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Rick Riordan’s YA novel series The Trials Of Apollo is the latest addition to his highly successful universe bringing Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse mythology to the modern world, which began with the character Percy Jackson in The Lightning Thief (2005). This latest series follows the adventures of the god Apollo as he’s made mortal by Zeus and attempts to prevent the world from being taken over by three resurrected Roman emperors. The fifth and final book of the series, The Tower Of Nero (2020), not only caps off the story in a thrilling, satisfying way while also teasing future stories to be told in the universe, but it synthesizes a stunningly impactful and natural reflection on mortality and what it means to be human from the events of the entire series. What’s even more surprising about this cogitation on what it means to be human is that despite all the previous stories Riordan has written about mortals and demigods in this universe, it is the narrative of a former god that teaches readers these lessons.
What’s It All About?
The Trials Of Apollo follows Apollo after he’s cast down from Mount Olympus by Zeus and stripped of his immortality, including his godly abilities and traits. The series follows him as he works with demigods to rid the world of three evil resurrected Roman emperors and the dark forces they’ve amassed. While Apollo comes to intimately understand the plights of mortals throughout the series — recurring comic examples include his pubescent acne and undesirable physique — and the sins he’d committed as an immortal, it’s not until The Tower Of Nero that these lessons come full circle. Once he’s gained back his immortality and completed his quest, he fully comes to terms with his experience as a human, including not only its pitfalls but its triumphs. This realization is further enhanced by the contrast between his human experiences and his previous actions as a god.
What Does Apollo Learn?
From his time as a mortal, Apollo not only learns the hidden merits of being human but also that being a god isn’t exactly what it’s cracked up to be. A recurring motif in the series is Apollo’s encounters with the consequences of his misdeeds as an immortal, from bullying the god Harpocrates to the misfortunes of his loves Hyacinthus and Daphne. In combination, these revelations about mortality and immortality serve to totally change Apollo’s perspective on that thin line between the gods and humans in many drastic ways.
The Meaning Of Sacrifice and Selflessness
Though as a god, Apollo is more than familiar with the concept of heroism and selfless sacrifice, it isn’t until he witnesses this phenomenon up-close and multiple times that he not only finally understands it, but eventually embodies it even in his fight with Python.
In the third book of the series, The Burning Maze (2018), Jason Grace dies at the hands of Caligula, one of the emperors. Not only is his death a huge blow to readers familiar with the characters, but it has an immediate impact on Apollo, who experiences the death of the hero personally and firsthand. Right before Jason dies, he entreats Apollo to “remember” — referring to a moment they share earlier in the story when Jason says to Apollo,
“Promise me one thing. Whatever happens, when you get back to Olympus, when you’re a god again, remember. Remember what it’s like to be human.”
(( Riordan, Rick. The Burning Maze. Los Angeles; New York: Disney Hyperion, 2018. Pages 216-217. ))
This powerful request stays with Apollo and the reader for the rest of the series and, combined with the memory of Jason’s sacrifice, reveals a valor and selflessness in mortality that Apollo had not previously envisioned. Part of this remembrance includes bringing Jason’s crude model for Temple Hill — a reorganization of the camp that recognizes as many deities as possible with equal respect — to Camp Jupiter. This model further shows Apollo the virtue of humans and how they differ from the immortals he’s usually surrounded by, especially in the compassion and respect they give to others.
Jason isn’t the only hero whose sacrifice really serves to alter Apollo’s perspective on what mortality means to humans. In the fourth book, The Tyrant’s Tomb (2019), Frank Zhang more willingly sacrifices himself to kill two emperors he and Apollo were engaged in combat with. Since his introduction in 2011’s Son Of Neptune, readers have known that Frank’s life force is tied to a literal piece of driftwood he keeps with him at all times. In The Tyrant’s Tomb, Apollo observes that Frank has not only become more cavalier about this fatal bond but, in the fight with the emperors, purposefully ignites this driftwood to blow up the tunnel they’re fighting in.
Luckily, Frank is revealed to emerge from the tunnel alive, sans the driftwood. Regardless, Frank’s example redefines Apollo’s perspective on how mortals engage with their fates. For years, Frank literally carried the onus of his life being inextricably tied to a single piece of wood on top of regular physical danger. Burning that piece of wood to destroy the emperors, knowing only that the action would definitely kill him, becomes a physical representation of Frank taking control of his own fate. Not only is he confronting this weakness, but he weaponizes his mortality for a greater cause. For Apollo, Frank’s actions go beyond bravery, showing Apollo that even when faced with almost certain death, mortals can display remarkable levels of agency and resilience.
This trend of heroism at all costs culminates in The Tower Of Nero when Apollo himself is faced with the chance to save the world at the cost of his own life and continuing divinity. In his battle with Python, though gravely wounded and terribly outmatched, Apollo manages to bring Python down with him all the way to the Underworld and eventually to the edge of the pit of Chaos, from which no entity can ever return. As Apollo’s hanging on for dear life, he thinks to himself,
“At least I had vanquished Python. He would never rise again. I could die knowing that my friends were safe. The Oracles were restored. The future was still open for business.”
(( Riordan, Rick. The Tower Of Nero. Los Angeles; New York: Disney Hyperion, 2020. Pages 353-354. ))
From these final thoughts, we gather that Apollo has finally internalized and lived the lessons he’d learned from the fellow mortals who’d died to further his quest, showing how his mortality gave him the strength to act so courageously. We see him come to terms with mortality, not as an obstacle to accomplishment, but in this case as a precursor to it. Though he himself faced almost certain oblivion, his time amongst mortals had taught him to value a cause over his own life, a possibility that would’ve been foreign to a divine Apollo.
Divine Disregard
When Apollo returns to Mount Olympus, his newfound respect for and affinity with mortals leaves him feeling out of place and ill-at-ease with his fellow gods, though he has regained his former powers and immortality. For a number of reasons, mortality has disillusioned him with the grandeur of godhood and immortality. He’s caught between two interesting paradigms — on the one hand, he feels that he’s not a “true” god any longer, remarking that, “Even after four thousand years of godhood, six months of mortal life had convinced me that I wasn’t a true deity” (( Riordan, Rick. The Tower Of Nero. Los Angeles; New York: Disney Hyperion, 2020. Page 362. )). In this respect, Apollo feels like a fraudulent god after his time on Earth. On the other hand, though, Apollo realizes there are many problems with his fellow gods and how they act that he hadn’t seen before. For one, they had started a betting pool based on Apollo’s chances of success on his quest, which he confronts them about upon his return to the Olympian throne room. This exemplifies their crude indifference to the plights of even their own family, let alone mortal beings. Furthermore, they’re even capitalizing on Apollo’s misfortunes and trivializing them into a game, presenting the deities as irreverent, callous beings.
Overall, Apollo’s views on himself and the gods in their immortality steadily change throughout the series. He becomes increasingly aware that he himself embodied one of the gods’ worst qualities throughout his immortal life — their total self-absorption. This realization is partly evidenced as he reflects on Hyacinthus’s death, as he thinks, “Had I really created these flowers to commemorate him, or just to wallow in my own grief and guilt?” (( Riordan, Rick. The Tower Of Nero. Los Angeles; New York: Disney Hyperion, 2020. Page 358. )). Then right after, he realizes,
“I found myself questioning many things I had done over the centuries. Strangely, this uneasiness felt reassuring.”
(( Riordan, Rick. The Tower Of Nero. Los Angeles; New York: Disney Hyperion, 2020. Pages 358-359. ))
All this goes to show that Apollo’s experience with mortality has caused him to develop a self-awareness rare in a god. He now recognizes that his own internal experience is not always as important as the world around him, while the rest of the gods remain static personalities, restricting their attention to their own spheres.
The best mortals, Apollo realizes, lack this unyielding solipsism. Jason, who not only fought off Caligula so Apollo and their friends could escape, redesigned his camp so that all gods and demigods felt respected and included. Meg, Apollo’s former demigod master, takes care of the rest of her adopted siblings once she frees them from Nero’s grasp, despite their tense relationships and traumatic upbringing. And despite his intense hatred for Apollo and vow to vaporize him, Harpocrates lets himself die so the heroes may collect his essence and save their camp. Apollo meets countless other examples of people throughout the series who not only do good things for the world, but do them in service to others. He reflects on a part of the lesson they teach as he dangles over the edge of Chaos, thinking,
“It wasn’t about how loudly you swore your oath, or what sacred words you used. It was about whether or not you meant it. And whether your promise was worth making.”
(( Riordan, Rick. The Tower Of Nero. Los Angeles; New York: Disney Hyperion, 2020. Page 354. ))
It seems that rather than trivializing their limited lifespans, mortality encourages them to imbue their lives with meaning.
In essence, Apollo reflects on the meaning of mortality, on the edge it gives mortals over their all-powerful divine counterparts. Because mortals only have one life, one chance to make things happen on Earth, they use that opportunity to make positive change in the world — to make their lives meaningful and impactful. Their example stands in stark contrast to the gods, whose immortality has made their actions and behaviors petty and unscrupulous. So in a sense, mortal actions and consequences outlive their actors. However, immortal actors outlive the impacts of their actions, making them less consequential and, despite the gods’ divine power, minimizing their impact on the world around them. Therefore, ironically, though each god is known to symbolize a few grand qualities and concepts, it is actually the mortals who stand for something significant and are dynamic characters.
Piper McLean
While Apollo learned by the examples of creatures from demigods to dryads, one mortal who stands out in how she symbolizes mortality is Piper McLean. Though Piper and Jason have been shown to have a caring, tender relationship since their introduction into Riordan’s universe, in The Burning Maze it’s revealed that while they’re still very close, they’ve broken up. And finally, in The Tower Of Nero, Apollo’s visit to Piper in Oklahoma reveals that she’s dating someone new. Piper’s relationship growth from her introduction in 2010s The Lost Hero teaches Apollo and the reader something additional about mortality: sometimes, the path set for you isn’t the one you want to be on. But it doesn’t mean you can’t try again elsewhere.
Though we never learn exactly why Piper broke up with Jason, regardless of the reason, she presumably saw a better path for them as friends. And though he dies in The Burning Maze, Piper’s choice to move on shows us that however many feelings she had for Jason and however much remains, he’s gone from her life. Even prior to his death, she sought a future that didn’t involve him as her one true love, so her moving forward with someone new is a natural progression from them splitting up. As Apollo reflects during his conversation with her, Piper resists “being defined by Aphrodite’s expectations. Or Hera’s ideas of what a perfect couple looked like… finding her own way, not the one people expected of her” (( Riordan, Rick. The Tower Of Nero. Los Angeles; New York: Disney Hyperion, 2020. Page 389. )). And so Piper emulates this “one chance” sense of mortality by moving on from Jason to her new girlfriend, Shel. No matter what the past held for her, she has to focus on her tomorrow.
Why Mortality Matters
From the examples of Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, and countless other heroes who helped him along the way, Apollo learns that mortality isn’t defined by a limited lifespan but rather the potential of a life to help others and change the world. He learns this not only by the principles these mortals live by and act according to but especially by comparing their behavior and values to the tendencies of his fellow gods and their marked baseness. Apollo’s descent to mortality was meant to be a punishment, and it undoubtedly caused him more pain and distress than he’d suffered ever before. But in the process, he learns that the state of existence he’s been relegated to perhaps holds more merit than the godly status he’d previously held.
Back on Mount Olympus, he observes his newly-restored divine physical form and thinks,
“I was gorgeous, which made me feel melancholy. I had worked hard for those scars and bruises. All the suffering my friends and I had been through… I studied my smooth tan arms, wishing again that I had retained a few scars. Lester Papadopoulos had earned his cuts, bruises, broken ribs, blistered feet… [they] felt more like symbols of victory than laurels, and better commemorations of loss than hyacinths.”
(( Riordan, Rick. The Tower Of Nero. Los Angeles; New York: Disney Hyperion, 2020. Pages 355, 359. ))
Apollo’s idealization of his imperfect, damaged mortal form is ultimately a yearning for what those imperfections represented. Selflessness, camaraderie, the potential for change, and a valuation of principles — these qualities redefine what mortality means to Apollo. It is no longer the mortals down below who lack divinity. It is the gods up above who lack humanity.