The Blood of Olympus

“‘I’m guessing that’s Antinous,’ said Annabeth, ‘one of the suitors’ leaders. If I remember right, it was Odysseus who shot him through the neck with that arrow.’”

Annabeth’s observation demonstrates how Riordan weaves references from ancient myths into the novel, meaningfully integrating them into his own story. In this section, the demigods are in Ithaca gathering information. Odysseus is the titular hero of Homer’s The Odyssey—one of the oldest ancient Greek texts—who slaughters suitors who come to claim his wife and throne. Through the use of ancient narratives and mythic figures, Riordan prepares young readers to experience the original sources with familiarity and understanding.

“Camp Jupiter needed her. The Twelfth Legion needed her. Yet Reyna was halfway across the world, watching a satyr cook Eggo blueberry waffles on a stick over an open fire.”

The above passage is from Reyna’s point of view. Throughout the book, she struggles with the fear of failing at her responsibility and with determining how best to fulfill it. On one hand, as a Roman praetor, her first responsibility is to her legion, but to save her camp, she must prevent Gaea from waking up, which means she must participate in the quest to recover the Athena Parthenos. Until the novel’s end, she continually fears that she has made the wrong choice, even though the quest ultimately works out. In this way, the novel highlights the challenge of balancing responsibilities with the inability to make perfect decisions.

“The statue did nothing except radiate hatred, which seemed directed equally at Reyna and the attacking ghosts.

You want to lug me to Long Island? the statue seemed to say. Good luck with that, Roman scum.

Reyna’s destiny: to die defending a passive-aggressive goddess.”

In this section, Reyna, Nico, and Hedge are fighting the zombie warriors to defend themselves and the statue. This passage exemplifies how Riordan blends high-stakes action and lighthearted humor. In addition, Riordan here draws on ancient concepts of ritual statues: They hold an aspect of the divine within them. Riordan incorporates this idea throughout the book. At the beginning of the novel, the statue is noncommittal about Reyna, but by the end, when she’s fighting for her life, the divine life-force within the statue helps Reyna defeat Orion.

“Recently, though…well, Piper may not have changed as obviously as Frank, but she had changed. She stabbed Kione the snow goddess in the chest. She had defeated the Boreads. She’d slashed up a flock of wild harpies single-handedly. As for her charmspeak, she’d gotten so powerful it made Leo nervous. If she told him to eat his vegetables, he might actually do it.”

In the above passage, Leo reflects on both how Piper has grown into her power throughout the quest and how the other demigods have grown in their respect for and understanding of each other’s abilities. In the past, Leo admits that he might not have seen a daughter of Aphrodite as a threat, but Piper’s actions have shown that she shouldn’t be underestimated. It demonstrates Riordan’s insight into the ancient Greek concept of heroism, which held that heroism had many forms.

“‘I am the decider of victory!’ Nike screamed. ‘Once I stood here at the corner of Zeus’ temple, venerated by all! I oversaw the games of Olympia. Offerings from every city-state were piled at my feet!’

‘Games are irrelevant!’ yelled Victoria. ‘I am the goddess of success in battle! Roman generals worshipped me! Augustus himself erected my altar in the Senate House!’

‘Ahhhh!’ both voices screamed in agony. ‘We must decide! We must have victory!’”

When the demigods encounter the goddess Nike at Olympia, they ask her which manifestation she is, Greek or Roman, and she experiences an agonizing internal split. Her conflict reflects the internal and external conflicts throughout the novel and the series. The gods separated Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood to prevent them from fighting, but they must ultimately resolve conflict through reconciliation rather than avoidance. This applies to both the internal conflict each demigod experiences in reconciling aspects of their natures and the external conflict between the Greek and Roman camps.

“Nico realized that most specters held only as much power as you allowed them to have. They pried into your mind, using fear or anger or longing to influence you. Nico had learned to shield himself. Sometimes he could even turn the tables and bend ghosts to his will.”

Here, Nico prepares to approach the Burning Man who appears to him in Portugal. As a son of Hades, Nico can both control spirits and be affected by their sinister aspects. Although disturbing in appearance, the Burning Man leads Nico to his father and provides a timely and helpful warning. This encounter exemplifies the duality that Riordan consistently returns to throughout the book and series, as well as the need for each of the demigods to reconcile themselves to the dualities in their own natures.

“I passed through here during Roman times. It was actually dedicated to the Emperor Augustus. Typical demigod vanity.”

In this passage, the speaker is Lycaon. Coach Hedge has tried to intimidate him by noting that they’re in a temple dedicated to Diana, but Lycaon knows that, in actuality, the temple is dedicated to Augustus, the first Roman emperor. In addition to drawing on mythology, Riordan incorporates Roman history, in particular the way Roman emperors drew on myths and their importance to religion in the ancient world to boost their own status and justify their authority. Later, Riordan draws on this historical element in his characterization of Octavian.

“In the middle of the night, the second hunter woke up screaming in pain. The first hunter ran over to see what was wrong. He threw off his friend’s covers and saw that his friend’s legs had fused together in a leathery tail. As he watched, the snakeskin crept up his friend’s body. The poor hunter wept and apologized to the spirits and cried in fear, but there was nothing to be done. The first hunter stayed by his side and tried to comfort his until the unfortunate guy fully transformed into a giant snake and slithered away. The end.”

Piper recalls a Cherokee story about the importance of following instinct. The story demonstrates how Riordan threads foreshadowing into the narrative: Throughout the book, Piper strives to accept instinct as a valid heroic asset. In addition, Piper’s need to reconcile her Cherokee and Greek sides echoes Frank’s journey to reconcile his Canadian, Chinese, Greek, and Roman heritage. These two personal journeys also mirror the larger conflict between Greece and Rome.

“One way or another, their blood shall be spilled upon these stones and wake the Earth Mother!”

After fighting monsters, Piper is exhausted and falls asleep, experiencing a nightmare in which she sees a vision of events at the Parthenon: Porphyrion is preparing for the ceremony at which the demigods’ blood will be spilled to awaken Gaea. This vision serves as a further warning for Piper, since she gains insight into what awaits her and the demigods in Sparta. Throughout the novel, dreams function in this way, reflecting how they were understood in antiquity: Dreams could be a source of prophetic visions or messages from the gods, and sleeping could be incorporated into ritual activities.

“Flames roared up from the statue’s severed neck. They swirled around Piper, filling the room with a firestorm of emotions: hatred, bloodlust, and fear, but also love—because no one could face battle without caring for something: comrades, family, home.”

Riordan consistently returns to the idea of duality, which was pervasiveness in ancient Greek thought, perhaps best exemplified by the yoking together of Aphrodite (goddess of love) and Ares (god of rage). If something can be helpful, then it must also have the potential to be harmful, depending on how it’s deployed. Riordan is especially attentive to the way love and hate function as two sides of a coin: Both are intense and passionate emotions, and the way humans experience them can make them indistinguishable at times.

“Reyna doubted she could change his feelings, but she wanted Nico to have support. All heroes deserved that. It was the whole point of the Twelfth Legion. You joined forces to fight for a higher cause. You weren’t alone. You made friends and earned respect. Even when you mustered out, you had a place in the community. No demigod should have to suffer alone the way Nico did.”

During their journey, Reyna grows increasingly close to and protective of Nico because lending him her strength causes her to experience his emotions, and she comes to understand how much he has suffered. Their relationship dynamic represents in microcosm the larger arc in the relationship between Greeks and Romans. They begin the series isolated from each other, cocooned in their own worlds, unaware of each other’s existence. Through the quest, the two sides grow closer by recognizing each other’s strengths and working together to compensate for each other’s weaknesses. Friendship and understanding require work.

“Whatever the case, when Orion rose again from Tartarus, he was Artemis’ bitterest enemy. No one can hate you with more intensity that someone who used to love you.”

Piper’s experience with the spirits in Sparta enabled her to feel the interconnection between love and hate. In this section, Riordan returns to the same idea through Reyna’s conversation with Hylla, who explains Orion’s animosity for the hunters. In one sense, the close association between love and hate shows how one can be harnessed to provoke the other. In the case of the Greeks and Romans, their hatred and disdain for each other become transformed across their quest to love and respect each other. In addition to exemplifying Riordan’s exploration of duality through love and hate, it demonstrates the way he uses repetition to weave themes and motifs together.

“Hylla rose with a murderous look on her face, but Reyna reached out with her senses, trying to share with her sister the most difficult kind of strength—restraint.”

In this passage, Hylla and Reyna are facing Orion. As an Amazon, Hylla is accustomed to and comfortable with using force, and her instinct is to attack Orion, but force isn’t always the best option. To overcome challenges, the demigods have to rely on various skills, depending on the particular challenge that confronts them. As Piper learns to trust her gut instincts, Annabeth to embrace her logical side, and Nico to resist succumbing to his underworld instincts, Reyna here attempts to communicate the importance of restraint, providing the opportunity to think and strategize as a way to overcome an opponent.

“If her friends could continue their quest in peace, she was fully prepared to go down fighting. But first she intended to hurt this giant so badly he would never forget her name.”

Here, Reyna is willing to face death—not for the last time—as long as the quest can succeed. Her commitment to her duty exemplifies the Roman virtue of pietas—duty to the gods, the state, and one’s family. In addition, Reyna’s reference to the god “never forget[ting] her name” plays on the Greek concept of “immortality through fame”: Heroes’ acts are so extraordinary that their names remain on people’s lips. Riordan’s fusion of Greek and Roman concepts in this passage (and throughout his series) demonstrates how they can be reconciled.

“Cutting through the roar of the wind, the goddess Nike screamed from the stables: ‘YOU CAN DO BETTER, STORM! GIVE ME A HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT!’”

As the Argo II is battered by a vicious storm, Nike, who is locked up in the ship’s hold, taunts the storm, challenging it to be even more destructive. This moment exemplifies the way Riordan uses comic relief as a balance to danger. On the narrative level, this keeps the story from becoming too intense for young readers; poking fun at dangerous gods and monsters can make them seem less scary. At the thematic level, Riordan shows the absurdity of extremes. Taken to an extreme, even the best quality can be transformed into a flaw, an idea he explores through the growth journeys of his main characters.

“‘So you destroy our ship. You destroy the entire coastline of the world. Once Gaea wipes out human civilization, who’s left to fear you? You’ll still be unknown.’”

Here, Jason strives to motivate Kymopoleia to side with the demigods rather than Gaea. The bargain he offers her demonstrates the interconnection between positive and harmful qualities that Riordan explores throughout the series. Jason craftily harnesses Kymopoleia’s inherent nature—her desire to be feared, which makes her potentially harmful—and turns it into an asset by convincing her to help the demigods rather than Gaea.

“The flowers are a blessing, because we’re awesome. But they also symbolize a curse, because once we were born, Delos got rooted in place and wasn’t able to drift around the sea anymore. That’s why yellow daisies are called the curse of Delos.”

In this scene, Apollo explains to Leo why the daisies that grow on Delos are called their curse despite also being a blessing: The island was blessed because it offered Leto refuge during her labor, but it was “cursed” to no longer float. Blessings and curses coexist, just as flaws and assets coexist. Negative and positive balance each other in all things, as Riordan repeatedly emphasizes. In ancient times, Delos was considered a sacred place because it was the birthplace of Artemis and Apollo and a cult center for Apollo that drew worshippers from around the ancient world.

“The others would never accept it, but you guys…you’re Romans. That’s why I wanted you to come to Delos with me. You get the whole sacrifice thing—doing your duty, jumping on your sword.”

Leo here explains to Hazel and Frank why he chose to reveal his plan to them: As Romans, for whom the central virtue is pietas, they understand the importance of sacrifice. Based on his interpretation of the line in the prophecy “to storm or fire the world must fall” (7), Leo intends to sacrifice himself, trusting in Festus and the physician’s cure to resurrect him, but he knows that his fellow Greek demigods won’t accept his decision. Percy’s “fatal flaw” is that he can’t leave anyone behind—but if he attempts to save Leo, he could endanger the success of the quest, another instance of Riordan’s exploration of duality.

“Bellona has answered my prayer. She doesn’t fight my battles for me. She doesn’t guarantee me easy victory. She grants me opportunities to prove myself. She gives me strong enemies and potential allies.”

Just after Reyna prays to her mother, Bellona, for help, Orion finds her. Initially, Reyna interprets this as her mother’s rejecting her prayer or abandoning her, just what Orion suggests has happened. Upon reconsideration, however, Reyna changes her way of thinking and sees Orion’s appearance as an opportunity to prove that she’s worthy of the goddess’ patronage. This moment exemplifies the way Riordan incorporates ancient ideas about heroism. Divinities don’t “do the work” for demigods; rather, they give their patronage to those who prove themselves capable of living up to the honor.

“His bow began to sink.

Reyna let it. She’d no interest in spoils of war—no desire to let any part of the giant survive. Like her father’s mania—and all the other angry ghosts of her past—Orion could teach her nothing. He deserved to be forgotten.”

The question of what should be remembered is a central preoccupation in ancient Greek oral cultures and one on which Homeric epics self-consciously meditate. After Reyna defeats Orion, she rejects the opportunity to claim his bow as her own. To preserve his weapon is to preserve his memory, but preserving someone’s memory is a way to honor that person. Reyna chooses to consign him to oblivion not only physically but as an idea as well, since remembering him offers no benefit.

“Ever since Sparta, they’d learned that they could tackle problems together from two different sides. Annabeth saw the logical thing, the tactical move. Piper had gut reactions that were anything but logical. Together, they either solved the problem twice as fast, or they hopelessly confused each other.”

Annabeth and Piper represent two ways of tackling problems: the logical and the emotional. In contemporary thought, these two tend to be treated as oppositional. In ancient Greek thought, they’re complementary, two aspects that make up the totality of human consciousness. Both must be called on, controlled, and balanced to achieve a positive outcome. Riordan embodies this concept through the complementary figures of Annabeth and Piper, both of whom have an important role to play in the success of the quest.

“Some pain shouldn’t be wished away so easily. It had to be dealt with, even embraced. Without the agony of the last few months, Piper never would have found her best friends, Hazel and Annabeth. She never would’ve discovered her own courage. She certainly wouldn’t have had the guts to sing show tunes to the snake people under Athens.”

Here, Riordan applies the concept of duality to the struggles that the demigods have experienced. In this case, they’re Piper’s, but the approach applies to each of them. Each has undergone a significant growth journey throughout the series, coming to terms with their identity by learning to value their gifts and accept their flaws. Like when Reyna sees Orion’s appearance as an opportunity to prove that she’s worthy of her mother’s patronage, Piper chooses to interpret her challenges as an opportunity to develop deeper friendships and discover her capabilities.

“‘Just like a Greek!’ Octavian yelled. ‘Trying to twist things around! Well, it won’t work!’”

Octavian represents the negative view of Greeks that exists in some Roman literature, which portrays them as sneaky and manipulative, via the figure of Odysseus. As the hero of cunning, he comes up with the idea of the Trojan horse to trick the Trojans, which leads to the fall of the city. Here, Octavian’s negative view is unhinged and nonsensical: He accuses the Greeks of sabotaging the onagers that he planned to use to attack the Greeks. He represents the destructive force of hatred and self-obsession, which exists in gods and heroes alike in Riordan’s series, as in ancient mythology itself.