The Role Of Greek Gods + America In The Percy Jackson Series

The Greek gods are real and they’re right here in America. Or at least that’s what Rick Riordan’s acclaimed Percy Jackson and the Olympians series proposes. Riordan’s work follows Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and mortal woman Sally Jackson, as he travels America and fights off monsters in order to save the world from the King of Titans, Kronos. Later spin-off series, including Heroes of Olympus and Trials of Apollo, follow additional demigods, Roman heroes, and even Apollo, defeating villains like Titan Gaea and a resurgence of Roman emperors.

As a result of this convergence between an American setting and Greek mythology, the gods take on modern personas. Through this, real-life issues tend to bleed into the text. In Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series Greek gods become symbols for some of the biggest issues facing America, including climate change, strict gender roles, and unchecked war mentalities.

Grecian-American Mythology

To understand how the Greek gods operate in the text, it’s important to explain the Grecian-American Mythology that Riordan creates in the Percy Jackson series. While traditional Greece fell centuries ago, Riordan proposes that its gods and goddess live on and travel to wherever the main source of civilization is. By the twenty-first century the gods had landed in North America. These gods hold true to their traditional Greek values, while also adapting to American life. For example, Apollo now attends musical festivals, while Artemis hunts with modern equipment. What emerges is a hybrid kind of mythology that is true to its Grecian roots but has been combined with American culture and identity.

The God Of The Wild

The perfect God to start with would be Pan as this deity had already migrated to America prior to Rick Riordan’s series. In Greek mythology Pan is considered to be the God of the Wild. When Pan was first born people feared him. (( Lawrence, D.H. “Remembering Pan.” The Green Studies Reader: from Romanticism to Ecocriticism, by Laurence Coupe, Routledge, 2010, pp. 70–72. )).

Lurking among the leafy recesses, he was almost more demon than god. To be feared, not loved or approached. A man who should have seen Pan by daylight fell dead, as if blasted by lightning

(( D.H. Lawrence, Remembering Pan ))

Over time, however, the god grew weak. As Grecian men moved into cities and became materialistic, Pan turned senile and bearded. Once strong and powerful, this change ultimately led to Pan’s death in Greek mythology. Pan has been reborn into different mythologies since then, specifically in America as the Oversoul in the 1840s Transcendentalism. But to the Grecian’s, their shouting across the sea that “The Great Pan is Dead” marked Pan’s finite end in the Greek imaginary.

The Great Pan Is Dead

The concept of Pan’s death holds firm in the Percy Jackson series and becomes symbolic of today’s issue of climate change. While most mythological servants of Pan have accepted his death, the satyrs of the series deny his passing and continue to search the world for him. Despite reason saying that Pan is gone, they relentlessly explore and even sacrifice their own lives at times to find him. These ‘searchers,’ as they are called, are reflective of today’s climate change unbelievers who deny the existence of climate change despite the world crumbling around them.

The primary satyr that we as readers follow throughout the novel is Grover, Percy Jackson’s best friend. Grover is a searcher as well and follows Percy into the Labyrinth in the fourth novel, Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth. After receiving signs from Pan in previous installments, he joins Percy in hope of finding the god. Once in the Labyrinth, his journey finally comes to an end when he faces Pan himself. He finds the god barely alive, as he should have died thousands of years ago, but the satyrs’ denial has kept him around. The encounter ends quickly, as Pan briefly dies and his spirit instills itself in Grover.

In this instance, Pan is the environment if people stay in denial. Denial keeps people stagnant, and away from making change for the good of the earth. When the satyrs denied Pan’s death, they focused instead on finding him and not helping the environment. The two groups are stuck in a state of passive action and delusion. On the other hand, when Grover proclaims that Pan is officially dead and he takes over as God of the Wild, satyrs begin to restore nature to its original state. Riordan sums it up best with Pan’s symbolization of this concept, that the earth cannot be saved from climate change if people continue to deny its existence.

The Marriage Goddess

Hera is a woman of many talents, as the goddess of not only marriage, but of childbirth and family as well. She is married to the King of Olympus, Zeus, and preaches monogamy and commitment. Sadly for her, Zeus believes in neither of those things. A major theme in Greek mythology is Zeus’ infidelity, followed by Hera’s revenge. In her jealousy and anger Hera has turned mortal women into bears, tricked Zeus into killing several of his maidens, and prolonged pregnancy into the nine months we know today. (( Cartwright, Mark. “Hera.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 12 June 2020, www.ancient.eu/Hera/. ))

Hera interferes with mortals out of her own accord as well. In fact, in the Iliad, there is a moment in which Achilles prays to Zeus, but it is Hera who chooses to help him. Myth establishes Hera as both a traditional wife and an independent woman. (( O’Brien, Joan. “Homer’s Savage Hera.” The Classical Journal 86, no. 2 (1990): 105-25. Accessed June 14, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/3297720. ))

More Than A Homemaker

Hera is much more than what her responsibilities as a goddess of marriage entails. In fact, Hera is responsible for saving the world. In the first spin-off between Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Hera is aware of rising doom and the threat of Gaea. She knows that the only way to defeat Gaea is to unite the Roman and Greek Demigods. The series’ first spin-off, Heroes of Olympus, extends the Percy Jackson universe to include Roman mythology and demigods as well.

In addition to a camp for Greek demigods in New York (Camp Halfblood), there is also a camp in California for Roman demigods (Camp Jupiter). Because Romans and Greeks have a deep-seated rivalry, Hera launches a plan into action that brings the two camps together through erasing the memories of two heroic demigods, Percy Jackson, and Jason Grace, and placing them at their opposing camp.

Hera’s plan succeeded and ultimately led to the demigods’ triumph over Gaea. However, she is punished for these actions, allowing readers to make the imposition that Hera is symbolic of America’s strict gender roles. Following the final battle in The Blood of Olympus, Zeus scolds Hera for interfering with the inevitable end of the war.

‘Please, husband.’ Hera tried for a smile, but she was so clearly frightened that Jason almost felt sorry for her. ‘I only did what I-‘

‘Silence!’ Zeus snapped. ‘You disobeyed my orders. Nevertheless… I recognize that you acted with honest intentions. The valor of these seven heroes has proven that you were not entirely without wisdom.’

(( Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus: The Blood of Olympus ))

Hera practically saved the world within the Percy Jackson universe, yet her divergence from her traditional godly duties gets her in trouble. The dynamic between her and Zeus is one of traditional American values. Zeus is the husband and leader. It is his job to make decisions and fight battles. Meanwhile, Hera is supposed to be the wife and stay on Olympus as a homemaker.

Although Hera is known to have a passion for vengeance and interfering in mortal affairs, as outlined in ancient Greek mythology, her job as a woman keeps her from her real purpose in this new Grecian-American mythology. Overall in the Percy Jackson series, Hera becomes a symbolization for America’s strict gender roles as they suppress her true character.

Gods Of War

There are two Greek gods of war that readers are introduced to in the Percy Jackson series. The first is Athena, goddess of war, wisdom, and weaving. Athena has a strict sense of justice, avenging any offenses to her quickly.

She sees war through the lens of strategy. To her, war is more about calculations, defense, and patriotism. (( Cartwright, Mark. “Athena.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 8 June 2020, www.ancient.eu/athena/#:~:text=Goddess%20of%20wisdom%2C%20war%20and,resourceful%20of%20the%20Olympian%20gods. ))

Ares is the second god of war, who takes a much more violent approach. Ares is known for his insatiable need for conflict. War to him is about courage, brutality, and blood. His two sons, Fear and Terror, further this aggressive perception of the god. (( Cartwright, Mark. “Ares.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 13 June 2020, www.ancient.eu/Ares/. ))

What Is War To A God?

Ares is the first major villain that Percy Jackson faces as he takes on the persona of unchecked war mentalities in America. In the first book, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Ares plants Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt in Percy’s backpack in hopes of starting a godly war. If Percy were to be found with the bolt, it would seem as if he was trying to deliver it to his dad, Poseidon, to start an uprising against Zeus. Ares doesn’t care who’s in power. He only cares whether or not there is a war.

This version of Ares exists in a world where America is at war with multiple countries, and at the time of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’s publication in 2005 the Iraq war had just started. At times it feels as though America almost has a need to go to war for the chance of victory. Ares is a symbol for what can happen if this mentality gets out of hand. Ares creates this plot so that there could be bloodshed and in the end a victory. This is the kind of motivation that happens when a constant need for war goes unregulated. Concepts such as helping others, respect, and more get lost in a passion for conflict.

Athena, on the other hand, is reflective of what happens if we let Ares-like ideas of war go. In the Percy Jackson series, Athena takes on the persona of unification and protection. Within Heroes of Olympus, a war becomes imminent between Greek and Roman demigods. The only way to stop it is to bring the Athena Parthenos, a magical statue of Athena, to Camp Halfblood, which will heighten the camp’s defensives while also unifying the two sides.

Athena is about bringing the war to an end rather than prolonging it for extended violence. If America were to adopt solely Athena’s perception of war, there would be a greater sense of strategy and focus on defense. War’s driving motivation would be an honor. While America neither looks at war solely through an Athena-based or Ares-based lens, the two create opposing ends of the war mentality spectrum.

To Be Continued…?

Despite the first book being published in 2005, the Percy Jackson series continues today in its second spin-off, The Trials of Apollo. Since past books have turned gods into symbols of the issues facing America today, it will be interesting to see what comes out of future installments.

With the last Trials of Apollo book, The Tower of Nero, coming out in September, there is the opportunity to look at the concepts detailed in this article again and see if they still hold true in novels written with a full understanding of the present.