History Literature / MythOMania

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: Since the publisher changed from Hyperion to Stone Arch Books for the 2011 reprints, the epilogues for ''Phone Home, Persephone!'' onwards were re-written to show Hades talking with someone other than the Titan Hyperion.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** Cronus and Rhea are full siblings as well as husband and wife
** Zeus had a daughter with his sister Demeter
** Zeus marries his sister Hera
** Zeus suggests that his daughter Persephone marry his son Hermes

* KissingCousins In ''Get to Work, Hercules!'', Hera tells Hercules that she will give him her daughter, Hebe, in marriage. Zeus is Hercules's father, making Hera his aunt, therefore making Hebe his cousin.

* ExcitedShowTitle: Each book has a title that ends with an exclamation point.

* CanineCompanion: Cerberus to Hades, and Argos to Odysseus.

* IncestIsRelative: Unusually for a modern-day work based on Greek mythology, especially because it's aimed at children, the series is very forthright about the fact that the gods, goddesses, and Titans are all related to each other... even when they're all marrying each other. However, Hades [[HandWave hand waves]] this by saying that "we gods live by different rules than you mortals."
** Hades, the narrator of every book, is married to Persephone, his niece. The story of how they got hitched is further elaborated in ''Phone Home, Persephone!''
** Zeus had a daughter with the Titaness Metis.
** BrotherSisterIncest
*** Cronus and Rhea are full siblings as well as husband and wife
*** Zeus had a daughter with his sister Demeter
*** Zeus marries his sister Hera
*** Zeus suggests that his daughter Persephone marry his son Hermes
** KissingCousins
*** In ''Get to Work, Hercules!'', Hera tells Hercules that she will give him her daughter, Hebe, in marriage. Zeus is Hercules's father, making Hera his aunt, therefore making Hebe his cousin.

* TitleDrop: Several books do this.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Poseidon, albeit streaked.

* CanineCompanion: Cerebus to Hades, and Argos to Odysseus.

* LemonyNarrator: Hades' accounts tend to develop a cynical tone.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The content can often become rather adult for juvenile fiction.

* TheJudge: Hades' mother, Rhea the Titaness, presides over trials and weddings.

* OnTheNext: The epilogue of each book features Hades telling one of his friends or relatives which myth he will retell next. Until ''Go For the Gold, Atalanta!'', he even shared the name of the next book. Specific characters that Hades has talked to in each Stone Arch epilogue include Hyperion, The Furies, Persphone, Uncle Shiner the Cyclops, Hermes, Thalia the Muse of Comedy, Hestia, Hestia again, Cassandra's Ghost, and Persephone again.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Series-Wide]]

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In-universe, Zeus removed references to his own pudginess and bald spot when rewriting the myths.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Have a Hot Time, Hades!'' (2002)]]
* AndroclesLion: Hades protects the puppy Cerberus from [[KickTheDog dog-kicker]] Zeus, so when Echidna later attempts to strangle Hades, Cerberus convinces her to let him free.
* ArchnemesisDad: Hades' father, Cronus, swallowed him, Poseidon, and their sisters as babies, just to prevent a prophecy that one of Cronus' children would overpower him. When Rhea feeds him an herb that makes him cough up their now-grown offspring, they all act understandably pissed towards him.
* ChekhovsGunman: Some of Typhon's and Echidna's babies, whom Hades encounters while saving Zeus, grow up to become either enemies or allies of Hercules.
* ChickenJoke: When Thalia asks the gods, "Why did the chicken cross the road?", Hera guesses, "To be sacrificed to the gods, of course." Thalia corrects Hera with the original punchline, eliciting laughter from the other Muses.
* CompanionCube: Young Demeter acts very protective of the rock that Rhea feeds Cronus in lieu of baby Zeus. In the next book, Hades finds it unsurprising that she grows up to become [[MyBelovedSmother Persephone's doting mother]].
* CoolShades: Hyperion wears these, since he fathered the dawn, the sun, and the moon before Apollo and Artemis took over that duty.
* FeetFirstIntroduction: Hyperion has one.
* HisNameReallyIsBarkeep: The cyclopes Thunderer and Lightninger forge lightning when presenting Zeus with the Bucket O'Bolts.[[note]]They also forge Poseidon's trident and Hades' Helmet of Darkness, but those aren't relevant to their names.[[/note]]
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Each chapter title has a pun regarding either heat or light.
* TheOlympics: Hades and his siblings, with help from Zeus' children, the Cyclopses, and the Hundred-Handed Men, compete against the Titans in this to decide who should live on Mount Olympus.
* TakeAThirdOption: "Third" sounds like an understatement, but when Campe challenges Hades and his brothers to find the key to the Cyclopses' and Hundred-Handed Ones' cell, he finds it in an unexpected place. [[spoiler:Zeus and Poseidon each try to find it in the big stack of keys attached to her brass ring, but both end up choosing the wrong keys. Hades figures that Campe must keep the right one in a place where she could easily find it, then correctly guesses that she wears it on the gold chain around her neck.]]
* TokenGoodTeammate: Hyperion betrays the Titans when he sits out the Olympics, then tells Hades and his teammates where to find the Cyclopses and the Hundred-Handed Ones, who could help overcome Cronus.
* TheUnfavorite: The Cyclopses and the Hundred-Handed Ones became banished to Tartarus after Sky Daddy deemed them uglier than their siblings, the Titans.
* YouDoNotWantToKnow: When discussing the realms of the Underworld in the introduction , Hades uses this phrase in reference to the torture inflicted upon the souls of the wicked. (The glossary reveals that it involves fire and lava.)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Phone Home, Persephone!'' (2002)]]
* AdaptationalVillainy: In universe, Zeus claims that Hades broke into Persephone's garden and kidnapped her, when Persephone actually hitched a ride on Hades' chariot while running away from her overprotective mother. Persephone recognizes this as a ploy to make Demeter choose Hermes over Hades for P-Phone's husband, and convinces her not to fall for it.
* AltarTheSpeed: Hades and Persephone have to reschedule and relocate their wedding when her parents reach the Underworld sooner than expected, after bribing Hermes to show them the shortcut.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: After Cupid reveals that he helped Persephone win Hades' love by shooting him with an arrow, Hades becomes pressured into deciding whether or not he truly loves Persephone, especially since the magic of that arrow wore off three days after Cupid fired it.
* ClassifiedInformation: Even when under interrogation, Cupid refuses to reveal his formula for love.
* FoodAsBribe: In the first chapter, Persephone offers Hades a pickle in exchange for a visit to the Underworld.
* FourthDateMarriage: Hades proposes to Persephone after only dating her twice, at most -- Persephone pays Cupid to shoot him when she brings him to a picnic.
* GoldDigger: Uncle Shiner suspects Persephone of courting Hades mainly to become Queen of the Underworld, until she assures everyone, under an oath of honesty, that she just wants to [[MarryForLove marry Hades for love]].
* HiddenDepths:
** Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, also seems adept at technology when she invents the cell phone -- initially to keep tabs on Persephone, though the other gods also buy some phones to communicate in the next few books.
** King di Minos, {{the judge}} of the Underworld, also moonlights as a SupremeChef.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Each chapter title has a pun related to telephones.
* LittleStowaway: Persephone first visits the Underworld by sneaking onto Hades' chariot, after he refuses to bring her there himself.
* LoveEpiphany: One day after Hades overhears Persephone harbor a crush on him, he also declares genuine love for her, due to realizing that even though Cupid's magic has worn off of him, he still doesn't want to lose her to Hermes.
* MeaningfulName: Persephone means "{{picky eater}}", according to Demeter.
* MyBelovedSmother: Demeter constantly dotes on Persephone before the latter becomes Queen of the Underworld (separating them for at least three months each year).
* PickyEater: Persephone. Zeus even states that this is [[MeaningfulName the meaning of her name]]! Indeed, Persephone is less than willing to eat Underworld food.
* PowerIsSexy: Persephone recalls Hades looking "so strong, so godly, so... ''in charge''" during their first meeting.
* ShipTease: At Hades' and Persephone's wedding reception, Poseidon dances the night away with Medusa.
* SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace: Uncle Shiner and Rhea interrupt Hades and Persephone's first attempt to marry.
* SupremeChef: King di Minos runs a successful pizzeria in the Underworld, and also caters Hades' and Persephone's wedding. When picky Persephone samples the appetizers, not even she can resist triple-dipping an asphodel chip into the pomegranate dip (this book's equivalent of the traditional myth's pomegranate seeds).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Say Cheese, Medusa!'' (2002)]]
* BitByBitTransformation: Athena's chant for changing Medusa, Eno, and Riley from beautiful moon goddesses to snake-haired, reptilian Gorgons encompasses several stanzas, giving her victims and the witnesses ample time to let the TransformationHorror sink in.
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: The Gorgons, with Eno as the blonde, Medusa as the brunette, and Riley as the redhead.
* BodyDouble: The Furies disguise as Gorgons to sidetrack Perseus from his search to behead Medusa.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: Poseidon and Medusa attract Athena's rage by having a picnic in her temple, as opposed to making out inside the temple. When Stone Arch reprinted this book with a more traditional retelling of Medusa's story in the back, it used a version that removes Po altogether; while the main story keeps him, the back instead has Athena punish Medusa for boasting that she looked so beautiful, that the architects of the temple should've built it in her honor, instead.
* BrownBagMask: Medusa wears variations (including a seaweed mask and a blue silk bag) whenever Hades visits her, so she doesn't accidentally turn him to stone.
* CameraFiend: Eno loves taking photographs, resulting in her delivering the {{Title Drop}}s.
* ContrivedCoincidence: Hades meets baby Perseus and his mother, Princess Danaë of Argos, after discovering that one of the Underworld's jewel mines leads to a brass cube, in which Danaë's father imprisoned her.[[note]]A sibyl warned the king that Danaë's son would kill him, so he attempted to ban her from falling in love with any male mortals; she gave birth to Perseus after Zeus broke into the cube as a golden shower, impregnating her.[[/note]] Hades and Persephone both befriend Danaë, who afterwards appoints the couple as Perseus' god-parents.
* DrivenByEnvy: [[spoiler:Medusa eventually figures out that Athena cursed her and her sisters with snake hair out of jealousy with how much finer their real hair looked than Athena's constant case of helmet hair. She convinces Athena to reverse the curses by offering a remedy for helmet hair in exchange.]]
* GenerationXerox: Perseus looks similar to Zeus, and shared his pompous and untruthful traits for a few years.
* HumanPopsicle: When Hades tries to talk Athena out of punishing Medusa, for partying in one of Athena's temples, Athena freezes Hades instead. He [[PlayingWithFire melts the ice]] after Athena starts subjecting Medusa and her sisters to a monstrous transformation, but right before the victims reach the stage where they develop spiked tails.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Each chapter title has a pun regarding cheese, with one exception.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Perseus might act as boastful and deceitful as Zeus, but he only desires Medusa's head because giving it to King Polydectes would halt the wicked monarch's attempts to force Danaë to marry him. [[spoiler:Hades and Riley help save both Danaë and Medusa by giving Perseus a sculpture of the latter's head, to give Polydectes in lieu of the real one.]]
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: After Hades figures out that Zeus is Perseus' father, Danaë decides not to tell Perseus, whose ego would grow even larger after learning he has such a powerful dad. Consequently, Perseus doesn't discover his father's identity until the second-to-last chapter, when [[InternalReveal Zeus tells him in person]].
* MagicMisfire: When Medusa accidentally turns [[spoiler:Perseus]] into stone, Athena ends up taking three tries to change him back. [[spoiler:Her first two tries turn Perseus into butter and cheese, instead.]]
* RhymesOnADime: Calliope, the muse of poetry, taught Athena how to cast rhyming, extra-powerful curses.
* TheRival: Athena to Poseidon. Their rivalry dates back to when the founders of what is now Athens offered to name their city[[note]]which originally went by, "Guytown", according to ''Keep a Lid On It, Pandora!''[[/note]] after the god who gave them the best gift, and Athena won the contest after the judges deemed her olive tree more useful than Po's salt-water spring.
* ShipTease: In addition to their dance in ''Phone Home, Persephone!'', Poseidon and Medusa have further hints of romantic potential, from Po inviting Medusa and her sisters for a party at "his" (actually Athena's) temple, to Po helping Medusa and her sisters hide from a vengeful Athena.
* SurferDude: Riley's favorite model, Troy of Hyperboria[[note]]the land that the epilogue claims eventually became UsefulNotes/{{California}}[[/note]], behaves like one while giving Hades directions to the Gorgons' beach house.
* TakenForGranite: Athena curses Medusa to turn everyone who sees her face into stone.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: In universe example; Hades claims that Athens would've gone by, "Poseidonville", if the people better appreciated Po's gift.
* YouCantFightFate: The entire phrase is said by Persephone in the epilogue, after she learns that [[spoiler:Perseus' grandfather failed to escape his prophesised death at Perseus' hands.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Nice Shot, Cupid!'' (2002)]]
* AccidentalMisnaming: Cupid refers to Psyche as, "Psycho", until he falls in love with her.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In-universe example: Cupid meets Psyche during his awkward adolescent phase, but Zeus' version of their story makes Cupid sound like a hunk.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Psyche manages to remain attractive even while performing Aphrodite's grueling EngagementChallenge.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Cupid claims in ''Phone Home, Persephone!'' that he'd be "out of a job" if he ever fired arrows that make their targets permanently fall in love, only to create such arrows in between that book and this one.
* {{Determinator}}: Psyche, big time. She spends ''years'' [[EngagementChallenge completing endless lists of near-impossible tasks just for the chance to see Cupid again]]. And unlike other heroes, she does most of them without Hades' help.
* DrivenByEnvy: Aphrodite and Psyche's sisters jealously torment DudeMagnet Psyche. After Cupid and Hades convince Zeus to turn Psyche immortal, so she could marry Cupid, Aphrodite objects until Psyche promises not to steal the title of "goddess of beauty" from her.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Psyche earns immortality and a chance to marry Cupid after ''years'' of completing a series of endless tasks.
* EngagementChallenge: Aphrodite gives Psyche an ever-increasing list of tasks that she has to complete before she'll allow Psyche to see Cupid again.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: ''Nice Shot, Cupid!'' has a non-malicious instance. [[spoiler:To boost Cupid's self-confidence in his gawky appearance, Hades shoots him with one of his own arrows, making Cupid fall in love with his own reflection.]]
* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: The second list of tasks Aphrodite assigns for Psyche consists of nine commands following the format, "Bring me X item from Y faraway place to help me tend to Cupid", followed by, "Bring me ''[[GratuitousItalian una tazz]]'', a cup, of sea foam from the ocean waves that break on the shores of Cythera, just {{because I said so}}."
* LoveAtFirstSight: Cupid admits feeling this for Psyche, even without accidentally piercing himself with his arrow (as happens in some versions of their myth).
* MyBelovedSmother: Aphrodite spoils the teenage Cupid, and fusses over his physical appearance.
* SickeninglySweethearts: Hades encounters a few, including Orpheus and Eurydice, shortly before he finds Cupid in the middle of "target practice". [[spoiler:Later, Hades gives Cupid and Psyche some face-to-face alone time, by using some stolen orange-tipped arrows to make everyone else on the premises fall in love with each other.]]
* TheVoice: Cupid initially hides behind a curtain while talking to Psyche, so she calls him this until she discovers his identity.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Stop That Bull, Theseus!'' (2003)]]
* AccidentalMarriage: Poseidon married the mortal woman Aethra after the two of them had "[[FrothyMugsOfWater too much bubbly]]". Since Po and Aethra had already fallen in love before that, he admits to Hades that he would have actually stayed with her, and their son, Theseus, if she didn't dump Po for King Aegeus.
* CharacterExaggeration: Most versions of Theseus' story have him forget to change the color of the sail of the boat that transports him between Crete and Athens, which scares King Aegeus to death, after he interprets the black sail as a sign that Theseus perished in his fight against the Minotaur. ''Stop That Bull, Theseus!'' reveals Theseus as a full-blown ForgetfulJones.
* CompetitionFreak: Theseus will never take the easy way out, doing things like walking to Athens instead of sailing, so that he could fight the bullies that plague the road.
* CoolUncle: Theseus never learns that Hades is his uncle, but they become "buddies", in Theseus' own words, while traveling together.
* DeathByDespair: As a kid-friendly alternative to King Aegeus [[DrivenToSuicide drowning himself]] after receiving [[ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated greatly exaggerated reports of Theseus' death]], this book has the news give him a heart attack, plunging his lifeless body into the sea.
* {{Doorstopper}}: Discussed; When Hermes asks Hades why the novel doesn't document the adventures that Thesus had after becoming king, Hades explains that he didn't want the book to become too thick. Hermes informs him that some mortals enjoy thick books, as evidenced by the popularity of "[[Literature/HarryPotter Harry What's-his-name]]."
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Theseus almost calls the Aegean Sea, "The Blue Sea That My Dad Plunged Into After He Died of Grief", until Hades suggests something shorter and more respectful.
* ForgetfulJones: Theseus has a pretty poor memory.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Theseus [[AccidentalMurder accidentally murders]] three bullies with their own {{Death Trap}}s.
* HumongousMecha: Crete has a giant robot guard, Talos.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Each chapter title has a pun regarding bulls.
* ProWrestlingEpisode: Hades forms a wrestling federation, while accompanying Theseus to four unscripted wrestling matches.
* RoadTripPlot: Theseus and Hades share a road trip while walking from Trozen to Athens together. During their journey, Theseus wrestles three bloodthirsty bullies, whom Hades recruits for the Underworld Wrestling Federation.
* TemporaryLoveInterest: Hades convinces Cupid to hook up Princess Ariadne of Crete and Theseus with an orange-tipped arrow, so that she would help Theseus survive the labyrinth. After he returns from fighting the Minotaur, Ariadne tries to sail back to Athens with him. Unfortunately, she gets so seasick, that they have to stop at an island, where they end up parting ways.[[note]]Theseus accidentally leaves Ariadne behind, until Dionysus, the god of wine, comes to save her. The epilogue states that after Cupid's magic wore off of Ariadne, she eventually married Dionysus instead of Theseus, who married her sister, Phaedra.[[/note]]
* TheUnfavorite: Zeus felt so ashamed of having the Minotaur as a grandson that he wrote a story in which ''Theseus killed him.''
* WorthyOpponent: The fight between Theseus and the Minotaur ends with a tie; Hades recruits them to eventually rematch in the Underworld.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Keep a Lid on It, Pandora!'' (2003)]]
* TheBet: Zeus and Hades have one over whether or not Pandora will open her box.
* CheatersNeverProsper: Even after Zeus tricks Pandora into removing the lid of the box, Hades insists that he won the bet.[[note]]Zeus tricks Pandora by disguising himself as a limping mortal, and the box as a first-aid kit. When Pandy attempts to unlock the latch, she asks Hades to hold the kit itself. After Hades recognizes it as the box, he yanks it back before she can finish opening the latch; the contents only go free because he doesn't give her enough time to let go of the lid.[[/note]]
* ConstantlyCurious: As a side effect of Zeus' gift of curiosity, Pandora speaks only in questions.
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment A few of the evils unleashed by opening Pandora's box include [[spoiler:cavities, poison ivy, and mosquito bites]], but also [[spoiler:telemarketing, square dancing in gym class, and "I Before E Except After C".]] All sound pretty minor in comparison to stories in which Pandora's box contained ''all'' the evil and suffering in the world.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Prometheus has visions of Hercules freeing him from his chains.
* ExactWords: Thalia gives Pandora "the ability to tell a great joke". Pandora tells one after accidentally opening the box, but [[CanNotTellAJoke struggles to think up another one]].
* FourthDateMarriage: Pandora and Epi date for "what, twenty minutes" (in Prometheus' own words), before they decide to get married.
* GreenThumb: Demeter gives Pandora the ability to grow lush plants, and accidentally [[VisualPun turns Pandora's thumb green]] as well.
* HappilyMarried: Hera blesses Pandora to share a long and happy marriage with her lover.
* IBrokeANail: When Hades first asks Pandora if she feels tempted to open the box, she replies that she doesn't want to break the long fingernails Aphrodite granted her.
* IWantGrandkids: In ''Keep a Lid on It, Pandora!'', set before Hades meets and marries Persephone, Rhea nags Hades to settle down and give her some grandchildren. Even after Hades finds a wife, he still ends up not having any children.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Each chapter title has a question.
* MassiveNumberedSiblings: Pandora and Epi have a ''lot'' of daughters, born three at a time.
* MeaningfulName: Zeus tells everyone who is present at Pandora's creation that Pandora means "everybody gave me a real nice gift", as a lead-in to his telling them to each give her a gift.
* NiceShoes: Hermes gives Pandora some sandals with decorative, non-functional wings.
* PaperThinDisguise: Pandora and Epi see through some of Zeus' ruses without Hades' help.
* ProlongedPrologue: ''Keep a Lid on It, Pandora!'' begins with the creation of man and the story of Prometheus. Because of this, Pandora doesn't show up until the seventh or eighth chapter. The fifth chapter actually bears the title, "Where is Pandora?", and begins with Hades telling impatient readers when she'll come, then advising them to "[[TitleDrop Keep a lid on it!]]" until her entrance.
* TheScapegoat: Zeus attributes the existence of greed, disease, and pain to Pandora failing to heed his warning not to open the box containing these. Actually, greed, disease, and pain already existed in other forms, and Pandora wouldn't have unleashed new versions if Zeus didn't ''trick'' her into opening the box.
* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: Zeus dons several disguises when attempting to coerce Pandora into opening the box; Hades sees through them when Zeus calls Pandy, "Sweetheart".
* UglyGuyHotWife: Hephaestus and Aphrodite, respectively. According to Hades, Zeus set them up as an apology for crippling Hephaestus, and Aphrodite agreed to the union because of Hephaestus' ability to produce beautiful gold jewelry with his forge.
* WomenAreWiser: Pandora seems more intelligent than the first male mortals, especially after Athena gives her the gift of good judgement.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Thanks to Aphrodite's gift of "capelli interessante"[[note]]"interesting hair"[[/note]], Pandora has a pink BeehiveHairdo.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Get To Work, Hercules!'' (2003)]]
* AgonyOfTheFeet: Hercules beats Geryon in wrestling after stomping on the latter's big toe.
* BadPowersGoodPeople: The Hydra killed humans with her toxic breath by accident instead of malice, and turns out to be a good friend, helping Hercules clear the Augean Stables, although because of her WalkingWasteland powers she has to use sign language to communicate with the other characters.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: Instead of having Zeus impersonate Alcmene's husband Amphytrion [[BedTrick and impregnate her with Hercules under these circumstances]], Alcmene is a princess who got pregnant with Hercules when she was married to Zeus and marries Amphytrion later on.
* CoolUncle: Hades becomes one to Hercules while keeping him out of trouble. Unlike Theseus, Hercules even calls him, "Uncle Hades".
* DreadfulMusician: Hercules can not sing.
* DumbIsGood: Hercules seems pretty dense, to say the least.
* HairTriggerTemper: Hercules has one.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: All the chapter titles contain the word "Big".
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: When Hades catches Theseus' friend Peirithous serenading Persephone, he makes the men sit in the Chair of Forgetfulness, which erases their memories. [[spoiler:Theseus becomes freed with help from Hercules, but Peirithous gets left in the Chair for ''centuries''.]]
* MeaningfulName: Hades tries to help protect Alcmene's and Zeus' son from Hera's jealousy by giving him a name meaning, "For the glory of Hera". Alcmene picks the Roman "Hercules" over the Greek "Heracles", so she wouldn't have to actually say the fearsome goddess' name when calling him.
* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: The [=NeMean=] Lion's enslaved cousin, Cee, helps Hercules defeat him.
* NameToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Cee and Hades both emphasize the "Mean" in the aunt-killing, cousin-kidnapping, cow-stealing [=NeMean=] Lion's name.
* NeMeanSkinning: Hercules dons the [[TropeNamers NeMean Lion]]'s skin.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: While Hades and Persephone spend a romantic winter in the Underworld together, Hercules completes Labors VII and VIII without his help, with Hades learning in spring how exactly Hercules accomplished them.
* QuestGiver: As in the traditional myth, Hercules' cousin, Eury, assigns each of the Labors.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Hercules can speak cow, after spending his adolescence at a farm owned by his stepfather's cousins.
* SuperMode: [[spoiler:Cerberus]] scares Eury by changing [[spoiler:from a little three-headed dog, to a giant, spiked, red-eyed three-headed dog]].
* TemptingFate: Hercules remarks that Labor IX, borrowing Queen Hippolyta's girdle, sounds very easy. [[spoiler:He doesn't expect Hera to frame him of kidnapping the queen, invoking the wrath of her Amazonian subjects.]]
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: In-universe, some of Alcmene's rejected names for Hercules include "Chickapeckus" and "Duckawaddleus".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Go For the Gold, Atalanta!'' (2003)]]
* ArchnemesisDad: Atalanta's father [[ParentalAbandonment abandons the baby princess]] just because he wanted a son instead, and only invites her back to his castle after she becomes a celebrity, whose fame the king attempts to profit from.
* BearyFriendly: Honey raises human Daughters of Artemis, such as Atalanta, with the same care that she provides her own cubs.
* BigEater: Atalanta. Hades even refers to her as this, word for word!
* ChildMarriageVeto: Atalanta vowed to Artemis not to be married off to anyone, so she sets up an impossible EngagementChallenge.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Even after Melanion becomes the last man to lose Atalanta's EngagementChallenge, he gets on her good side by admitting that Hera and Aphrodite forced him to help break her vow of celibacy.
* EarlyBirdCameo: The Argonauts appear well before the release of their own book. Hades and Atalanta both recall helping them and Jason find the Golden Fleece, although Hades says the specifics of his involvement are "another story".
* EngagementChallenge: When Atalanta is imprisoned by her father after years of abandonment, he wants to marry her off. However, the Daughter of Artemis does not want to, so she says that she'll marry anyone who can beat her in a race, which no one ever does.
* GoodGuyBar: Calydon has one aptly named, "Heroes".
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Each chapter title has a pun regarding bears.
* LamePunReaction: Persephone laughs sarcastically when Hades assures her that he'll be "rooting" for her to win an Olympic Gold Medal for weeding.
* LampshadeHanging: Hades admits that it seems unbelievable that he would have known Perseus, Hercules, ''and'' Atalanta ever since they were babies, and that becoming entrusted with Atalanta made him wonder if he became "some sort of baby magnet".
* LukeIAmYourFather: Gender-flipped: Atalanta's father [[DisproportionateRetribution banished his wife after she gave birth to a girl instead of a boy]], so Atalanta doesn't discover until the epilogue who her birth mother was. [[spoiler:Artemis reveals that her mortal friend Clymene, whom Atalanta meets before the race against Melanion, is the princess' birth mother.]]
* NemeanSkinning: Artemis wears the fur of animals she hunts.
* TheOlympics: Atalanta strives to become the first mortal to compete against the gods.
* RhymesOnADime: The Calydonian Boar can talk in rhyme.
* RunningOnAllFours: Atalanta can do this, since she was raised by a bear. [[spoiler:This skill helps her win the race against Melanion.]]
* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Hades admits that Zeus only played a spectator role in the story of Atalanta and Melanion, leaving Hades with no idea why Zeus rewrote her chapter of ''The Big Fat Book of Greek Myths''; he speculates that Hera, the goddess of marriage, convinced Zeus to let Melanion win Atalanta's hand.
* TakeAThirdOption: Atalanta learns before the race that Melanion will try to distract her with three of Hera's golden apples, so Atalanta makes plans to both claim the apples, ''and'' win the race.
* TemptingApple: Atalanta finds the golden apples tempting, because all that gold could pay off a ransom on the life of Prince Meleager of Calydonia.
* WarriorPrincess: Atalanta, a strong and tough Daughter of Artemis whose long-lost birth parents reigned over Arcadia. After she both helps the Argonauts find the Golden Fleece, and saves Calydonia from the rampaging Calydonian Boar, everyone calls her, "The Princess Hero".
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[[folder:''Hit the Road, Helen!'' (2013)]]
* AchillesHeel: The {{Trope Nam|ers}}ing warrior appears. When Thetis grabs baby Achilles by his heel, and immerses him in the invincibility-granting River Styx, Hades warns her that no mortal could survive two dunks, leaving the heel as Achilles' only weak point. Thetis orders some "heel protectors" from Hephaestus, but Achilles refuses to wear them, because they give him blisters. [[spoiler:Achilles eventually dies after a poison-tipped arrow, shot by Prince Paris of Troy, pierces his heel.]] Ironically, when Achilles reveals his weakness prior to fighting in the Trojan War, one of the other soldiers [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong expresses doubt that anyone would harm him there]].
* AchillesInHisTent: Achilles refuses to fight in UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar after he and King Agamemnon have a disagreement regarding a sacrifice to Apollo. He comes out of the tent after the death of [[spoiler:Patroclus]], and re-joins battle to avenge him.
* AppleOfDiscord: Eris crashes Peleus' and Thetis' wedding, and uses her golden apple to start an argument among Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite over who is the fairest goddess.
* BittersweetEnding: UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar ends, but only after countless warriors perish in battle. Accordingly, the last chapter before the epilogue ends on a more serious note than usual. [[spoiler:Helen and Menelaus agree that after all those years she spent with Paris, their marriage will take a while to rebuild. After they head back to Sparta, Hades sees the destroyed city of Troy, then heads off to lead yet another batch of casualties into the Underworld. The epilogue tries to lighten things up by assuring the reader that Helen and Menelaus did rekindle their love, after a wayward wind left them stranded in Egypt for many years, and that the couple resumed their thrones in Sparta before their daughter married Achilles' son.]]
* TheCassandra: The Trope Namer makes several warnings that other mortals refuse to heed. This time, she was a priest of Apollo, given a job prophecy, but she quit to get married. Apollo angrily cursed her so no one would believe her. Later, she or her ghost encourages Hades to make Book X an ''[[Literature/TheOdyssey Odyssey]]'' story instead of his planned Jason and the Argonauts story.
* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Hades considers the likelihood that the Trojan War wouldn't have happened if Zeus accepted the responsibility of picking the fairest goddess, instead of using Prince Paris of Troy as a [[TheScapegoat scapegoat]].
* CrossoverCosmology: Hades and Persephone take a cruise with Myth/NorseMythology deities Thor and Sif after Hades finishes writing ''Hit the Road, Helen!''
* CupidsArrow: Cupid uses the brand-new "Smoochie Woochie" arrow to make Helen of Troy leave Menelaus for Paris. [[spoiler:The Smoochie Woochie's effects wear off of Helen after Philoctetes slays Paris.]]
* TheDandy: Prince Paris of Troy enjoys trying on and showing off fancy outfits more strongly than he does performing princely duties, such as defending his city from invaders.
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Paris falls off of the wall surrounding Troy while dodging an Arrow of Hercules, fired by Philoctetes.]]
* TheScapegoat: Zeus deems Helen of Troy responsible for the Trojan War, which he says arose after she left her husband, Menelaus, for Paris. Although, Hades argues that Helen wouldn't have run away with Paris if Aphrodite and Zeus didn't tell Cupid to make them fall in love, after Aphrodite promised Paris the world's most beautiful woman in exchange for Eris' golden apple, after Zeus chickened out of choosing the goddess worthiest of the apple by making Paris pick her instead.[[note]]Going even further back, Eris sparked the debate over the fairest goddess as RevengeSVP for Zeus' refusal to invite her to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, which only occurred after Zeus told Cupid to make Thetis fall for Peleus, after a prophecy of Thetis bearing a son stronger than his own father scared Zeus into weaseling out of his engagement to her.[[/note]]
* {{Uncancelled}}: ''Go For the Gold, Atalanta!'' ended with Hades and his publisher feeling undecided on what myth to share next, prompting Hades to go on vacation with Persephone. Then another book saw the light of day 10 years later.
* WarIsHell: Recalling the Trojan War prompts Hades to reflect on all the mortal lives lost during petty wars. Kate [=McMullan=] also sugarcoats it less strongly than par for the series.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Get Lost, Odysseus!'' (2014)]]
* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Hades believes that Odysseus wouldn't have had so much trouble going home from Troy if he didn't reveal his real name to the cyclops he blinded, which would have left Poseidon unaware of who to punish.
* LoopholeAbuse: Hades swears on the River Styx not to directly help Odysseus return to Ithaca, then proceeds to find ways to ''indirectly'' help him.
* PapaWolf: After Poseidon learns that Odysseus has blinded his cyclops son, Polyphemus, he swears to give Odysseus a death at sea, and to flood the Underworld if Hades ever provides direct assistance to Odysseus' journey back to Ithaca.
[[/folder]]