | Mercury | Apollo (Roman) | Diana | Venus | Bacchus | Pomona | Aquilon | Hercules | Cupid | Auster | Favonius | Letus | Victoria
Giants: Enceladus | Porphyrion | Alcyoneus | Polybotes | Ephialtes | Otis | Damasen | Clytius | Mimas | Orion | Hippolytos | Thoon | Periboia
Undead: Gray | Zombie
Primordial Gods: Gaea | Tartarus | Ourae | Nyx | Chaos | Ouranos | Akhlys | Hemera | Elpis | Spes
Monsters and Magical Creatures: Cynocephali | Gorgon | Gryphon | Harpy | Basilisk | Lycanthrope | Gegeines | Cyclops | Katobleps | Unicorn | Giant Eagle | Ichthyocentaur | Satyr/Faun | Storm Spirit | Laistrygonian Giant | Lares
Related Content: Rick Riordan | Haley Riordan | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide | The Demigod Files | The Demigod Diaries | The Son of Sobek | The Singer of Apollo | The Staff of Serapis | Percy Jackson's Greek Gods | Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes | The Crown of Ptolemy | Demigods & Magicians | Demigods of Olympus | Percy Jackson Demigod Collection
Advertisement