Ok, But What If Piper Was A Boy And Leo Was A Girl?

Carter and Sadie should've been older

Istg Carter and Zia should've been 17 and Sadie should've been 15 years old.

Why? WELL, a little more MATURITY on our protagonists' part would have been nice. Also, Rick, you're telling me the king of the Egyptian gods, Horus, would inhabit a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD BOY? Carter should have been 17 to have more maturity and been taken more seriously. And then he could've had anxiety about turning 18 and no longer being a kid and having to face the world now? Just my personal opinion.

And Sadie, well, let's make Sadie a little older to NOT have the queen goddess in the Egyptian Pantheon inhabiting a preteen, which is really weird. And if she really had to date Anubis and Walt (an odd choice by the way, platonic Sadie x Walt would've been way better IMHO) she could've been 15 to match Walt's 16? A 13 year old and 16 year old are horrible together, and it's canon that Walt is sixteen, not fourteen, and to make it worse, this is one of the only 3 biracial couples (Zia x Carter, Sadie x Walt, Frank x Hazel) which does NOT have a fully white person dating a POC.

(Yes, I know Sadie looks like a white girl, but it's important to remember that she's biracial white passing, so this isn't a fully White x POC biracial couple)

Another day, another post of defending Annabeth from haters with stupid reasons. Which is ironic, considering that I've made my fair share of anti Annabeth Chase posts (Though I'm neutral on her).

SOM (pg 3) - I thought I saw a shadow flicker across the glass -- a humanlike shape.

SOM (pg 7) - As I stepped outside, I glanced at the brownstone building across the street. Just for a second I saw a dark shape in the morning sunlight -- a human silhouette against the brick wall, a shadow that belonged to no one. Then it rippled and vanished.

SOM (pg 23) - [Percy realizes Annabeth has been stalking him] “Pretty much all morning.” She sheathed her bronze knife. “I’ve been trying to find a good time to talk to you, but you were never alone.” [ … ] “There’s no time to explain!” she snapped, though she looked a little red-faced herself.

Annabeth stalking Percy in his apartment and school was weird, but it's not mean-rather, that it's creepy and she should have apologised for it (for the trigger-happy Annabeth stans, I don't think Annabeth should apologise for every little single thing, but this was weird and creepy and she definitely should have apologised for stalking someone.)

SOM (pg 32) - [Percy asking about the Gray Sisters Taxi] “That’s outside their service area,” she said like that should be obvious.

There's nothing about this that's mean, only Annabeth telling Percy something in a manner of tone, and we know that he's insecure and an unreliable narrator. She wasn't deliberately or accidentally being mean here either.

SOM (pg 77) - [Percy tries to tell Annabeth about his dream with Grover] She perked up when I mentioned Grover, but when I told her what he’d said, she seemed to get distant again, suspicious. “You’re trying to distract me,” she decided. [ … ] “Oh right! Like Grover would just happen to stumble across the one thing that could save the camp!” [ … ] She rolled her eyes, “Go back to your chariot, Percy.”

There's nothing mean about this. It's understandable for Annabeth to think what she does and Percy isn't affected by this either. You're just being overly sensitive.

SOM (pg 86) - [Percy references the movie version of a myth] Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Oh my gods, Percy! You are so hopeless.”

This isn't mean and Annabeth's not trying to be mean here either. It's a normal thing to do as friends. And the way she says he's hopeless isn't mean either. It's one thing to tell someone that they're hopeless because they don't have good grades and aren't good at school and another thing to tell someone they're hopeless because of what Percy did here.

Also, digressing here-seeing the movie version of a myth is stupid. Annabeth didn't call Percy stupid, just hopeless, but it is still stupid.

SOM (pg 121) - As we came up the stairs to deck thirteen, where the admiralty suite was supposed to be, Annabeth hissed, “Hide!” and shoved us into a supply closet.

When in this scene is she ever mean? She's simply shoving all of them into a supply closet, which is perfectly normal. And in case you disliked the shoved part- it was necessary in this case. It wasn't physically violent. It's one thing to shove someone because you're angry with them, but why she shoved them in this scene was a good reason. There's nothing wrong with it.

SOM (pg 140) Annabeth glared at me, and I started to wish that I hadn't asked her this while she was holding a knife.

Annabeth glaring at Percy isn't mean, especially since he just asked her a very personal question, but I do think that the sentence that came afterwards- 'I started to wish that I hadn't asked her about this while she was holding a knife'-was weird and shouldn't have been written.

SOM (pg 183) 'Come on, Seaweed Brain.' she said.

There's nothing mean about this. The nickname isn't derogatory, it's an inside joke, and it's fine at this point.

SOM (pg 197) - [Percy rescuing Annabeth from sirens] She kicked me in the face, but I held on. Annabeth pummeled and kicked me, making it hard to concentrate.

Annabeth was under the influence of the siren song-of course she wasn't going to act normally! Also, Percy was pulling her away from her dream. It's not surpising that she did what she did, but ultimately, it had no effects in the long run. It's not the same as the judo flip or the gut punch or the shin kick or hitting him in the Staff of Hermes. It's not mean.

SOM (pg 199) She rolled her eyes. 'No, Seaweed Brain'.

There's nothing mean about rolling your eyes. I don't know if you're just really sensitive or you have it out for Annabeth. Also, Seaweed Brain is just a friendly nickname at this point. There's nothing wrong with it.

SOM (pg 236) - [Percy sends Clarisse with the fleece] “Percy,” Annabeth said, “that was so insane.” [ … ] “Percy is too nice,” Annabeth grumbled.

Percy's plan was insane. There's nothing mean about saying that.

Annabeth saying Percy is too nice isn't mean. I'm honestly just shaking my head in disbelief at this point. You're just taking sentences that she's said and calling them mean. I'm convinced that if Annabeth so much as exhaled too loudly, you'd call her mean.

Also, regarding the times Annabeth was mean to Tyson-of course she was going to be! You can toss around shouldn't have been all you'd like, but at the end of the day, realistically speaking, she was never going to have reacted well to a Cyclops.

Also, she got over it. She overcame her fear of them and is friends with Tyson-she even enlisted his help to bake Percy a blue birthday cupcake in TLO!

People like you are why so many people think Annabeth antis are ridiculous fools who are too sensitive. There are valid reasons to dislike and hate her (because no, the two are not the same) but what you're putting in here is just bullshit. You want Annabeth to smile and nod and praise Percy all the time instead of being realistic and imperfect. Please stop this and hate on her for valid reasons if you really want to hate on her.

Every Time Annabeth is Mean to Percy in the Riordanverse

This is something that I’ve been considering writing for a while but didn’t particularly want to put the work into until I was rereading The Titan’s Curse and came across a very specific line that went “She punched me in the gut.” I was so consumed with rage that I immediately began to reread the whole series and marked down every single instance that Annabeth was a dick to Percy. 

One thing to note is that I’ve marked down every instance of Annabeth calling Percy “seaweed brain” as being mean. Friendly reminder that her nickname for Percy means “stupid” and has always meant stupid and will always mean stupid and that just because he’s used to it by now, doesn’t make it okay. 

On that note, this also turned into me writing down every time someone other than Annabeth insults Percy’s intelligence just because I was curious.

Without further ado, I present to you, The Lightning Thief.

(Alternating colors for easier reading)

TLT (pg 57) -  [interrogation of Percy]   The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon. [ … ] Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.

TLT (pg 64) - [describing Annabeth’s eyes] but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight. 

TLT (pg 64) - “You drool when you sleep.”

TLT (pg 83) - When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled. 

TLT (pg 85) - She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again.

TLT (pg 85-86) - She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me. When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, “Jackson, you have to do better than that.” [ … ] She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, “I can’t believe I thought you were the one.” 

TLT (pg 86) - [Percy is annoyed] “Don’t talk like that!” Annabeth told me. “You know how many kids at this camp wish they’d had your chance?” 

TLT (pg 89) - [Clarisse is hazing Percy] Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it. 

TLT (pg 90) - [Clarisse is hazing Percy] Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers. 

TLT (pg 92) - Annabeth stared at me. I couldn’t tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.

TLT (pg 93) - “I’ve got training to do,” Annabeth said flatly. “Dinner’s at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall.” [Percy apologizes] “Whatever.” 

TLT (pg 123) - [Annabeth sets Percy up to be bait for Clarisse, Percy confronts her] Annabeth shrugged. “I told you. Athena always, always has a plan.” 

TLT (pg 128) - Annabeth still taught me Greek in the mornings, but she seemed distracted. Every time I said something, she scowled at me, as if I’d just poked her between the eyes. 

TLT (pg 147) - [Annabeth has volunteered for the quest] “I’ve been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain,” she said. “Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you’re going to save the world, I’m the best person to keep you from messing up.” 

TLT (pg 157) - [Percy is being optimistic] She gave me an irritated look. “It’s bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain.” [Percy asks why Annabeth hates him] “I don’t hate you. [Percy disagrees] “Look…we’re just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals.” 

TLT (pg 169) - She was silent for a few more steps. “It’s just that if you died…aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world.” 

TLT (pg 173) - [Percy lies to Medusa] “Your head is full of kelp.” 

TLT (pg 185) - [Percy doesn’t know the myths] Annabeth flashed me an irritated look. [explanation of the myth] Annabeth straightened. In a bad imitation of my voice she said: “It’s just a photo, Annabeth. What’s the harm?” 

TLT (pg 194) - [Annabeth wakes Percy after a nightmare] “Well,” Annabeth said, “the zombie lives.” 

TLT (pg 217) - [After Percy jumps off the Gateway Arch] Annabeth stood beside him, trying to look angry, but even she seemed relieved to see me. “We can’t leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?” 

TLT (pg 234) - [Percy asking Annabeth to go with him to get Ares’ shield] “Are you kidding?” She looked at me as if I’d just dropped from the moon. [ … ] “Me, go with you to the…the ‘Thrill Ride of Love’? How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me?” 

TLT (pg 234) - [Percy picks up Aphrodite’s scarf] Annabeth ripped it out of my hand and stuffed it in her pocket. “Oh no you don’t. Stay away from that love magic.” [ … ] “Just get the shield, seaweed brain.” 

TLT (pg 239) - [Percy has a plan] “Are you crazy?” 

TLT (pg 244) - [Percy backtalking Ares] Annabeth said, “That was not smart, Percy.” 

TLT (pg 251) - [Discussing what side they’ll pick] “Because you’re my friend, seaweed brain. Anymore stupid questions?” 

TLT (pg 257) - [Grover can only bless wild animals] “So it would only work on Percy,” Annabeth reasoned.

TLT (pg 263) - [Percy trying to get Annabeth’s attention at the Lotus Hotel] She looked up, annoyed. “What?” [ … ] “Hey!” She screamed and hit me, but nobody else even bothered looking at us. 

TLT (pg 282) - [Percy saves Grover and Annabeth from Crusty] “Be faster next time.” 

TLT (pg 370) - [Percy wakes up after almost dying] “You idiot,” Annabeth said.

TLT (pg 374) - She pursed her lips. “You won’t try anything stupid during the school year, will you? At least…not without sending me an Iris-Message?” 

TLT (pg 374) “Take care, seaweed brain.” 

TLT total number of times Percy is called stupid: 10 

TLT number of times Annabeth calls Percy stupid: 7

TLT number of times others call Percy stupid: Gabe (1). Grover (1). Thalia (1). 

Every day, I’ll reblog this post with the next book so keep an eye out for that.

I think that Sophie Foster should finally die so she can get some much needed peace and quiet.

Have you listened to epic the musical bcs if you have I might want to ask your opinion on a little project I did🥺

I'd definitely be willing to look at your project! :D

It's an honour that you'd ask me :D :D :D I'm pleasantly surprised

I listened to some sagas of Epic the Musical, but I didn't listen to all of them-I'll do it today and let you know when I finish them

Why Zeus transformed Thalia into a pine tree

So I've seen people asking why Zeus transformed Thalia into a tree, and was that really the most powerful being's plan to save his daughter? Yes. Yes, it was! He looked down and saw an opportunity!

First of all, there's no telling if Thalia would save or raze Olympus. And now she's dying from a fatal wound, BUT he doesn't want her to die because then Hades will………well……….send her to the Fields of Punishment or Tartarus (completely untrue for the real Hades, by the way.)

And he can't exactly just interfere and save her life because then he would be accused of hypocrisy by the other gods and also the Ancient Laws, both of which he probably doesn't care about.......

But the MAIN reason he didn't save her life was most likely because she was the prophecy child and he didn't want it to come true. So, what does he do? Easy! He transforms her into a tree. Reminiscent of Greek Mythology, where people are transformed into things all the time, AND he actively ties and strengthens Thalia's tree to the magical border, thus giving her a legacy to live on at Camp Half Blood for not just one generation but EVERY generation to come. And this way, the prophecy can be averted! (He didn't know that Percy existed yet.)

The existence of Melinoe in the pjo universe implies that Mr. D is the reincarnation of Zagreus, and that´s concerning.

Well, that just adds onto his trauma which he really needs to recover from.

I'm curious, though-how is that concerning?

Honestly, Rick’s world building fell apart the moment he introduced Roman gods. Because the og series already conflated the Greek and Roman gods - which is fine, most mythology media does, that’s not the issue. The issue is making a whole sequel series about how different the Greek and Roman gods are, then failing to explain what those actual differences are. It’s almost hypocritical. Like how satyrs and fauns are different things, but you can’t really say that because the og series was already calling fauns satyrs - which, again, a lot of already people do and would have been fine if you didn’t bring the concept of Roman mythology being a separate thing into it. It isn’t just the Greek gods with different names, there are real differences, but that being said, most of them are pretty minor and at the end of the day are just different versions of Greek stories. Because here’s the thing - Greek vs Roman isn’t that black and white because there are different versions of mythology from different parts of Greece. They did not all believe the same things. There were essentially different denominations that had their versions, and sometimes different names for the gods, or even their own gods added into what we think of as the typical Greek pantheon. Take Orphism for example - they called Zeus Jove and Hades Pluto (yeah, the Greeks were using that name long before the Romans), and had at least 2 gods weren’t recognized anywhere else in Greece - but were still 100% Greek. So then the question becomes, are there different people/personalities for all these versions too? You would think it would be easier to just say “here are these different versions, because when things spread through oral tradition, things tend to change, but here’s the REAL version” and pick whatever one is most plot relevant (which I think the og series already kind of did if I remember correctly). Not only is that more realistic, but just makes more narrative sense. Some people might say “oh, but they’re kids books, you don’t have to get so technical about it”, and you’re right. It didn’t have to be. Again, I think it was completely fine that the og series didn’t differentiate, but Rick opened this can of worms when he introduced the Roman gods, so I’m going to be nitpicky about it. What would have made more sense is if it was just like “Oh, there’s this other demigod camp and they just so happen to use the Roman names for the gods”. Boom. Done. What about gods that were unique to Rome? They can still be real. Say that only the Romans knew/wrote about them. Heck, there was that one pjo spinoff book that had freaking Melinoe in it, even though the majority of Greece would not have considered her existence to be canon. Again, nothing wrong with that, but if you’re not going to differentiate that, then there is no reason to differentiate the Romans (or more accurately, attempt to differentiate the Romans and fail).

All of this. Every single thing in it.

Rick simplified it for the children who were reading it, but he wrote a lot of it incorrectly.

The Romans didn't just take inspiration from the Greeks-they took a lot of inspiration from Etruscan culture too.

Read this link by @lady-menrva to understand more.

The Greek and Roman gods were different in PJO because the Roman Gods were more disciplined and warlike, but that seems to be the only difference, which isn't the case.

Minerva was highly respected by the Romans. She was part of the Capitoline Triad which was very important and held a central place in Rome. They represented Roman greatness and invincibility! If she had children, they would definitely be warriors if they wanted to be.

Rick just made the Romans dislike Neptune and Minerva because he needed unnecessary angst for Percy and Annabeth. Why he did this I don't know, since they were just accepted without any question later. Just wanted to make his favorites more special, I guess.

My advice to anyone reading this is to never take Heroes of Olympus as anything that's correct. Never take any of it seriously and search on Google for your questions using verified academic websites or ask real people.

So, if Rick is writing the PJO senior year adventures for the TV show cast, and he's making Percy, a white guy dating a black girl, out to be an incompetent dumbass (horrible characterisation) and he's mommifying Annabeth, a black girl in the show, and making her clean up all of Percy's messes (totally untrue and OOC)......

DISCUSS.

GODLY PARENTS AND DEMIGOD INTERACTIONS ARE SORELY OVERLOOKED

PJO fandom, can we have more of godly parents and demigod children interacting with each other?

Like, give me Ares and Sherman and Clarisse and Ellis interacting with each other (The REAL Ares, not the PJO version, thank you very much).

And Aphrodite and Drew and Piper. IMAGINE THE COMEDY.

And the minor gods with their children? Like, can we have some Hypnos and Clovis moments, or Tyche and Chiara?

What about Demeter with her demigod children? Can someone please give me Demeter being a loving mother not only to Persephone but her demigod children? (Still mad that we didn't get that much info about her in ToA despite Meg being A LITERAL DAUGHTER OF DEMETER).

HERMES? TRAVIS? CONNOR?

Athena and Malcolm need to have more spotlight.

Add more in the comments please.

THE TRAVESTY OF THE VIRGIN GODDESS ATHENA

Note: red highlighted parts are important and must be read.

This is a link to a post that beautifully talks about Rick Riordan's horrendous portrayal of Athena and the other goddesses down below-

It's a must-read. Please read it.

ATHENA SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAD CHILDREN IN THE FIRST PLACE

Rick has made many, many egregious writing decisions. I can't say which one is the most horrible, but a leading candidate is the fact that he chose to make Athena, a virgin goddess, have children.

For the shocked Pikachus who have had the utter bliss of not having to know how Rick Riordan ruined Athena, yes, Rick made Athena have children.

She doesn't lose her virginity though-she has brain children formed from the thoughts of her and her lover, which she considers the purest form of love.

And this is terrible, because the Ancient Greeks equated virginity to not bearing children and not marrying. If Athena bears children, then how can she be a virgin?

Yes, Athena's children ARE HER CHILDREN. They are explicitly called her children. And she's said to be their mother. That means that she's not a virgin anymore.

And Athena's virgin goddess status and refusal to marry reinforced her role as a powerful goddess who was independent. Marriage symbolized subordination to a husband, so by not marrying, Athena's autonomy and power were shown very clearly.

Athena's key qualities-wisdom, strategy and war-are associated with rationality and independence, which were not associated with love in Ancient Greece. If she loved men, then she would be unable to retain her identity as goddess of wisdom and war.

Virginity oaths for goddesses were taken very seriously. When Artemis came close to loving Orion and breaking her oath, Apollo decided to kill Orion and risk the long lasting wrath of his sister rather than having her break her oath. That's how serious they were.

And this is already so terrible, but you know what the worst part is?

She doesn't tell her lovers that she's going to give them a baby. She just forms the baby and then DUMPS it on them, which is horrible, because-

ATHENA IS THE GREEK GODDESS OF WISDOM!

NO GODDESS OF WISDOM WOULD DUMP A CHILD ON AN UNPREPARED MORTAL'S DOORSTEP AND FORCE HIM TO RAISE THE CHILD WHEN HE DIDN'T WANT TO!

IF RICK HAD TO MAKE HER HAVE CHILDREN, WHICH IS ALREADY SO HORRIBLE, THEN HE ABSOLUTELY SHOULD HAVE MADE ALL THE MORTALS WHOM SHE HAD CHILDREN WITH REQUEST HER TO AND GIVE THEIR CONSENT TO THE PROCESS!

And Athena did not even have to have children in the first place.

ATHENA SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A BAD MOTHER

Also, even if Rick was inexplicably desirous of going through the terrible process of making a virgin goddess have children, did he really make ATHENA, goddess of WISDOM, think that Annabeth would be well-treated and cared for with a single father who was unprepared and did not even want her in the first place?

Athena was a bad mother to Annabeth simply by creating her without her father's permission and placing her with a father who did not want her, thus leading to Annabeth being neglected and abused. Athena knew that Frederick didn't want a child and still created one and made him raise her-she didn't even give Annabeth away to an adoptive family who would most likely have raised her better.

On some level, she knew that Annabeth would be traumatised-even Frederick would be traumatized by her actions. That makes PJO Athena a horrible person and a bad mother.

She did claim Annabeth, but she also let her wander the streets even if she guided her to help-and that help was two other traumatised children.

And to say that she let her children fight their own battles-a seven year old shouldn't have to fight their own battles when their battles are monsters and living on the streets. Gods have been shown to break laws multiple times, so why didn't Athena do this? Zeus wasn't watching all the time and he's pretty much the only one who enforces these rules.

And when she deems one of her children worthy, she gives them a Mark and sends them to find her statue, despite knowing that it's fruitless and that all of her other children have died.

Just read this post-it explains a lot.

Let me digress here and tell you a little something about Myth! Athena.

Athena had an adopted child in the myths. His name was Erichthonius, and even though he was a product of an attempted rape on Athena, she adopted him as her own, wishing to make him immortal, and frequently protected him. He, in return, honored her by founding a festival for her (Panathenaic Festival) and setting up a wooden statue of her on the Acropolis. Their relationship was a very good one-

So tell me, why would Athena conceive a child without asking the father for permission and then force him to raise a child despite knowing that he did not want to?

Exactly. Real Athena would never do this. Rick's Athena would. Note the difference, please.

Of course, this is just another frustrating portrayal of a Greek God as a bad parent which continues throughout the PJO series-then again, that is its core foundation. Still, thought I'd write this section just to set things straight.

HOW SHE'S INCORRECTLY PORTRAYED

Athena is quite vilified in the original PJO series and all throughout the franchise.

First of all, she disapproves of Percy's relationship with her daughter. This is at first understandable, because he's a son of Poseidon, her archnemesis, and at first glance she might not like him.

But something annoying here is that she always gets bad moments with Percy, threatening him if he dared cross her, while POSEIDON NEVER GETS ANY BAD MOMENTS WITH ANNABETH.

In fact, Real Poseidon is more likely to be the person who hates Percabeth given his mythological characterisation, though he would lay off Annabeth for the sake of Percy, because he loves his children very much.

Setting that aside, my real concern here is how Myth! Athena would not do this.

Real Athena, would judge Percy based on his merits and not his parentage.

Of course, she might threaten him if he crossed her or her daughter, as befitting of a goddess, but she wouldn't continue to judge him based on his parentage. Once he proved himself, she would help him and not threaten him.

In fact, in some versions of Theseus' myth, including the one used in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, he is a son of Poseidon, so Athena actually helped a son of Poseidon, that too in the PJOverse, so it makes no sense for her not to help Percy when it's for the good of all of them.

She also helps Bellerophon, a son of Poseidon, in the myths. In fact, she does this in the Riordanverse too, so why she would hate Percy after helping Bellerophon and Theseus?

PJO Athena also tells Percy to stay away from her daughter during a war, when romance should be the last thing on her mind.

I mean, if Athena told Percy not to get distracted by Annabeth and focus on the bigger picture which would be beneficial to everyone, I'd understand, because she's the goddess of war tactics and wisdom.

But no-her message explicitly tells Percy to stay away from her daughter because she didn't like both of them together.

And yes, she doesn't like Percy because he's too loyal and he was apparently supposed to choose a dear friend over something more important when she thinks that he should choose the big picture but his loyalty never causes any serious consequences and everyone is fine in the end, so this is absolute nonsense and it's not a good reason for her anymore.

Let me digress and tell you a little about real Athena here.

The REAL Athena would help Percy commit war crimes if it helped their side win. Hell, she'd play matchmaker for him and her daughter if it somehow helped them win (well, Aphrodite could do that, but you know what I mean.)

Real Athena was a patron of Odysseus who was a literal war criminal. Actually, she was considered to be one of the most important gods in the Odyssey. She even helps Diomedes by blessing him and directing him to wound the god Ares as well as the goddess Aphrodite (Who caused the Trojan war).

Also, Real Athena is considered a patron of heroes. Not only that, she helped tons of heroes. Odysseus, Hercules, Perseus, Jason, Bellerophon, the Argonauts, Achilles, Cadmus, Tydeus and Theseus.

She also aided several women such as Penelope, Eurynome, the Danaids, Menippe and Metioche and Nyctimene the last of whom she turned into her sacred symbol, the owl.

Athena was also believed to have invented every kind of work that women in Ancient Greece did.

The only time Athena abandoned a hero (Tydeus) was when he committed cannibalism-before that, she planned to make him immortal, in fact, but left him in disgust when she learned what he had done.

There was so much that Rick could have done with her status as a patron of heroes-have her help and advise Percy and Annabeth on their quests (indirectly so as not to risk her father's wrath). Helping Annabeth get over her prejudices and chastising her for letting her jealousy of Rachel almost ruin her chance for a successful quest.

Not.........whatever the mess that PJO Athena is.

And yes, I know that she's thought to have helped Percy in The Titan's Curse-but she just gave him a useless platitude. That was barely help at all. The only time she really helped was when she sent Hermes back to inform Annabeth about Plan 23. For a wisdom goddess of war tactics, she is surprisingly little help in the war.

And in Heroes of Olympus, a lot of people blame Athena for her cruel treatment of Annabeth while it was in fact Minerva who gave Annabeth the Mark. Athena was severely split between her Roman and Greek form and was unable to properly think at the time.

THE SUBTLE YET CONTINUOUS WAY RICK TURNS US AGAINST ATHENA

And it's clear that Rick continues to denigrate Athena-not just by using which myths he wants (Medusa being turned into a demon by Athens after willingly doing it with Poseidon in her temple in TLT, and now Ovid's myth in the PJO show) which he's allowed to do-

but he also actively takes the myths and twists them to form his own version.

Confused? I'll elaborate.

In case you didn't know, there's a Percy Jackson book called Percy Jackson's Greek Gods and Heroes, where Percy rewrites a lot of myths from the Greek Mythology.

I'll give you some advice-just skip it. It tells you about the myths, yes, but it's quite biased, and if you don't know the real myths, please read the real ones first and then read these if you really want to.

You see, if you think that it's just a book, you're wrong.

This is written in a biased fashion and subtle comments like these turn you against certain gods and goddesses that Rick doesn't like.

When Aphrodite arrives at Olympus, Rick writes all the women as immediately thinking, 'Oh, I hate her because she's the most beautiful of us all.' Not the goddesses. Just the women.

This is also shown with Ares, where Percy calls him a bully, loser and a jerk. He also says that he wanted Poseidon to beat Ares up when Ares was defending his daughter from being raped by Poseidon's son because apparently it would have been awesome to watch.

This is shown with Aphrodite as well when Percy outright states that he hates her and twists the stories about her by rewriting the narrative and adding subtle comments to make us dislike her.

It uses terrible sarcasm which is concerningly childish for a grown writer. I don't know what Rick has against Ares or Aphrodite. He definitely has a hate boner for Ares.

Sorry, I digressed a little bit there. Returning to the subject of this essay-

Athena is featured in some of the stories in this book. In one, Athena and Poseidon compete to be the patron of Attica. When Athena says that she has an idea as to how they can settle this peacefully, Rick writes- 'Typical. Athena always had some sneaky idea.'

................Really?

This wasn't a sneaky idea. Athena literally said that she had a fair idea for a competition-both of them would create gifts and the mortals would decide which one was better. How is that sneaky?

In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, he writes her as a romance-hater (242-243 page no). While there's no evidence to indicate that she likes romance, making a virgin goddess who's heavily implied to be aroace hate romance is very aphobic. Not everyone aroace hates romance-that is a negative stereotype.

Of course, Rick promotes these stereotypes, so what can I expect from him. *Sigh*

Rick subtly makes Athena seem unlikeable like this. It's one of my biggest frustrations-that he makes gods that he doesn't like evil in one way or another through blatantly incorrect misinformation or subtle denigration like this.

All right, so moving on to the more serious story in which Athena is deprecated yet again. It's called 'Athena adopts a handkerchief'.

Brace yourself.

So in the original myth, after Hephaestus catches Aphrodite cheating on him with Ares, he's pretty depressed.

So when Athena comes to him to comfort him or ask him for weapons, Hephaestus literally tried to climb on her and RAPE HER, and she DEFENDED HERSELF from him. A woman defending herself from a man trying to rape her-that's what it was.

But Rick specifically writes Hephaestus begging and pleading and oh so miserable, even when Athena clearly walks away and yells at him to stop. And then Hephaestus cries into her bare leg, and she kicks him away in disgust.

We're supposed to root for Hephaestus here, and even if we aren't, he's still portrayed in a sympathetic light, which is completely fucked up.

Let me tell you something. If a person is crying and begging for your attention and walking after you and grabs you, whining, even after you clearly and firmly tell them not to-

You can defend yourself from, even physically. Doesn't matter if you're a girl or boy or if they're a girl or boy. You have every right to kick them away. Now matter how pathetic they seem, they are still knowingly coming after and harassing you.

But there a lot of people that don't think like this. They feel bad for men who seem 'pathetic' and often denounce women who reject men like this, even though the women have every right not to want to be with men, even if the man seems pathetic and lonely.

Rick wrote Hephaestus to seem pathetic (he literally called Hephaestus poor guy WHEN HEPHAESTUS WAS TRYING TO RAPE ATHENA) and Athena to be cold and bitchy for not acquiescing to Hephaestus' wants, thus flipping the script to make us feel bad for Hephaestus and disdain Athena.

And yes, even if Athena was ultimately written to be the one in the right here, most people will favour Hephaestus and disdain Athena in this narrative simply because of the way their behaviour is written.

It's ingrained in our brains and psychology-let men off, blame the women. Nearly everyone thinks like this-it's practically the default way for society.

I'm not saying that everyone thinks like this. There are very good people who don't think like this or are working on their behaviour and thoughts...........

But they're a minority. There are too many people who default to the 'men good women bad blame women automatically' mindset, even the supposedly progressive ones.

Rick knew the original myth and instead, he chose to twist and write it like this, having us root for Hephaestus instead. That HAS to tell you that the guy has some form of misogyny about Greek Goddesses.

Red flags for Rick Riordan? Hell yes. This was published in 2014, so we can only hope that he's improved on his behavior a decade later, but considering the recent changes in the show, I don't think it's happening.

ATHENA ISN'T ALWAYS WRITTEN BADLY IN PJO

Now, I'm not saying that Athena is always demonized when she shows up. She has a few good moments in PJO and there are some good parts to her.

She realises that Typhon was a distraction and convinces Zeus to send Hermes back, thus greatly helping the demigods.

(But this is overlooked because Rick made her tell Percy to stay away from Annabeth for no good reason. He didn't have to do this at all-but as a very wise person once said, this was another way of trying to distance Percy and Annabeth but not knowing how to properly do so, and of course, Athena becomes the scapegoat who must take on the blame here even though Poseidon could have also said this, thus giving him an actual moment that shows that hey, he's not all-good, Percy and readers!)

She does love Annabeth, as seen when she guides her on the streets to help, immediately claims her at camp, gives her the invisibility cap, appoints her the architect of Olympus itself and compliments her in front of the entire Godly council and many demigods too.

When Annabeth is in Tartarus, she speaks to her and tells her that she did well and gives her a message to send, indicating a gesture of trust, honour and respect from mother to daughter.

(But she was also a bad mother to Annabeth for reasons I've stated before in this essay. She neglected her, forced her to stay with an abusive father, did not bother to find an adoptive family for her, etc)

In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, she instructs Cadmus on what to do with the dragon's teeth. She rightfully blinds Tiresias for staring at her while naked and not immediately looking away and covering his eyes, but then gives him a walking stick and lets him understand the language of birds so that they can direct him when she learns that it was an accident.

She also helps Percy on his quest in Chalice of the Gods by sending Ganymede and the cart that Percy's hiding in back to the kitchens to save Percy.

It's just that...........her portrayal in PJO had some serious problems. It was hideous, horrendous, ghastly, frightful, atrocious, shocking, appalling, grievous, gross and a whole of lot of other synonyms to match. And she is more often than not criticised and hated on for her bad moments than she is noticed for her good moments in Percy Jackson.

CONCLUSION

I know that Rick is free to use whichever version of the myths he wants, but I just want you to see that he denigrates her and portrays her in an appalling manner. Making her have children without the father's permission and forcing the children onto them and making her neglect her children was absolutely unnecessary and Athena did not need to have brain children.

Now, I'm not saying that Athena isn't portrayed in a positive light. She does have good moments in Percy Jackson, but what I want to say is that a lot about her characterization in Percy Jackson is absolutely egregious for the most part considering her actual mythological counterpart.

Athena is the only virgin goddess who has children, and she's also the only virgin goddess who's portrayed as an adult. Coincidence? I think not. In fact, if Rick hadn't made Athena have children, he would have made her a child too.

He turned Hestia into a child for no reason at all, so it's not entirely implausible to think that he would make Athena a child too-probably use the stupid excuse of 'children learn better and their brains are more flexible than adults' brains!'

(I don't want to give him any ideas.)

To conclude, Athena more often than not demeaned in PJO and her overall portrayal is absolutely ghastly when compared to her mythological counterpart. There are a few good parts to her, but not many, and her portrayal in such a famous pop culture series that has impacted so many people will be an eternal tragedy.

@superkooku

@cynthiav06

@fandomloverangel