Reader Response Journal
Before finding out that the Greek gods and monsters such as hellhounds, furies, titans, etc. were real, Percy Jackson lived a moderately normal life. He had failing grades, ADHD and was bullied. Due to this he always thought he wasn’t normal until he went to Camp-Half Blood. In the novel The Battle of the Labyrinth, Percy Jackson demonstrates the theme that faith in the gods is a struggle.
As he goes on his quest to save the camp, he has no faith in his father Poseidon (god of the sea and other waters; of earthquakes; and of horses). When he came to camp he was knocked out for two days due to a fight with the minotaur, but after he awoke 2 days later, he finds out that greek mythology is real. Even though he did not believe it at first or have any faith in them,
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‘Half-god.’ Annabeth nodded. ‘Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians.’ ‘That's … crazy.’ ‘Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?’ ‘But those are just-’ I almost said myths again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, I might be considered a myth. ‘But if all the kids here are half-gods-’”(Riordan 99).
As Percy was arguing with Annabeth about gods and that they aren’t real, he then has to go to cabin eleven, the Hermes cabin where all determined and undetermined half-bloods go. There he meets Luke the head counselor of the Hermes cabin, they talk about the gods and their own lives. “‘I don't belong here,’ I said. ‘I don't even believe in gods.’” (Riordan 105). Though Percy insisted on not believing the gods, Luke told him that it gets harder once you start believing them with
They started hiding and saw a like a centaur, with a woman’s body from the waist but instead of a horse's lower body it had the body of a dragon and it's hair looked like Medusa's. Percy realized that they were snakes and they were hundreds of vipers moving around, looking for something to
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) written and directed by Guillermo del Toro is a dark fantasy film that uses fantasy and inspired true events of the after effects of the Spanish Civil War to create a symbolic parable that was influenced by fairy tales and myths. Even though this film is explicitly about the times during Franco it is also a film that can speak for any time period, past, present, and future. Through the use of phantasmagorical elements in the fantasy sequences del Toro uses doubling to reinforce the horrific events that have and can happen again in reality. The film takes place five years after the Spanish Civil War during Francisco Franco’s reign of terror. The story focuses on Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) as well as Ofelia’s evil stepfather, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez). Both characters represent something bigger than they actually are; Ofelia is seen to represent Spain and the antifascists whereas Captain Vidal represents Franco and fascism. Ofelia has to complete three daunting tasks given to her by the Faun (Doug Jones) that is said to reunite her with her family, the King and Queen of the Underworld. Del Toro uses doubling of the mythical realm with the ‘real world’ throughout the film that emphasizes the underlying meaning of the film. The film also follows the story of the anti-fascists rebels that are hidden amongst the trees and mountains. The character Mercedes (Maribel Verdu) is able to fool Captain Vidal for most of the film and help the rebels. It is not until the near end of the film where Captain Vidal realizes that Mercedes has been helping the rebels the entire time and it is due partly because of his misogyny that he is unable to see her as a threat to his cause.
“Fear me,love me,do as I say,I’ll be your slave” says Jareth The Goblin King from the Labyrinth. By using irony, the author of a story can create a surprising events. Authors use multiple kinds of irony to make stories more surprising.
He lost six men, but got through the rest of the cave with all of his men. They were deadly gods who tried to kill his crew but only Odysseus. survives. And he floated to an island where he was captured for days, but to us. years.
This is a similarly evident theme in the novel The Lightning Thief. When Chiron tells Percy that he must go see the Oracle to receive his prophecy, Percy hesitates but, as usual, a prophecy can not be avoided. And as shown in the novel, the giving of prophecies is included. After the Oracle told Percy his fate, he hesitated then realized what had just been said. He launched back at the Oracle scrambling and hoping to find the silver-lining in his seemingly negative fate. “And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end. The figures began to dissolve. At first I was too stunned to say anything, but as the mist retreated... I cried, "wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?" Percy was afraid of the last line of the prophecy he was given, “and you shall fail to save what matters most.” He tried to get more information and a deeper, and complete understanding but the Oracle had retreated and his time/audience with it was over. As it relates to the common theme that is presented in both The Lightning Thief and “The Myth of Cronus”, in fear of his fate, Percy scrambles for a deeper understanding, and fails in doing so. In that sense, Percy fails to understand and is left in fear and secrecy at the end of the
...th head towards the underworld were Percy’s mother is held in a cave. The reader is able to obverse that Percy as walking in to the most unsafe place and this could potentially be the most danger they have ever encountered. As they enter the secrete path to Hades layer Percy and his allies come across a guard with a boat man who does not allow any living people into the underworld. A problem is created as the man blocks the entrance to the underworld on the other hand Percy explains that nothing will stop him from get his mother back as he is will to do anything to obtain his mothers love. However Annabeth come up with an idea to gives him money. Her plan is successful as the man agrees to give them a ride over the underworld. The next step is get his mother back and return Zeus’s lightning bolt but in order to do that he must meet the god of the underworld hades.
He had multiple reasons for doing so: His family was threatened, some of his friends died at his enemy’s hand, and all the “gods”, including Percy’s father Poseidon, were faced with death. “The gods and Mount Olympus will still be destroyed, but it will be much messier. Much, much worse for you and your city. Either way, the Titans will rule" (Riordan 112). With the help of other demigods and Hades, the “god” of the underworld, Percy Jackson battled Kronos, a Titan. Even though Percy and his friends won, it came with a price. Rick Riordan, the author, writes “she [Selena] didn’t breathe again” (Riordan 155) and “The son of Nemesis fell through a fissure that went straight through the heart of the mountain—straight into open air” (Riordan 172). Percy Jackson stopped the Titans from completing their mission, therefore completing his: “We saved the world” (Riordan 196). Afterward, Percy was “heading back to Goode High for my sophomore year” (Riordan
The Lightning Thief is about Percy Jackson, a 12 year old boy who has troubles at home (violent step father) and troubles at school (dealing with ADHD). During what seems like another normal day, he's attacked by his math teacher, only to learn that she is a monster called a harpy. Things only get crazier when he is saved by his best friend Grover, who reveal he himself is not human either, but is in fact a satyr, a creature from Greek myths. Percy learns of a world he never knew existed. He is in fact the son of the Greek god Poseidon, and he is what is called a demi god, half god and half human. Grover takes Percy to Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven for demi gods that are hunted by monsters. There he meets other half bloods, like the daughter
Percy Jackson is the main character in this story, who is a demi god, who mortals are after. His name is short for Perseus and his father is one of the big three gods, Poseidon. He is suffering from dyslexia and ADHD, which could be deliberately added to the character by Riordan, to show he is meant to be a hero, and not to do well in school. This shows that school is not what he is good at, and he is destined to be a hero and save people. The character Grover, who plays Percy’s best friend, parallels a Satyr who is human from the waist up and goat from the waist down and is a companion of wine God, Dionysus, who we later learn, is the camp director for Half-Blood Camp.
Percy attended school through the eighth grade in Alabama’s public schools. Going to high school was not an option for Percy, since he was a black person. But that didn’t stop Percy from going into college to pursue his dream.
I’ve noticed that the characters tend to blame the gods for problems that occur in their life. The characters are not taking in to a count for the consequences of their own actions. The choices that are made can cause sorrow and pain to another. This can cause tension and fights between characters. It’s stated in the beginning of the book by the god Zeus how the humans blame the gods for their recklessness behavior. This tells me that the gods are not favored by the characters throughout this book. With the gods having higher power the characters think that they can control everything that happens. Telemachos blames the gods for his father’s disappearance. He is grieving in pain and he needs someone to blame for why Odysseus never came back.
Throughout Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, gods are presented as remarkably human in almost every way. While it is assumed that gods are divine entities incapable of human transgression, they are portrayed with all the flaws of mortals in The Iliad. The gods are a manifestation of human emotions consequently helping to explain the behavior of the humans in The Iliad. The actions of the heroes are what determine their fate, not divine intervention. Ultimately, the humans in The Iliad have inherent characteristics that provide the driving force behind their actions: the gods simply act in concert with them, allowing the human beings to exercise free will of
To begin with, the ancient Greeks explained the creation of the universe, in particular the Earth and its elements, by a system of anthropomorphism in which their gods are human-like and are representatives of these elements. For example, Zeus is the god of heaven while Hades is the underworld lord (Hesiod, p.145). Unlike the Christians’ god who is “flawless”, the ancient Greeks’ divinities are portrayed as humans and are far from perfect. Their gods behave like ordinary people except they are immortal and have supernatural powers. Like any human being, the Greeks’ gods have love, jealousy, sadness, etc. For instance, in Euripides’ Bacchae, Zeus falls in love with Semele, which makes Hera becomes jealous and tries to kill Semele and Dionysus (Euripides, p.209). The Greeks even have a physically imperfect god, Hephaestus. This is to say that the gods’ attitude toward mortals is affected by how people treat them as the Greeks’ gods have emotions like humans.
Throughout the film, the gods constantly require the prayers of mortals that serves them as fuel, however in accordance with Greek mythology no such concept has ever existed. According to Greek mythology, the gods actually enjoy playing with the mortals for their own amusement without actually achieving anything. This is especially evident in Greek mythology like the Iliad, where basically every god is trying to play tricks on Homer and set traps for him (Janes, 1976). In addition, Hades is shown as an antagonist to all the other gods in the film as well as all mankind. He is portrayed as a villainous character with dark dress and dark themes that surround him. This is much different in Greek mythology due to the fact that Hades is the most fair and neutral of all the gods. This is evident in the Greek myth of Persus, where the heroes of Greek mythology are thoroughly described (Trzas...
Over the course of this novel, Percy must embark on a quest to clear his name, much like Hercules had to endure his Twelve Labors. These Twelve Labors would prove to be a recurring theme for Percy throughout the entirety of his five-part series. While Hercules abandoned his quest with Jason for the Golden Fleece, Percy did not, and succeeded where the ancient hero had failed. Hercules was also directly referenced in Titan’s Curse in a flashback by Percy’s new friend and Hesperide Zoe, a goddess entrusted with protecting Hera’s apples which Hercules had stolen. Over the long chain of events throughout the entire series, Percy and his friends encountered and battled numerous monsters that Hercules had originally slain in his Twelve Labors, such as Cerberus, a hydra, the Nemean Lion, the Erymanthian Boar, and cleaning the Aegean stables, home to flesh-eating horses.