Line #161 Headscratchers/TheHeroesOfOlympus


1	* When the crab monster attacks the ship, why couldn't Percy stay dry? It is explicitly stated that being wet instead of dry is something Percy has to concentrate to do. Staying dry is automatic, no thought on his part. So why does it say it was too much for him to stay dry?
2	** I'm pretty sure Rick changed it to that he has to concentrate to stay dry instead of the other way around, similar to how Leo is immune to fire when he concentrates. The Sword of Hades (a short story from The Demigod Files) also says he has to concentrate to stay dry.
3	* Why are children of the same god exactly the same?
4	** A lot of readers (especially fanfiction writers) think demigods in the same cabin, will have identical personalities and skill. There will be inherent similarities yes, but still they're still individuals, as Piper and Frank proved. Especially for gods who are patrons of a bunch of stuff. (Eg. Apollo - music, medicine, light, the sun, truth, prophecy, healing, plague, poetry and art. Athena - wisdom, war, crafts, strategy, inspiration, civilization, law/justice, mathematics and skill). That's a broad range. Athena's kids can range from hard-out warriors to philosophers. They don't necessarily inherit all those aspects, just a few (hence why fire abilities is a rare trait among Hephaestus kids, since they only get his forging abilities). Why do people think demigods are expy's of thier parents/established characters?
5	** Probably because they a) aren't that familiar with classical mythology to know the various responsibilities of the gods, or b) because we haven't gotten to know multiple demigods with the same godly parent, people just assume all demigods are like the characters they're familiar with.
6
7	* Why have the giants in the first two books come across as so weak? They were supposed to be the greatest threat to Olympus. Yet they have all been dispatched fairly easily especially Polybotes and Alcyoneus who were made to counter two of the strongest gods. With Porphyrion at least there is an excuse of being still weak. The other giants are just big and hard to kill. They lack the other powers that make the gods and Titans so dangerous. At this rate all you need to do is arm the demigods with parts of Terminus' statues to win. Who needs the gods to defeat them when Percy can with ease defeat the one meant to counter his father?
8	** Much like Kronos, the giants aren't at full power yet, they've only just resurrected. If/when they reach full strength, they'd rip through a demigod like tissue paper.
9
10	* Ok, so in Roman Mythology, Saturn (aka Kronos) was actually a great guy. It's actually kind of funny. In The Last Olympian, when Hades fights him in front of Olympus, we hear Demeter say that Kronos has no appreciation of agriculture. Well, guess what! In ROMAN mythology Kronos (Saturn) is the God of the harvest and agriculture! More than that, in Roman mythos, when Saturn was defeated by Jupiter, apparently he was never imprisoned, and he fled to Rome and ushered in a golden age of Prosperity. So, 1, why do they (the Roman demigod faction) still honor the Olympians if Saturn is so good to them, and 2) why did they even try to (unknowingly) help in the war with Kronos by destroying Mt Othrys?
11	** First, the Olympians are their parents and all demigods seem to feel some degree of loyalty due to that. The Olympians were also the ones who helped make Rome into a great empire and sustained it. Third, the Olympians are the ones in power and can make your life very miserable if you do not do what they say. As for Saturn, he was thought of as radically different from Kronos, moreso than even Mars and Ares. Saturn was a benevolent god of agriculture while Kronos is an evil god of devouring time. Maybe Saturn is actually a different god if Kronos was imprisoned so long ago. The Greeks equated the Olympians with Egyptian gods, but the two are completely separate pantheons.
12	** Besides, that was Saturn, not all the Titans. And maybe his personality changed- there's no point in honouring someone when they're trying to kill you.
13	** Or maybe that's why there were demigods that Percy didn't recognize at first, because they were Romans
14	** its possible that the Romans were actually fighting the Greek version but thought it was the Roman one, also even though Saturn was consider a good person, the Roman Demigods are willing to fight anything as long as the gods say so, and obviously have a more stronger loyalty to the gods than the greek(in Mars entry into the camp, the entire camp,except Percy, bow down, in Greek Camp the demigods talk back to gods(especially Dionysus) without a second thought).
15	*** Or maybe, the Romans weren't fighting Kronos . . . remember how Kronos was attacking the Eastern seaboard? Krios was the Titan of the southern lands, if memory is serving me correctly. Although Camp Jupiter may've named their elephant Hannibal, they were not big fans of the original.
16	*** Also, it is worth asking, wether the titans actually have roman counterparts. They were banished to tartarus before rome rose to power and therefore can be assumed to never have had any real conctact with the roman empire and people. It is entirely possible that the romans reimagining them might have had no actual impact on them as beings, and therefore the greek versions are the only once to actually exist. This would also explain why the giants, unlike the olympians they are meant to oppose, apparently only have one form. They were banished in greek times and have no real relation to rome.
17	*** It's also possible Saturn wasn't Kronos at all. Remember that Rome back then would assimilate other the gods of other civilization and interpret them as merely equivalent to their own. Herodotus interpreted Osirus as Dionysus, but we know from the Kane Chronicles that they are very different gods. It's possible that Saturn is actually a local italian god(probably from the Estruscans the Roman's next door neighbor) and they decided to match him with Kronos. Though how did the romans match a child-eating Titan Lord with a peaceful farm god is beyond me.
18	*** To greeks, the passage of time meant only decay and being closer to death (and death was a horrible thing, no matter what), so time was a cruel and fearful entity, romans didn't share the attitude so they made time a benevolent entity (also, you are correct, Saturn was a latin god, later matched with Kronos, but they were not born as the same one, that's also the reason he sometimes gets some Uranus' traits and his brother, Ianus, sometimes gets some Kronos' ones).
19	** Because it was never Saturn: Kronos were only and always in his greek persona. As for the giants, they could either be kept in one form (to avoid personality issues) by Gea's power, or only have one form to oppose the gods, that have two (another possible explanation: they were defeated and sent away before the rise of Rome, so were unaffected by the whole thing that gave gods two different personalities).
20
21	* Riordan says that the gods and all thing mythography can be found at the centre of Western Civilization. So at the time of the American Civil War would the Gods not be in the UK, seeing as it was TheEmpire of the time? Or at least somewhere in Europe?
22	** The gods didn't necessarily have to be in America for there to be demigods there. Maybe they were based in Europe at the time but some of their children were living over there.
23	** Well I'd expect Camp Half Blood to be near Olympus, as it is now. I would make no sense for the Camp to be in America while the gods are in Europe
24	** Pretty sure Camp Half-Blood was only started up after WWII anyway, so as long as there were some Greek demigods in the country, their involvement in the Civil War could be as stated. The real question is what were the ''Romans'' doing in America then? They have much more structure, and would probably stick close to Olympus even more than the Greeks (being much better organized...)
25	*** Didn't Hazel mention that the Legion follows Rome, not Olympus? Sure it could have been in the British Empire for a time, but isn't it also true that America was founded in the spirit of the Roman Republic?
26	*** Unless Camp Half Blood was in the UK and was literally picked up and moved to America, I think we have to assume that it was there in America during the American Civil War given Bunker 9. As for why it is there, well America was a new land, so maybe the God's thought it would be safer for them to train there.
27	*** Camp Half-Blood was founded in ancient Greece by Chiron. At least that's what Riordan Wiki on Fandom says.
28	*** When you consider that the Gods moved with 'the heart of Western Civilization' it's not difficult to see that once the ideals held by that concept became more pronounced in America, the Gods simply moved there. I'm guessing it happened sometime between the Revolution and the Civil War.
29
30	* Why, oh why, did Piper have to give her father that drink? Surely the Mist could have taken care of it? Especially since it's explicitly stated that it's the knowledge that these things are real that is breaking him. I could be appeased on this one, but either Tristan like Rachel and Percy's mom can see through the Mist, or Gaea can control the Mist (which would be considerably ''nastier'').
31	** I always assumed there was a point where even mortals could see the Mist after a while- it was just something that blocked them in passing, and their imagination did most of the work, and that open-minded people could see through it. So if they were or confronted with something for a long time, then even a human wouldn't be able to lie to themselves anymore- Like... magical denial; it can only do so much. But now that you mention it, this really was just an assumption on my part. I'd call it Gaia's manipulation of the Mist, since it's stated to be possible for gods, whereas her father's potential ability was never mentioned.
32	*** Yeah, I think the book mentions at one point that the Mist has a breaking point, and being kidnapped by a monstrous giant working for a protogenoi stretched it beyond its limits.
33	*** Along with what everyone else says with the Mist being less effective to those who believe in the supernatural and that Tristan probably got pushed past the point of the Mist being effective, it's also canon that there are mortals that are able to just naturally see through the Mist regardless if they believe or not (Rachel), and that there are different levels of Mist resistance (Sally Jackson can see through the Mist but not as well as she used to). It is possible that Tristan had a level of Mist resistance as well, although probably not likely.
34	** I don't recall anyone of them being able to manipulate the Mist. Besides, he was kidnapped by a giant and held prisoner by Earthborn, it'd be a bit difficult to convince him that he didn't see anything.
35	** Thalia could manipulate the Mist, as could Chiron.
36	*** Except by that time, Piper's Father already seen through the Mist, Plus, in the old series Satyrs have to wear fake shoes, pants and hat, so the Mist isn't foolproof and have its limits. And if the Mist has trouble covering hooves and horns. Then I highly doubt it can cover for being kidnap by a 40-ft fire-breathing giant for a week.
37	** Why would Aphrodite have given Piper the potion anyway if the Mist could've taken care of everything?
38
39	* It bugs me that they just spent five books looking for half-blood children of the Big Three, and no-one thought to mention that there's a Son of Zeus claimed twelve years ago only a few months younger than Percy. I know Chiron didn't know what was happening at the other camp, and the gods were keeping it quiet, but you'd think Kronos would have mentioned it. And that Hades wouldn't think Nico was next in line.
40	** Hades might not have known. If he has no Roman children at the moment, he might not have had a reason to keep an eye on the Roman camp. Or, maybe Jason's effectively being adopted by Hera/Juno put him out of the running.
41	*** Or maybe the prophecy only applied to the Greek side of things.
42	*** When the group faced Enceladus, he mentioned how Jason defeated the Titan Krios, and toppled the Black Throne, so there was probably separate prophecies for both camps, so yeah, only Greek children applied for the Greek prophecy, and Romans for the Roman.
43	*** Of course. It was a prophecy from Delphi, and the Romans get their prophecies from augurs.
44	*** That doesn't make sense because the Seven Halfbloods prophecy applies to both of them. The line explicitly called it a "halfblood child of the ''eldest gods''". Maybe they just assumed it would only apply to their eldest form, the Greek version.
45	*** Probably because the Prophecy of the Seven is forcing them to work together, none of the other prophecies even Great Prophecies had to
46	*** It does. Remember how Neptune isn't important in Rome? And no one likes Pluto kids (Well, this is actually true at the Greek camp as well, but still)? The camp's most important people are Jupiter and Mars. There's not really a big three. And it also said that the prophecy of seven has been around for centuries, implying that it has been the Roman's "Great Prophecy." There are also a ton more minor Roman gods.
47	** Besides, he's not a son of Zeus, he's a son of Jupiter. The prophecy probably did only apply to the Greeks, because otherwise, how would they have got to Jason? At this point, nobody except Chiron and Lupa knew about the other camps, and they probably talked and realised that there were two different prophecies and thus no interaction was needed.
48
49	* Why didn't Grover use his empathy link to figure out where Percy is?
50	** Given how often the link got used in the previous series, it's likely the gods know about it and Hera took steps to block it somehow so Grover couldn't do just that. He probably tried, but seeing as he's completely OutOfFocus, we don't know for sure. Or it may have just been a side effect of Percy having his memories stolen. Empathy bonds aren't perfect. Remember how they couldn't find Grover for like two months prior to ''The Last Olympian''?
51	** Close enough, Hera didn't need Percy yet, she took hm out of commission for 8 months possibly in magical sleep, the same thing that prevented Percy from finding grover, since Morpheus put him out.
52	** its pretty much stated by the Faun guy Don during the feast of Fortuna that his empathy link was "supressed" so Hera probably took steps to take it out.
53
54	* The climax of ''The Lost Hero'' is full of continuity errors. Hera, once freed, goes nuclear, destroys all the enemies and sends the Big Bad running. If gods can do that, why didn't Artemis do it once she was set free in ''The Titan's Curse'' instead of being nearly killed by Atlas and losing her trusted lieutenant? The previous series also made it quite clear that anyone who looked at a god in their true form would be incinerated into a pile of ashes, but Jason sees Hera's true form and is merely driven into some sort of coma that Piper can bring him out of with her voice.
55	** That's most likely ContinuityDrift at work. Riordan's done it before. Remember how Annabeth had only heard parts of the Great Prophecy in the first book but then she said she'd known the whole thing in TLO?
56	** In TLO it's reveal that the prophecy was actually a piece of paper in the beads of the mummy's necklace, Annabeth probably search in the attics between Quests till she found it.
57	*** Atlas was a Titan at full strength. Porphyrion was still groggy, and it was explicitly stated no less than three times that a demigod and a god attacking a Giant together could kill them. Any non-moron would run.
58	*** True, anybody with an ounce of sense would have run, and Riordan/Jason lampshades this when Porphyrion is taken aback by the sheer stupidity of it. In Jason's defense, though, he wasn't trying to beat the giant all by himself. He was just trying to buy Leo and Piper enough time to free Hera, and after that Hera could help them bring Porphyrion down.
59	** The Jason-survives-seeing-Hera's-true-form thing is a plot hole that is almost certain to be addressed later in the series.
60	*** It's also possible that some of the potency was lost because Hera was in her Greek form and Jason is Roman. (WMG)
61	*** I just saw it as Piper's Charmspeaking being so powerful that her voice was able to bring Jason back to life before he was too far gone, so whether it's a plot hole or not is up in the air.
62	*** I doubt casting CharmPerson would bring someone ''back to life'', considering its only real power is in manipulating people to do things they already could. Even when she commands the {{Mooks}} to sleep, they were technically able to do so. But Jason clearly wasn't dying because he wasn't motivated enough.
63	*** Riordan [[WordOfGod writes the rules]]. If charmspeak can prevent death, [[MagicAIsMagicA then charmspeak can prevent death]]. Also, given the [[PowerOfLove goddess it belongs to]], it's likely [[BackFromTheDead that aspect]] of charmspeak only works on loved ones.
64	*** Earlier in the book, Jason saw Hera's true form in a dream. Maybe he could survive because he had already been exposed to it. Kind of like a vaccination.
65	*** Perhaps justified by ''The Son of Neptune.'' [[spoiler: DeathIsCheap now applies to everyone, because Thanatos, the god of Death, has been imprisoned. It's very possible for Jason to simply have come back to life if Thanatos had been imprisoned by then.]] Though it still doesn't explain why Jason wasn't burned to ashes...
66	*** As far as 'burned to ashes', it's quite likely there was divine intervention from Zeus/Juptier. How else would Jason still be alive after seeing Hera's true form, otherwise his soul couldn't come back, even with the Doors of Death open. It's still possible that Charmspeak could bring back the dead (it's entire power is suggestion, and if there's one thing that's clear in this series, dead things are much easier to call than you'd think), but we'll see. That's probably the point here: any one of these could have happened, but it's far more likely more than one happened at once. Hera's "Impossible!" response to Jason being alive at all afterward is quite telling.
67	** Because what if Artemis had killed someone else? Like Percy, or Thalia, or Zoe, or Annabeth? And it might not have been on her mind at that moment.
68	*** Perhaps Artemis was already severely weakened from holding up the sky, and Hera was just more or less caged?
69	** Also, weren't the trio surrounded by monsters when Hera was freed, whereas with Artemis it was mostly just Atlas and Luke? Hera probably went divine to incinerate the monsters and get them out of the way so that, if need be, she could deal with Porpoise Fear afterward without being sidetracked. Artemis going divine would've run the risk of killing Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia, or of giving Atlas the idea to do the same thing and assume ''his'' true form. And it's a lot more serious when a Titan does that.
70
71	* Jason is fluent in Latin rather than Greek. But from what we know, Latin was primarily a written language; the Romans spoke Greek. So it's still of course possible for someone to speak Latin, but speaking-wise, Greek should come more naturally to Jason as a spoken language than Latin.
72	** Latin was most definitely the liturgical language of ancient Rome so it makes sense that the children of ''gods'' would speak the ''religious'' language. Also, only the Roman upper elite spoke Greek, mostly due to snobbery and CulturalCringe (rather like how, in 18th and 19th century Europe, everyone was obsessed with speaking French for some reason). The common language of the people was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulgar_Latin Vulgar Latin]].
73	** And not all the Roman elite liked greek that much. Ask Cato (which one doesn't matter).
74
75	* At one point, Leo has a thought about someone dying and hoping they stay in the Fields of Punishment forever. But it's been shown dozens of times that Leo's grasp of Greek mythology is basically zero; how would he have known about the Fields of Punishment but not, say, who Hephaestus was?
76	** Well there are two possible explanations. The first is just that, he didn't know who Hephaestus but he knows about the Greek Underworld. It's how it works in the real world afterall, you might know something complicated about a subject, but not know something relatively easy about the same subject. The second is that in between scenes that we never saw (such as when Jason or Piper was asleep and the others were awake), the other one explained it to Leo.
77	** Another option is that Leo did in fact learn of the Greek Underworld in classes that taught it. Sure, at the time he probably didn't pay a whole lot of attention, because it would have been before his heritage was discovered, but once it was he could have just put it all in place.
78	** Or a brief lapse into omniscient narrator.
79
80	* Since Zeus/Jupiter has come across as one of the biggest morons and jerks in both series do you think he'll be redeemed in the end? In the first book alone he made the same mistake he did against the Titans and was willing to risk the rise of Polypherion and sacrifice Hera just for a party. Jason gave a speech at the end about Zeus having to set an example and frustrated by the other gods challenging his decisions, but from what we've seen so far he does a poor job at the former and the latter is very much understandable. Even Thalia wants nothing to do with him. Do you think he is just a lot better as Jupiter instead of Zeus?
81	** Zeus's modus operandi in most of Greek mythology boiled down to [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem Screw The Rules, I Make Them!]], with the whole idea that he ''never'' learned. Given that the Roman aspects are implied to be more warlike and violent, "redeeming" him would mean heavy BroadStrokes, something Riordan has otherwise proven very good about averting.
82	*** True, but at the same time the Roman Mars is looked at in a much better light than the Greek Ares. Jupiter was also stated to be a more mature, formal, and stoic version of Zeus.
83	** Mars wasn't really shown in a better light per se. He was still his explosive, hot headed, self-righteous self. He was a bit tamed down, but not much.
84	** I think this question really goes to trying to figure out just how different the Roman Aspects are to their Greek Counterparts. The number of times we see Zeus are exclusively at Olympus during one of the 'God Meetings.' There, he's shown to be brash, quick to judge, and exceedingly arrogant, but not totally evil or harsh.
85
86	* What bugged ''me'' was mostly minor, but the descriptions of Walnut Creek and the bay area. for one thing, It ''does'' get cold in WC in the winter- it frosts, sleets, and you go out in a warm coat and gloves, not one layer or a tee shirt( like Jason). I don't recall the wording, but when they wake up at the cafe, there is a line like " winter wasn't even a concept.' or something. also, it does snow on mount Diablo they even have to close the mountain to tourists and hikers sometimes. And while the Bekeley hills ''do'' hold back the fog- they are only 'golden brown' in the summer time. All that fog- those hills are freaking ''green'' at Christmas time.Aand lastly- THERE ARE NO EUCALYPTUS TREES in Walnut Creek, and even if they were, they aren't as overpowering as the book says, unless there is a whole forest of them. I live next door to a grove of about 25 of them, and only smell them if i'm outside and right in the middle of them, and they've had broken branches.
87	** Riordan is from Texas. It is likely that he has no idea what California is really like other than what the stereotypes are and what he learns from different sources of media (AKA Hollywood)
88	** Generally speaking, Riordan's descriptions of places need to be taken with a grain of salt. In both series he's gotten details wrong about places (the Hoover Dam being the most glaring example...)
89
90	* Someone please clarify... if Leo is in fact Sammy's grandson, doesn't that imply Sammy in fact married someone else despite according to Gaea not getting over Hazel? And was the grandfather-grandson connection stated in either book or is it just fanon? And I really hope a love triangle doesn't erupt between Frank, Hazel, and Leo because that would NOT help matters between the two camps.
91	** I think it's fanon, but I'll probably have to check. Regardless, it's very possible to for Sammy to have started a family on his own. He may never have really gotten over Hazel, a giant what-if in the back of his mind, but he may have moved on just enough to find someone new. Perhaps she could never compare to Hazel, but she was good enough. And unless Leo is really Sammy reincarnated, I doubt a love triangle will start so easily; you are not the same as your grandparents, after all.
92	*** Sammy DID start a family after Hazel died. Any connection to Leo besides his looks, however, hasn't been mentioned. From page 424:
93	--->'''Gaea''': You were destined to marry Sammy. Do you know what happened to him after you died in Alaska? He grew up and moved to Texas. He married and had a family. But he never forgot you. He always wondered why you disappeared.
94	*** Hazel said Sammy's last name IS Valdez so this is probably a case of Identical Grandson, and I think it would be entertaining to have a love triangle with Hazel seeing how different Leo is from Sammy while reconciling her now current feelings for Frank
95	*** OP here: yeah, I reread and it did say Sammy got married... so oh dear Leo is probably Sammy's grandson. Octavian is going to love the two love triangles that will be happening in the third book.
96	*** Leo may not be Sammy's grandson. What if Sammy got Elysium and decided to be reborn to go to the Islands of Blest? (I'm not positive how this works, if you look the same or not)
97	*** Well, according to ''Literature/TheKaneChronicles'' (they're explicitly in the same universe), the afterlife is whatever you believe. So Egyptians get their souls weighed by Osiris while the Greeks go to the Underworld; in The Throne of Fire, it says that there are Romans that ended up in the Egyptian afterlife because they spent so much time in Egypt that they started to believe in the Egyptian afterlife. So Sammy would have had no reason to believe in the Greek afterlife, and probably wouldn't have been there at all.
98	*** Not quite that simple. In the first book a preacher died and went to Hades. It was commented that what he saw was the Christian afterlife and not the Greek one. Despite few people believing in it Hades has been receiving a constant stream of souls for thousands of years. Its why he stated the underworld is almost overflowing.
99	*** [[spoiler: As ''Mark of Athena'' states, Leo is Sammy's great-grandson, and definitely not his reincarnation. Simply a case of IdenticalGrandson.]]
100
101	* In ''Son of Neptune'', there's only the 12th Legion present at Camp Jupiter. So why did Jason claimed to be praetor of the 1st Legion in ''The Lost Hero''?
102	** I'm guessing that Riordan changed the legions between novels. That, or Jason mixed up the numbers.
103	** Riordan probably origionally was going to have multiple legions similar to Camp Half Blood's cabins (Cabin One=First Legion)but later changed this as it didn't really fit.
104	** This is brought up in The House of Hades. Jason thought it'd be nice to rename the legion from the 12th to the 1st, as a symbol of a new beginning, but the rest of New Rome wasn't willing to part with tradition. It shows a bit of un-Roman rebelliousness in the guy.
105
106	* Wait, so if it takes a god and a demigod to kill a giant, how did [[spoiler: Frank and Hazel take down Alcyoneus?]]
107	** I was wondering that too, maybe some unseen help from Thanatos?
108	*** Maybe Arion qualified? He is the immortal son of Poseidon and Demeter.
109	*** It was explicitly stated that Alcyoneus was different, that he was immortal only on his home ground. Once they took him out of Alaska, he was just as vulnerable as any monster.
110	*** And this is made more explicit in ''Mark of Athena'', where it's outright stated that Alcyoneus was the exception.
111	*** I always figured it was cuz Gaea was like, right there with em, and that she counted.
112	** Definitely Thanatos. I mean, he's ''death itself'' (not a god ''of'' death, the god death). Alcyoneus was completely immortal on his home ground, but once Frank moved it away Thanatos joined him for the killing blow.
113
114	* In ''The Son of Neptune'', what happened to Nico? I really don't get why he wouldn't recognize Percy. Percy, of course, wouldn't know him due to his memory loss, but why doesn't Nico know Percy?
115	** He did, he was just pretending not to.
116	** Why?
117	*** Because the Greek and Roman camps can't know about each other. To admit he knew Percy he'd have to invent a completely new background for both of them and this way was just simpler.
118	*** If ''this'' isn't recognition, I don't know what is. Nico knows he can't interfere in Hera's plans, and that it's up to Percy to regain his lost memories. He knows that this is Percy's quest to finish.
119	--> For a microsecond when he saw Percy, the boy seemed shocked – panicked even, like he’d been caught in a searchlight.\
120	Hazel hesitated. Something about her brother’s reaction wasn’t right. He was trying hard to act casual, but when he had first seen Percy, Hazel had noticed his momentary look of panic. Nico already knew Percy. She was sure of it.
121	*** Most likely the reasons behind it will be explained in later books since it seems like Nico is doing stuff behind the scenes that may be questionable
122	*** Mark of Athena confirms that Hades led Nico to the Roman Camp, but made him promise never to reveal it to anyone he knew.
123
124	* If the Greek demigods want the Romans to trust them and let the warship land, why not have Jason send a message instead of Leo?
125	** Maybe the monster plaguing them since Georgia are keeping him busy. What, ya think four demis in a floating ship are going to be stealthy flying to California?
126	*** Please clarify, I don't remember anyone being in or from Georgia and how would that prevent Jason from sending a message from the warship?
127	** It's possible that Jason thought, if he sent a message, it could be misinterpreted- especially if he remembered Octavian and how he manipulated things. It wouldn't be impossible for Jason to make a slip of the tongue, or just saying things in a certain tone (like 'I'm with my friends, and we're coming to see you' said in a slightly panicked voice for a different reason, like moving air currents or an engine problem) that Octavian 'interprets' as him being in a hostage situation, and using it to turn the Romans against the Greeks.
128	** Plus, as they were coming as representatives, it makes more sense for a Greek Demi God to send the message.
129
130	* If Hazel is [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld mentally really seventy years old]], does that mean Frank LikesOlderWomen?
131	** interesting, [[spoiler: but she did expend most of that time in the fields of asphodel]]
132	** She's not "mentally seventy"; she died as a teenager and thus kept the consciousness of one for the rest of her [after]life.
133
134	* I'm a bit confused about Queen Marie's involvement of "cursing" Hazel. It looks like Hazel's gems and mineral treasures are cursed because of her mother's greed and wish for great wealth. But why did her wish have to present itself in the form of her daughter? The book makes it seem like it was Pluto's direct influence that gave her her powers rather than genetics like every other demigod, so why would Pluto curse his own daughter? Surely he could have given Marie a way of getting his wealth without bringing Hazel into it or making it cursed.
135	** In Greek myths, asking for something incredible from a god always ends badly. The example that comes to mind is King Midas, who asked for all the gold in the world.
136	*** Still, manifesting her wish as a curse for his own daughter is pretty dickish, even by Greek god standards.
137	** I got the implication that the stuff that came up was ''inherently'' cursed, as in, there was nothing Pluto could do to make it not be cursed.
138	*** This makes sense. Queen Marie asked for all of Pluto's riches, and, well, they're the riches of the God of the Underworld. You gotta imagine that his stuff isn't mortal friendly.
139	** Also bear in mind that the Gods have knowledge of the future. So he most likely knew that Hazel would be part of the Prophecy of Seven and that those gifts would be needed.
140	** I'm not 100% with this, but in The Lost Hero, when Leo is talking to his dad, Hephaestus makes it seem like he knowingly gave Leo the power over fire. Maybe the Gods themselves can choose what their children get. Marie asked Pluto for that specific power, and he granted it, but the power itself is cursed.
141	** Not to mention that in Greek Mythology. Blessings and Curses are pretty much one and the same. The Dionysus bless King Midas, but it end up being a curse. Notably Achilles' Invulnerability is called "The Curse of Achilles" even though being invincible would seem to be a blessing. The inherent problem with divine blessings is that their is always a sort of string attached or "payment" one must give up in exchange for divine favors or abilities. Probably explains why none of Hephaestus' kids get fire ability or why Heracles cannot fly even though Jason can. Those abilities cost extra, and a demigods life ''already'' suck as it is.
142
143	* How great are the differences between the Roman and Greek versions? Some like Jupiter/Zeus and Boreas come across as so minor it is just a name change. Others like Mars/Ares and Juno/Hera are quite a bit different personality wise? How do they decide which one to go with if the two personalities clash? Or do the gods lack control over an aspect? Do the Roman versions probable have their own version of Olympus then?
144	** The Greek and Roman aspects are very different, according to what Frank said to Percy in SoN. Zeus wasn't very responsible in the original Greek myths; Jupiter, on the other hand, is - Thalia tells her brother Jason just how different their father was when he came back to "visit" (more stern, more fatherly towards Thalia - in other words, he was in his Roman aspect). As for the whole split-personality thing, Hephaestus tells Leo all about it in TLO. The gods are very powerful - it is rare for them to be in one place in full form. Do you remember the story where Semele asked to see Zeus in all his glory? She got zapped. It makes sense that the essence of a God/dess would not be in one place; all their attention is divided, thus the many demigods
145	** [[spoiler: And as indicated in ''Mark of Athena'', the differences become ''quite'' noticeable when the Greeks and Romans are at war: there's enough disconnect between the two aspects that it's incapacitating most of them (most notably Athena/Minerva).]]
146	** In general the Roman aspects just seem to be harsher and more militaristic, but some gods don't change at all (Nemesis, for example).
147	** Presumably, it would depend on the gods themselves, and how they were seen by the Greeks and the Romans. Hermes, for example, probably wouldn't be very different from Mercury.
148
149	* The fact that Minerva is stated to be not as important to the Romans as she was to Greeks. From what I remember Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva were worshipped as the Capitoline Triad, very important deities in the Roman capital. So, while yes, she became less of a war goddess (though in Rome itself she was still one, just not the rest of Italy), she was still extremely important to Roman culture.
150	** I think that its because that all the gods got an upgrade when Rome took over,while Athena got the short end of the stick. Remember that during the time of Ancient Greece, Athena was one of the most powerful and important gods, next to Zeus and Posiedon. Jupiter became the most powerful, Mars and Venus being the Divine Parentage of Rome were elevated to high status. Because Rome depended on Farming and Bread than Greece which relied on Seafaring She become more powerful as well. Rome was well known as the lover of wine, so Dionysus got more powerful,and with the creation of Roman Road and commerce across three continents Hermes got more powerful as well. Even Hestia become a more major god in Rome. While Athena become nothing more than just a craftsman goddess. Also the Original Capitoline Triad was Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus(who was a god from Etruscan Mythology), Minerva become part of the Capitoline Triad to replace Quirinus who most likely faded just like Pan did.
151	** What the above seems to be missing is that Minerva REMAINED a very important goddess under the Romans. Her added attributes of Goddess of Medicine and of Music and Poetry added to her importance and she had large cult centers all over the peninsula. Nor did she lose her warlike character as we see from her standard depictions.
152	** I think it was more about how Romans destroyed her favorite city Athens as well as her statue(Gods have been known to hold grudges for centuries after all). And while she did remain important she wasn't as important as she was in Ancient Greek where she was up there with Zeus and Posiedon as one of the big three top gods to be worshipped. In Ancient Rome, yes she was important but it was downplayed compared to what she was used to be.
153
154	* If Dionysus/Bacchus was a mortal during the first Gigantomachy, why did Gaea create Otis and Ephialtes to be the anti-Dionysus?
155	** Well i think that originally Otis and Ephialties were actually the Anti-Apollo and Anti-Artemis respectively, as they are both twins and were hunters in the book i read. Artemis tricks them into shooting each other with an arrow(which is {{FridgeBrilliance}} as while they can not be killed by gods or mortals, that doesn't mean they can't kill themselves.
156	** It is more a case of Riordan for radically changing the mythology. He has done a little in the past, but I think this may be the most major example. In myth, Hercules was the only recorded demigod to fight beside the Olympians. It was the whole reason he was born. Otis and Ephialties were part of a totally different rebellion thanks to being sons of Poseidon. They did not use illusions either. Dionysus had nothing to do with either myth. This was the only way Riordan could include the Bacchus or give a reason why more than one demigod was needed.
157	** From what this troper heard/read, Dionysus killed a giant named Eurytus, while Otis (Otus) and Ephialties were either killed by Apollo and Heracles OR tricked into killing each other. Why not have Eurytus as the wine-dude's destined foe?
158	** From an In-Universe perspective, it's quite possible that Dionysus entered the war, and after he helped kill off giants, Gaea birthed the twin giants to be his counterparts
159	** The story of Otus and Ephialtes wasn't originally part of the Gigantomachy, it was a separate story. However, later authors such as Ovid folded their myth into the Gigantomachy. Riordan probably relied upon the later works for his research materials and adapted as needed to make it fit his own narrative.
160	* Son of Neptune makes it clear that all the prophecies are ancient and were originally in Latin. Why, then, do they still rhyme in English? And how are Octavian's translations word-for-word identical to the Oracle's. Also, some of the puns and double-meanings probably wouldn't work in both languages.
161	** Consider that the Gods have changed to English speakers, the monsters all speak English, and the demigods speak English (with the exception of children of Aphrodite, who are gifted with the ability to speak French as well, as it is the language of Love.) It then makes sense that as the portions of the mythology take on a new culture, so to do the writings from said culture. Thus, something from Greek or Latin is in itself 'transformed' into English because the nature it is based off of was transformed to English.
162	** It's probably only the prophecies that are meant to be carried out by English speakers that rhyme and make make more sense in English.
163	* Son of Neptune frequently brings up that, when they find him, Thanatos might kill Hazel and Frank. I get Hazel, but why would he kill Frank? He wasn't already dead, and they didn't know about the whole "fires of life" thing until they found him. His life being dependent on a stick doesn't make him dead.
164	** Because Thanatos is the God of Death, besides. Throughout the series gods have been shown to be unpredictable. One moment they are happy the next they kill you. SO they really were just being cautious.
165	** Frank's life was supposed to burn away when he was a baby but Juno spared him by telling his grandmother to pull the stick from the flames. Frank was worried that Thanatos would claim him as a fugitive from death for that reason.
166
167	* Why does Percy gain a tattoo at the end of Son of Neptune? He isn't the son of a Roman god, so why would he be "branded," if you will, as one?
168	** Because the SPQR tattoo does not specify that the bearer is a Roman demigod, it specifies that the bearer is a full member of the 12th legion, regardless of Greek/Roman parentage. Percy just happens to be the first Greek demigod in history to be a member of the Legion
169	*** He isn't necessarily the first Greek demigod to join the Legion. Reyna mentions that there have been demigods who showed up at Camp Jupiter but left to follow the Greek tradition, implying that they were Greek demigods. For that matter, there may have been the occasional Roman demigod who ended up at Camp Half-Blood.
170
171	* Okay, so I get that if monsters are killed they respawn because of Gaia and shit. What I don't get is... Why do none of the demigods try and lock the monsters up?
172	** Camp Half Blood does not have a prison. Even if Camp Jupiter does, which considering it has a city it probably has some sort of jail, monsters are super strong. They'd need to use Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold bars to hold them, and Rome is lacking them.
173	** Furthermore, how would you get the monsters to that prison? You'd need to guard them on the way back to wherever the prison is, which would be tough, especially for something like a Cyclops or a hellhound. Then there's the fact that if you're on a quest, you usually need to move fast and light, not worry about lugging prisoners around. And then there's the NightmareFuel of what would happen if a whole bunch of monsters were gathered in one place, then set free. Essentially, it'd be a huge undertaking, and probably not worthwhile.
174
175	* Why are the Olmypians being affected at all. The Greeks are not in combat yet, and even if some are in the mood for it, why are so many being affected. Artemis doesn't have Roman hunters, Neither Zeus's or Hades's children aren't trying to murder each other and Posiedon has no Roman children on a warpath.
176	** The series portrays the gods having some sort of shared metaphysical connection to the cultures they live in and they all share a connection to Olympus. Athena did not want to become Minerva, but she did anyway against her will. In a way, they are almost like an interdependent collective. Athena changed because the collective changed. The two sides gearing up for war against each other is enough for the collective to be at odds with itself. Artemis and Jupiter are part of that collective. Worse, even if the fighting hasn't started yet both sides will call upon the Olympians for aid putting the Greek and Roman sides at odds.
177	** Gods while being independent immortal beings are also manifestations of human culture. The demigods act as a sort of physical link between the mortal and supernatural world, with Greek Demigods representing the Ancient Greece aspect of the Gods and Roman Demigods representing the Roman aspect. So when Greek and Roman Demigods start hating each other, then the Gods literally beating themselves up. This is the reason why Hera never suffered from any problems. As for why Aphrodite and Nemesis remain stable their Greek and Roman perceptions of them are pretty much the same as they are aspects of human emotions(love and revenge), not culture so they are unaffected.
178
179	* All of the other godly parents have in one form or another contacted their demigod offspring among the seven except for Neptune? Why hasn't he? I cannot see either Neptune or Poseidon caring much what Jupiter thinks or orders and of all the gods he is the one who could get away with disobeying and not fearing any consequences.
180	** It's due to the Roman/Greek split that the Olympian gods are pretty much incapacitated, with the exception of a few(Nemesis and Aphrodite being them). Frank was able to do something so badass that he was able to temporary called upon his father but eventually become unstable and exploded.
181
182	* The giants are supposed to be the counters to the Olympians which would imply a virtually unlimited amount of magical power that can be used in numerous ways aside from their strength, immortality, and unique powers. We have seen minor gods on several occasions turn children of the Big 3 into planes with a wave of their hand. Why don't the giants do this? Why do they waste effort on physical combat when they are outmatched in that regard? The only powers I recall seeing is Otis and Ephialtes teleporting. Some like Polybotes might be vaguely excused due to their arrogance and fighting only one demigod at the time. But what about Enceladus? He is supposed to be the tactician? Why didn't he turn the demigods to stone once he saw the battle start to turn against him? If there was another god present to block or cancel this out it would be explained, but against Enceladus, there was not another god blocking his powers. If the giants lack the powerful magics that make the Olympians so dangerous how then are the giants supposed to a threat? What keeps Zeus from pelting them with thunderbolts from a safe distance? What keeps Poseidon from doing the same to Polybotes? Are the giants just a disappointment as adversaries? Formidable against mortals yes, but so far a far cry from the greatest threat ever.
183	** I get the impression that the chief threat of the giants is as [[ImplacableMan Implacable Men]]. Remember, giants can only be defeated by gods and mortals working together. Zeus can chuck all the lightning he wants, but unless he's working with a mortal it will just bounce off. Presumably, the same sort of thing applies to other divine magic, such as transformation (i.e. Dionysius could not directly turn the giants into dolphins, but Dionysius working ''through'' a mortal could.) Gaea has never been much of a one for subtlety, and really, the giants don't need the fancy magic of the gods. They certainly have special powers (Ephilates breathes fire, Polybotes has basilisk dandruff and can turn water to poison, etc), but they appear to be more like the ultimate monsters than alternate gods.
184	*** I guess that makes sense to some degree. I can see Dionysus failing to turn them into dolphins. It would make sense that they have some immunity to things like that. On the other, we have seen that when killed it can take them a few minutes to regenerate. This can be slowed down by using water or wind to scatter the sand that tries to reform them. So I guess in theory Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis and other gods could pelt them safely from a distance and while the giants reform and send in demigods to kill them. Their magic is what makes the gods so dangerous and beyond the possibility for mortals to defeat if they are using it. I can't see the giants really being a direct threat do the gods because of it. I guess that is why it seems Riordan may have to water the gods down some or come up with something different. The Titans were alternate gods who could transform and match the magic of the gods with their own. The giants...not so much.
185	*** Don't see what you mean by having "a few minutes to regenerate" any wound the demigods make heal instantly, and even then the time the demigods attack the giants they were much weaker. Besides being created as "anti-god" they probably are invulnerable to ''any'' attacks from gods. Notice, whenever a giant is hurt it's usually the mortal demigod who does the fight while all the god never do anything, is provide the finishing blow (or in Bacchus case ''tap them on the head with a pine cone''). It's possible that the "Can only be killed by gods and man working together" shtick they have requires the demigod to weaken them first before the gods provide the final death blow. Which would explain why Bacchus and Hecate let the demigods do most of the work.
186	*** No, it often took the giants a few minutes or more to regenerate from wounds. It was not instant. That is why when Percy and Jason defeated the giant twins Baccus could walk over and finish them off. Orion also had not healed from his wounds by the time of his final confrontation with Reyna. So at first, they did not heal fast. And there is nothing to indicate they are invulnerable to attacks from the gods. Baccus is a lazy jerkass and Hecate is not a warrior. Clytius was the only giant whose power to counter their respective god, Hecate in this case, actually, makes sense. There is no reason to think a god could not weaken a giant and then rely on a demigod to finish them off. Heck, at the end Zeus's master bolt nearly killed Porphyrion and he did not instantly heal so that blows all of this out of the water.
187
188	* Ok, so this question isn't that important or relevant, but this troper was just curious. So throughout the series, most of the main characters are described as being attractive (albeit some in their own way), especially by their significant other. In fact, the only even "semi-major" ones that are said to be unattractive are Octavian and poor Nico, the latter of which is implied as seemingly a result of homophobia since only straight guys point out how "creepy" he is. Anyways, the only major character who is not confirmed as either attractive or not is Reyna...so is she supposed to be attractive? All anyone seems to imply about her is that she's scary. Only Piper calls her beautiful, though this may be a case of the former feeling sorry for herself and being insecure, as she has been shown to do; Jason correcting her seemed to possibly imply this. I understand that interestingly through the different point of views the attractiveness of characters vary, depending on their 'type' and whatnot (for example, Percy doesn't mention if Thalia is attractive or not, as they seem to have a cousinly relationship, whereas Leo thought she was hot). But still, as someone who likes to know how to imagine characters, I wasn't really sure what to think.
189	** Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It's not so much homophobia as that we only see through their eyes. If none of our narrators think Nico and Octavian are hot, then the reader might assume they're ugly. On Nico's "creepy"-ness, the girls seem to be more forgiving, and they might genuinely think Nico is a little attractive but is being overpowered by being creepy. This troper doesn't find Jason attractive because he's described as having the stereotypical roman face, despite Piper's long, detailed moments of just describing how much she loves him. Fear can override any sight of beauty. Reyna might be beautiful but the guys are so afraid of her they can't notice it. Or maybe she is ugly. Who knows. Most fanart makes everyone beautiful, and the official artwork is so off it hurts.
190	** I second that it's a case of beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We're used to thinking Annabeth is very attractive because she's mostly seen from Percy's POV who thinks she's a knockout [[spoiler: even when they're in Tartarus.]] While she obviously has some conventionally attractive features (blonde hair, athletic build) Jason and Leo's main reaction is "wow scary gray eyes" and "Omg, this girl is ''freaking terrifying'' and going to kill us" That might be a similar case for Reyna - people are focused on how intimidating she is, not how she looks.
191	** Even Percy, who Annabeth and Hazel think of as handsome, is described as underwhelming and scruffy looking by Piper. All about perspective.
192	*** And also Leo has been described as looking like a Latino Santa's Elf, and as far as I've read in the books no one has found him physically attractive except maybe Hazel.
193	*** And Frank's most common description, [[spoiler: until House of Hades]] is that he looks like a sumo wrestler with a baby face or koala with muscles. Not exactly conventionally attractive.
194	** To be fair, it's made pretty clear in the books that Nico is "creepy" because he's a child of Hades and spends way too much time in the Underworld, not because he's bent.
195	*** It's also apparent that a lot of Nico's image is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Creepy is as creepy does. He's the emo kid who does his best to hold everyone at arm's length and then gets emo over the fact that nobody gets close to him. In Nico's case, it's probably a lot of wearing his hair in his face, sticking to the shadows and looking at people with a serial killer stare. Will Solace calls him on this in ''Blood of Olympus'' and makes it pretty clear that ''he'' finds nothing wrong with how Nico looks.
196
197	* Why was Jason the only one who could see the black lightning in The House of Hades, apart from Hazel & Nico (children of the Underworld)?
198	** I'd assume it's because he died at the end of The Lost Hero (despite being brought back to life moments later with Piper's charmspeak).
199	** there is also the fact that he's the son of Jupiter, who is the god of lightning. That could be a reason he sees the black lightning.
200
201	* Why was Athena/Minerva appearing to Annabeth in her Roman form? It's clear that Athena hates the Romans for stripping her status as the Goddess of Warfare and Strategy, and by hiding her statue from the Greeks, so why is she seriously affected by the war? In fact, Athena should have been less affected than Ares/Mars, who became an important deity to the Romans. Unless there are Romans taking pottery or weaving classes in New Rome, praying to Minerva for an A+ on their piece of artwork, I highly doubt that Athena should be on the worse end of the Greek/Roman Godly shift.
202	** The divide wasn't based on whether or not the gods could choose a side or how much worship they got (at least not entirely), it was about how different the two sides of them were with a dash of what their personalities were like. Athena's problem was that not only were her Greek and Roman aspects totally different from each other, but she was basically the closest you could get to a living representation of the Greek/Roman feud because of the whole deal with the Parthenos. Ares and Mars, meanwhile, were both war gods, but Mars was disciplined and tactical while Ares was bloodthirsty and wild. Combined with them being, you know, war gods, of course, they had issues reconciling themselves. This is also why Aphrodite/Venus got off mostly scot-free; she represents pretty much the exact same universal concepts in both cultures and has the same personality too, so she's almost totally unaffected.
203
204	* How did Arachne [[spoiler: drag Annabeth down with her]] after so much time? If I remember correctly, she fell, the crew got out, the groups briefed each other on what had happened while they were separated, the Athena Parthenos started to fall, they started to secure it, and ''then'' the web finally [[spoiler: pulled Annabeth off of her feet]]. How could the line possibly be that long?
205	** We have to remember that bits of the floor, walls, ceiling, the statue itself, a lot of things in that layer were covered/supported by spider-silk - no doubt all the lines stuck together in some fashion, or perhaps Arachne tried to catch it with more of her own, until she ran out and suddenly boom, instant weight on the line. Also, there was the explicit 'Nemesis trade' angle going on, which was implied to have pulled them down - maybe Arachne had a small part involved with this, or maybe she didn't; it's unclear exactly what happened underneath the weakened floor since our focus was on the demigods.
206
207	* Ok so after the second Titan War, everyone gets all sorts of gifts from the gods, they even offered Percy immortality, but after these seven demigods saved the entire world again, and defeated GAIA!!! what do get??? absolutely nothing.
208	** Zeus and the other Olympians reluctantly gave gifts because it was what was expected. Zeus at least was not happy with having to acknowledge he was saved by mortals or his brothers. The Second Giant War was another embarrassment where Zeus once again was saved by mortals but had to be saved by his wife as well, disobeyed by everyone, and all in all made a fool of which his colossal pride cannot stand. He never got a chance to prove how great Zeus is. So he was in no mood to reward anything. Instead, he was trying to spin things so he looks good.
209	** I haven't read most of the books in this series, so I might be stepping into uncharted territory with this, but...it's also possible that Kronos was simply a bigger threat to the gods than the giants or at least a less familiar one. In mythology, the gods had already faced the giants once before, and that was the source of the procedure where they would need a mortal's help to help them do it. So the demigods helping them in this instance is probably considered less "Going above and beyond" than simply doing what they would be expected to do under those circumstances. Poseidon even starts to compare Percy to Hercules (the mortal who helped the gods during the first Gigantomachy) at the end of ''The Last Olympian'', implying that not even he would've been expected to defend Olympus from the Titans and defeat Kronos in the absence of the gods.
210	*** The Giants were initially played up to be the bigger threat since they were specifically designed to counter the Olympians and required a demigod to help kill them. In practice, the Titans were the large threat and Typhon large than either. The gods had already face the Titans before as well when the Titans were stronger and the gods the weaker party. The Titans only became a threat because Zeus refused to do anything about them until it was too late. Either way, performing heroic services beyond fighting standard monsters and getting some sort of compensation is kind of expected just like civilians or military personnel who perform above and beyond what is expected are recognized.
211	*** However, these are ''gods'' we're talking about. They're more embodiments of civilization than actual people, and probably don't even function or think in the same way that mortals do. And it's been stated and demonstrated that the demigods are their tools, of sorts. If the demigods do something that they're required to do and that other demigods have created a precedent for in the past, then it makes a lot more sense to the gods that they don't get substantially rewarded for basically "doing their jobs," whereas defending Olympus when the gods couldn't do it ''was'' their going above and beyond. That, and the gods are family. If your family needed you to help with something that only you could accomplish and their life (let alone the fate of the world) depended on it, I don't think you'd really expect that big of a reward either.
212
213	* It's explicitly stated that Greek blessings can't survive crossing the Little Tiber because you officially enter Roman territory there. That's why Percy loses Achilles' invulnerability (thinking about it, why didn't it come back after he left Rome? Or finished his quest from Rome, or whatever?). So exactly why does Frank get to keep Periclymenus' blessing? It's Greek, right? And what about the whole burning-stick curse? It's based on Meleager, a ''Greek'' hero. Shouldn't he lose those traits while he's in Rome?
214	** Here's a possible explanation: Periclymenus' blessing was passed through his bloodline, and he has Roman descendants (well, Romano-''Chinese'' descendants, in Liqian). His blessing may be Greek at heart, but perhaps it took on Roman characteristics when his family left Greece.
215	** Also the shapeshifting and burning-stick curse are all inherited traits that were passed through by blood. It's the same reason why Percy Jackson still has water manipulation abilities even though he is a Greek Demigod. The Curse of Achilles, however, was something Percy gained by taking a dip into a magical river.
216	** My guess is that the reason it doesn't come back is because the Tiber doesn't just suppress it, it washes away the effects of the Styx completely. And it kinda makes sense, too: He got the gift from a Greek river, so he loses it to a Roman river.
217
218	* It's been shown time after time that mythologically significant locations get transplanted to whatever location is currently the center of Western Civilization. That's why all the giants are under American mountains, Olympus is in New York, etc. The Pillars of Hercules, though, remain where they have always been, in Spain... Why? This is acknowledged in-universe, but no explanation is ever offered.
219	** Because the Pillars of Hercules are specifically created to guard Civilization against dangerous monsters. The ancient greeks believed that the Atlantic Ocean was the wild untamed ocean filled with the most dangerous monsters and the Pillars of Hercules keep them safe. Only now the situation has inverted and the Mediterranean has become the place filled with dangerous monsters and the Western Civilization is across the Atlantic. So the Pillars have no need to move.
220	** But the Sea of Monsters moves with the rest of Western civilization. It ''used'' to be the Mediterranean, but now it's the Bermuda Triangle.
221	* Small one. It's said that gods have no DNA, which is why there's no taboo against demigods dating non-sibling demigods. But why is Piper said to be half white even though her father is Cherokee? The other non-white characters are never described as being half white like Piper is. Did Aphrodite appear to Tristan as a white woman?
222	** They don't have DNA, but they evidently have some magical stuff that substitutes as DNA, even if it may be a touch more complex (especially in Aphrodite's case, considering how her appearance is based solely on who's looking at her) - ''something'', after all, has to allow half-bloods to inherit certain traits from their parents. Presumably, Piper is half-white because Aphrodite took the form of a white woman during her relations with Tristan [=McLean=].
223	* When Percy meets Octavian, Percy says that he reminds him of someone. Who is he talking about?
224	** Luke
225
226	* In ''The Lost Hero'', Boreas states that Aeolus is upset with the gods because both times they defeated Typhon (in ancient times and during ''The Last Olympian''), his defeat launched the release of dozens of storm spirits that answered to no one, and it was Aeous's job to hunt them all down. Supposedly, the gods never apologized and never offered to help with this, which is why he's so miffed that he had the wind gods kill off any half-bloods that came to see them. Even if the gods ''have'' done some morally questionable things in the past, though, and them apologizing would be a ''nice'' thing to do, I still don't see why he has a right to be that upset - it's like not it's the fault of the Olympians that Typhon managed to escape and that they had to defeat him again, and they all spent several days trying to stop him, putting off the protection of Olympus to do so, ''and'' Aeolus is supposed to be the "Master of Winds". Why does he expect the gods to help him with things that are his duty to perform?
227	** Aeolus is half-insane and highly stressed out from trying to please all of the gods. And that is with his normal duties. They don't even make him a full god only a vague "master." In a sense, the four winds have more prestigious positions than him. This is on top of whatever other mistreatment the Olympians have dumped on him over the centuries. Capturing the storm spirits is one other thing on top of his normal stressful duties that he has to attend to while they party. And given how powerful they are and Zeus is lord of the sky it would be a lot easier if they helped instead of dumping it all on him. The Olympians mistreating the lesser gods and said lesser gods taking it out on others has been a reoccurring theme of the series.
228
229	* When Jason, Leo, and Piper are confronted by Lycaon in ''The Lost Hero'', wasn't it said that Leo checked his tool belt for weapons made of silver, and came up with nothing? Then at the Wolf House, he helps fight off the wolves using hammers with silver heads. Why didn't he use those earlier?
230	** I think it's because the toolbelt can only make "tools". Hammers are technically tools, weapons are not. It might also be that he has to know what he wants (at least in his head)to summon something.
231
232	* In the first book, Dylan (that kid who turns out to be a storm spirit) says something like "The mistress calls me back" as he prepares to leave the Grand Canyon. It's been some time since I read the book, but I can't recall the identity of this mistress of his being revealed...Was it supposed to be Khione, Gaia, Medea, or perhaps someone else?
233	** Maybe Kymopoleia? He does join her storm in the fifth book, except Kym is the goddess of violent sea storms, so why would Dylan be at the Grand Canyon outside of her sphere of influence?
234
235	* I seem to recall Aphrodite stating that even if Olympus were destroyed, she wouldn't fade away like the other gods, since love is intrinsic to human nature and would continue to exist whether Olympus and the gods did or not. But wouldn't that same logic apply to many of the things the other gods represent? The sky wouldn't disappear just because Zeus fades, and humans wouldn't stop fighting with each other if Ares wasn't there.
236	** That's not exactly right. Aphrodite was referring to the fact that she was still lucid and in control of herself, because her Greek and Roman sides were so similar. The other gods' minds were basically falling apart due to the stress of switching back and forth uncontrollably between their conflicting personalities. You may have misunderstood because she does say "This civil war won't affect me as much as it will the others," but she was purely speaking of the identity issues. She would still be in danger if Olympus was destroyed.
237
238	* How does Roman dyslexia work? With Greek demigods it makes sense, since their brains are hardwired to interpret the Greek alphabet more than anything else, but Latin (the language of the Roman demigods) is written with the Latin alphabet, the same one that English and several other modern languages are used with. As such, it really seems their brains would work with English (or pretty much any other Latin-written language). Is it just they can understand the letters but can't comprehend them as words? Or do they just have a form of dyscalculia instead due to the Roman's use of Roman numerals over Arabic numbers?
239	** At a guess, I'd say that it is probably a matter of what each word means, since that's as important to knowing a language as whether you can read the individual letters. Also, English is not related to Latin in the same way the Romance languages are. The closest language to English is actually German.
240
241	* In Son of Neptune, it's revealed that the ancient Greek Amazons are the ones who made the company of Amazon. So, in that case, how does Jeff Bezos fit into this equation? Is he like their front man to the mortal world, is he their puppet? Does he know about the Amazons in the company? IS JEFF BEZOS A DEMIGOD?!
242	** Maybe he doesn't actually exist and is a trick of the Mist?
243	*** Not a bad theory, he could be a Mistform.
244	** Considering that in this universe, [[HistoricalDomainCharacter many significant "mortals" throughout history are secretly demigods]], Jeff Bezos being one just might be the case. Of course, since Jeff Bezos is still alive, Rick Riordan can't mention it in the text lest Jeff Bezos sue him into oblivion...
245
246	* What happened to the original forms the Roman gods were venerated in, in this version of history? The series acts like the Greek and Roman aspects are inseparable from each other, as though they've always coexisted, but several Roman gods were preexisting and only conflated with Greek deities later... Hence why some of them, like Janus, don't have Greek equivalents. Aphrodite's two forms are apparently so similar that there's no disconnect between them, but Venus and Mars were originally agricultural deities. At the very least, Jupiter being more just and disciplined than Zeus makes a lot of sense, but was there ever a mention of them being worshipped as original constructs?
247	** This could be FridgeHorror. In Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo, Apollo mentions that one day he just woke up and Helios was gone, and Apollo suddenly had Helios’s responsibilities. It’s plausible that once the Romans conflated them due to Greek influence, the original Roman gods faded and suddenly the Greek gods got a second personality. Or even worse, they were originally separate entities that were conjoined into one.
248	** In reality, I guess if we assume that the gods develop like they developed in real life, this question becomes way more complicated. We could argue, for example, that the Zeus and Jupiter likely came from the proto-Indo-European sky god, so theoretically they were always the same person. However, that doesn’t work for many of the gods. But the gods changed forms many times throughout history, and were worshipped in different ways, but only have max two personalities (Greek and Roman) in the books. For example, Arcadian cults had Artemis as the daughter of the Demeter. Poseidon was his usual earth-shaker but also a river spirit of the underworld in Mycenaean religion. The Roman gods mostly developed out of the Etruscan gods, so what happened to them? The Watsonian answer is that the current form of the gods are the forms that are most well-remembered today, as the gods change with civilization.
249	*** The Doylist answer is Riordan had to interpret them somehow to make the story work.
250	* How far does the ‘different cultures/different forms’ thing go? There were way more interpretations than just Greek and Roman. Even some islands interpreted the gods differently at different times.
251	** Do the gods also have an Etruscan form? The Etruscans adapted Greek religion to their pantheon at the same time as the Romans. And the Romans later adapted some of their exclusive deities into the Roman pantheon. Wouldn’t this mean they also have an Etruscan form? Are Tinia, Uni, and Menrva still kicking as Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva’s third personalities?
252	*** The Etruscan gods are a separate pantheon. Rick Riordan actually wrote a short story during the pandemic where Nico introduces Percy to the last remaining Etruscan god, Charu, He maintains and guards the entrance to the Underworld.
253	** Does Artemis of Ephesus exist as Artemis’s third personality? Can’t imagine why Rick decided not to include that in a middle grade book.
254	** Aphrodite likely came from Phoenician Astarte, which likely came from Mesopotamian Inanna/Ishtar. Does this mean she’s also running around with Mesopotamian Enu, Enki, and Gilgamesh unbothered by the multiple pantheons like she is in this book?
255	* In the first book, how was Piper able to speak to Boreas in French without realizing it? Did she think she was speaking English? Half-bloods' bilingual capabilities are supposed to be because their brains are hardwired to understand other languages, but the way it's demonstrated here suggests ''English'' is the default and that their brains subconsciously translate everything they hear and say for them, which is...not how speaking foreign languages works.
256	** Piper's French thing is a specific power from Aphrodite. It's completely separate from their hardwiring for Ancient Greek, so it works by different rules.
257	* Why is Apollo experiencing the schism? The others had problems because they were Greek deities that were conflated with Roman gods, thus they had different personalities. However, Apollo didn’t have a Roman equivalent so the Romans just added the Greek Apollo to their pantheon.
258	** Probably because even if Apollo's name went unchanged, his ''cultural significance'' to the Romans was still different than what it was to the Greeks. It is hard to handwave because Greek Apollo vs Roman Apollo should still be more similar to each other than Aphrodite vs Venus, but Aphrodite implied that being a love goddess, specifically, is what made it easier for her two sides to coexist, since love is a near-universal common ground for people across cultures. In particular, Apollo governed poetry and music, and these two things would be wildly different between cultures, so him experiencing the divide might actually be Fridge Brilliance when we take Aphrodite's example into account.

Context Headscratchers / TheHeroesOfOlympus