Percy Jackson: Percy is a demigod, son of poseidon. Since poseidon is one of the most powerful gods this makes percy more powerful than others. Demigods usually have lots of problems with their lives but Percy has relatively little since he had 5 books and a lot of story before hand to develop his character. He is the main protagonist in the book. He is protective of his friends, page 267(chapter 29): '“I’ve got you,” Percy promised. He put his arm around Annabeth. In this passage Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus which is the equivalent to hell for the Greek/Roman mythological world that the story takes place in. Also when monsters are killed in the mortal world the monster disintegrate and become re-born in Tartarus. The monsters take time to get out of Tartarus and back into our world but it varies a lot from a few months to centuries. Because of this Tartarus is inhabited by many monsters and is made for monsters it is not very welcoming to them, with rivers of fire and sands of broken glass everything is trying to kill them. Percy is very protective especially to Annabeth because they've been together through a lot and he has even imagined a future with her when they're adults which is rare since demigods usually don't live long. While literally falling into Tartarus Annabeth lost her belongings including her beloved sword leaving Percy in an even more protective role. Though I find it noble how Percy is so caring of his friends and family and sometimes people he doesn't even know, but this can sometimes be dangerous for him or make his decisions unwise in the long run. Also with this power and responsibility sometimes Percy may go overboard with his power, like when he and Annabeth fought the goddess of misery they were losing so percy decided to use his power over water to choke the goddess inside her own throat by boiling her saliva (which was poison). Page 414, chapter 48 “Stop…” she pleaded, her voice hoarse. He didn’t want to stop. He wanted to choke this goddess. He wanted to watch her drown in her own poison. Annabeth had to make him stop and control his anger. “Percy, please don’t ever…” Her voice broke in a sob. “Some things aren’t meant to be controlled. Please.” Percy is also an extremely good leader with leadership coming naturally for him. He is seen as the leader and most powerful at Camp half blood (for Greek demigods) and when he got his memory swiped and dropped into camp Jupiter (Roman demigod camp, the two camps kind of hate each other from a war in the past) he helped them retrieve something very important in a mission and very quickly became the praetor (each of two roman "civil officers" ranking below consul) with another praetor Reyna. Percy is a good guy and wants the best for his friends, but he still has the problem of handling his fatal flaw, which is the fact that he would choose to save his friends over the greater good. But with his sarcastic sense of humor and laid-back attitude Percy is good at getting the trust and respect from several gods (That hate men, demigods and just people in general) and the Romans who hated Greeks so much they coined a swear after them. People look up to Percy and he never disappoints

Character Traits

Annabeth Chase: Annabeth is the daughter of Athena the goddess of wisdom. This makes her ridiculously brilliant in an admirable way (Sometimes shes referred to as the "badass bookworm"). She also has gray eyes which reflect her cool and intelligence with a slight edge of danger which is noted several times in the book. When she is not getting straight A+'s on everything she helps design buildings for Olympus (home of the gods), but don't let that fool you into thinking shes all brain and no brawn. She is very athletic and active which goes great with her intelligence. With this deadly combination she is also a valuable player in the capture the flag games they hold at Camp Half-Blood. Athena might not be the goddess of war but she is the goddess of tactics. This makes Annabeth a strategist and all her plans have a way of coming together and getting her friends out of a sticky situation with one of her brilliant plans. Page 201 chapter 22: “Annabeth?” Percy said again. “You’re planning something. You’ve got that I’m-planning-something look.” “I don’t have an I’m-planning-something look.” “Yeah, you totally do. Your eyebrows knit and your lips press together and—” “Do you have a pen?” she asked him.” And like her boyfriend Percy, she also has a sense of leadership and responsibility “Next to her, Percy’s breathing turned shallow. Even through his misty ghoul disguise, Annabeth could tell he was on the verge of panic. She had to stand her ground for both of them. I am a daughter of Athena, she thought. I control my own mind.” Annabeth is also a very determined person who doesn't give up in impossible odds and keeps working towards her goal but this doesn't give her tunnel vision, she still uses all options available to her (and if theres none she'll make some). Even in the most dangerous place imaginable without her sword, very weak and a mission that is deemed impossible even by the gods she never complains and uses her knowledge and wit to go on. She even manages to send a message to the mortal world trying to stop the Romans (remember them?) from invading Camp Half-Blood. Unlike the other characters Annabeth doesn't have special powers with the elements meaning she cannot control water like Percy or Fly and control the winds like Jason. This makes most of her enemies underestimate her but with her intelligence, grit, bravery and strength she is still a force to be reckoned with and usually tricks/manipulates her enemies to win. Even with all this everyone has a fatal flaw and being as smart as Annabeth she quickly figures out that her fatal flaw is hubris. This means extreme pride or an over estimation in ones abilities. This gives her the illusion that she can do anything and tends to makes her arrogant. Like when the Sphinx asked Annabeth questions and if she got them wrong the Sphinx would kill Percy and Annabeth. She aggravated the Sphinx after refusing to answer her questions and saying the questions were trivial and easy. "She looked just the way she had when she'd faced the Sphinx - like she wasn't going to accept an easy answer, even if it got her in serious trouble. " Another flaw Annabeth faces is that even though she is very caring she can get possessive over people like when she wasn't very kind to Calypso or Rachel Dare when she thought they might've taken Percy away from her. She also has arachnophobia like all children of Athena and a fear for Cyclopes because of a childhood incident. Annabeth is looked up to for her ingenious ideas and devising the best strategy for the team.

Jason Grace: Jason is the son of Jupiter, the Roman lord of the sky. Like Percy, Jason also had his memory swiped and was brought to Camp Half-Blood from Camp Jupiter. Jason is the deuteragonist next to Percy and kept the crew of 8 (now 6) together especially after they lost Percy to motivate the crew and Annabeth to come up with ideas, he led them forward to accomplish there mission. One of Jason's most important roles is to resolve tension in the group plus organize and executing plans. Here he's dividing up jobs for the crew Page 309 Chapter 34: “Jason stood. “Frank, you’re in charge of defending the ship. Leo, you’ve got repairs to do. The rest of you, help out wherever you can. Nico and I…” He faced the son of Hades. “We have a ghost to find.” He spends a lot of time not only leading but also making the crew feel comfortable and trust each other. Since Jason is a people person he is very perceptive and can sense when somethings off when others can't. On this page Jason and the other demigods reunite with Leo but Jason can sense that there friend wasn't fine like he said he was and related it to another problem he solved with his friend Nico. Page 504 Chapter 60 “Leo mustered a faint smile. “Hey, guys. Nah, nah, I’m good.” Jason could tell he wasn’t good. Leo wouldn’t meet their eyes. His hands were perfectly still on the table. Leo’s hands were never still. All the nervous energy had drained right out of him, replaced by a kind of wistful sadness. Jason wondered why his expression seemed familiar. Then he realized Nico di Angelo had looked the same way after facing Cupid in the ruins of Salona. Leo was heartsick.” In the book Jason uses his observant insightfulness as a tool to get to know people better and more easily take care of them. I think Jason is a very unique character because unlike most he doesn't just care about the physical health of his friends but about there mental well being and emotions as well. On this excerpt Jason is trying to get to know Nico and fix the emotional problems that were caused with his sisters death. Page 486 Chapter 57: “Yeah, okay. But, Nico, you do choose how to live your life. You want to trust somebody? Maybe take a risk that I'm really your friend and I'll accept you. It's better than hiding.” Although Percy and Jason are both important leaders, Jason is more official and proper being raised at the Roman camp where its more strict and breaking rules were unacceptable. Jason is not only a good leader but has good personality traits. He is optimistic and never gets angry or upset when things don't go his way, it seems as if positivity comes naturally to him. Even though Jason is very caring he can still be standoffish and distant initially. But sometimes even after getting to know him Jason's leader role forces him to be stoic so he doesn't get emotional for the sake of his allies. Jason is confident in his abilities but is plagued by doubt and critical about his own errors. Even though he is serious most of the time he has a moderate sense of humor. Page 329 Chapter 36: “Love is on every side, Cupid said. And no one's side. Don't ask what Love can do for you. "Great," Jason said. "Now he's spouting greeting card messages.” Jason is referred to as "everybody's golden boy" because of the fact that everybody looks to him for answers and his unwavering honor that he shows through his compassion.

Piper McLean: Piper is the daughter of Aphrodite the goddess of love. She is one of the crew of 7 on the ship Argos II (it also flies) and is the girlfriend of Jason Grace. She may not be a great warrior or have powers that can help her fight directly in combat but she can charmspeak. This means that when she wants (and sometimes by accident) her words come out with power hypnotizing people and giving her the ability to persuade them into doing anything she wants. This power is given to her by Aphrodite and works best on mortals, but not so much with gods. Unlike most children of Aphrodite Piper is more intelligent and down to earth, she also doesn't look at herself all the time and tries to defy the stereotype by dressing in drab clothing and messing up her hair. Though Piper is no great warrior she is resourceful and uses all her assets to help her whether its her charmspeak, her dagger Katoptris or just her wits in general. Here she is using charmspeak to release her friends, though it doesn't work on Khione who is a goddess, though it does work on her two weaker minded brothers. Page 376 “What are you doing?” Piper demanded. Then, in charmspeak: “Let my friends go.” Zethes blinked. “We should let your friends go.” “Yes,” Cal agreed. “No, you idiots!” Khione snapped. “She is charmspeaking. Use your wits.” Piper also doubts herself because she thinks among the crew she has no purpose as voiced by Khione. Page 382 “You are a meddler, the daughter of a useless goddess. What can you do alone? Nothing. Of all the seven demigods, you have no purpose, no power.” Even with her self doubts in the end she asked herself what would Annabeth do and used her intelligence to trick Khione. I think this scene is great for developing Pipers character by forgetting her doubts. “All her life, Piper had been looked down upon, told she was useless. It has never been true, another voice whispered—a voice that sounded like her mother’s. Each of them berated you because they feared you and envied you. So does Khione. Use that!”

Leo Valdez: Leo is the son of Hephaestus the god of fire and creating machines. He has a tool belt in which he can pull tools and objects out of and he can control fire at will. Leo is easy going, friendly, positive and and loves to tell jokes, funny or not. Here Jason is lecturing them on a old emperor and Leo replies. Page 306 Chapter “He faltered when he looked at Leo, who was mimicking taking notes with an air pencil. “Go on, Professor Grace!” he said, wide-eyed. “I wanna get an A on the test.” “Shut up, Leo.” Even though Leo is very easy-going he is very intelligent building and acting as a mechanic for the Argo II plus very honest. He also carries a lot of guilt over indirectly killing his mother in a fire he started. Leo can be very serious if he or his friends are threatened or when he needs to. He is also very serious about his work with machines. He is very caring and of his friends and on page 605 he shows off his serious, intelligent and caring side as he tries to comfort his friend “I figure the universe is basically like a machine. I don’t know who made it, if it was the Fates, or the gods, or capital-G God, or whatever. But it chugs along the way it’s supposed to most of the time. Sure, little pieces break and stuff goes haywire once in a while, but mostly…things happen for a reason. Like you and me meeting.” Leo also has an unfortunate habit of falling in love with almost every beautiful girl he encounters which often ends up in disaster, like when he first met Khione he called her "hot" which she took offense to since she was the goddess of snow. Leo is full of nervous energy and is afraid he'll accidentally harm others around him with his fire ability since he heard that the last child of Hephaestus with the power started the great fire of London and because of his guilt towards his mothers death. Leo is also seen as a sort of "sad clown" as noted in the book that Leo would much rather be funny than sad about the things he can't control. And though annoying, Jason acknowledges how important Leo's sense of humor is to the crews morale

Time & Placement

Placement: The placement of the story as being seen through the eyes of 5 of the main characters (Jason, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Piper) are either on board the Argo II above central Europe of on land in central Europe. But the story is also narrated by Percy and Annabeth as they go through Tartarus. At first they are flying above the Apennine mountains on the Argos II. The Apennines are about 1,200 km in length and run through peninsular Italy. “To reach Epirus, all they had to do was go straight east—over the Apennines and across the Adriatic Sea.” Though the text didn't really mention much about the the Apennines, I know it is very long since it stretches across Italy. The mountains though aren't very high, high enough in altitude to have snow on them but not high enough to be too cold or have a lack extreme case of oxygen. I know this because the crew were on deck while crossing the mountains and didn't complain about the cold or thin atmosphere much. Also the book mentions a special route the demigods had to take to get across the mountains on page 38 Chapter 4: “There is a secret pass here in the north, a place where I hold sway, where Hannibal once crossed when he marched against Rome.” The goddess made a wide loop…to the top of Italy, then east to the sea, then down along the western coast of Greece. “Once through the pass, you would travel north to Bologna, and then to Venice. From there, sail the Adriatic to your goal, here: Epirus in Greece.” So even though they didn't describe the Apennines very well they did mention Hannibal, a great general and I remember hearing stories and accounts from him that some soldiers died from exposure from the cold and that most of the soldiers have never seen snow before which confirms that there is snow on the mountains, also the accounts say that many soldiers simply slipped and fell to there deaths meaning that the mountains must've been steep.

The Apennine mountain range

The visit to Bologna

They were held up in an attack and were forced to take a secret passage taking the long way to Bologna (Hannibal's route) on the Argo II. Again the author didn't mention too much about the area but more about the story that takes place there. But I imagine they're in a european styled neighborhood (wouldn't make sense for it to be Korean) thats kind of oldish since they mentioned stone paved path and other hints in the text like the type of roofing, “They stayed just at the edge of his vision, scampering over red-tiled rooftops, knocking over window boxes,” or a description of a building that hints even more at the theme of the area, “He turned a corner and saw two ancient stone towers jutting into the sky, side by side, much taller than anything else in the neighborhood—maybe medieval watchtowers?” Plus from my background knowledge I know that Bologna isn't a modernized city so the buildings are most likely old looking and weathered. Also the area might of been sub urban with crowded buildings (narrow streets and tight corners were mentioned) but in the text there were no people on these streets so I assume the demigods didn't go to a particularly crowded area of Bologna. They landed temporarily and left for Venice.

At Venice the city is beside a half kilometer wide shipping canal where the Argos II docked. The city has the same oldish european style as Bologna did but the characters got to explore more of Venice than they did Bologna, “red-tiled roofs, metal church domes, steepled towers, and sun-bleached buildings in all the colors of Valentine candy hearts—red, white, ochre, pink, and orange.” The buildings of Venice must not have been brand new looking and looking a little weathered since it talks of old styled buildings and even those are sun bleached. Also they talked about the lion statues that appeared everywhere in the city which they assumed were mascots. Where the streets were suppose to be there were green canals that went between neighborhoods and through the city, with motor boats parked at houses. Along the docks of Venice were side walks packed with tourists and souvenir shops, one of the characters noting that there were more tourists than Rome. Walking in the streets were odd ant-eater like creatures, “Each monster was about the size of a cow, with a bowed back like a broken-down horse, matted gray fur, skinny legs, and black cloven hooves. The creatures’ heads seemed much too heavy for their necks. Their long, anteater-like snouts drooped to the ground. Their overgrown gray manes completely covered their eyes.” The people there didn't think anything of the monsters though since they were covered by the mist and most likely mistaken them as dogs or other animals (one of the tourists petted them). At Venice the story develops a lot with the characters and valuable information is earned. After that the 6 move on across the Adriatic sea which was described as being a beautiful expanse of blue.

Venice & The Adriatic Sea

The Adriatic is a body of water lying between Italy and Croatia/Greece. While flying over the Adriatic they ran into a turtle that tried to kill them. Even though the turtle is a animal and not a place it is the size of a small island and I count it as a place. “When she saw the massive dome of craggy black and brown squares, the word turtle simply did not compute. Its shell was more like a landmass—hills of bone, shiny pearl valleys, kelp and moss forests, rivers of seawater trickling down the grooves of its carapace.” “Its gold eyes were the size of wading pools, with dark sideways slits for pupils. Its skin glistened like wet army camouflage—brown flecked with green and yellow. Its red, toothless mouth could’ve swallowed the Athena Parthenos in one bite. Hazel watched as it snapped off half a dozen oars.” The Athena Parthenos is a 40 foot statue that the demigods were holding on the ship. The turtle chased them until they sailed through a narrow strait where they became stranded surrounded by a rocky island with tall white cliffs leaving no exit but the strait that the turtle was guarding. They got out of the island and flew across the Adriatic sea to Split, Croatia. Once there the city was a mix of medieval and modern, standing over all of it on a mountain was a large building that the characters are looking for called Diocletian's palace. It was huge Roman styled and and very impressive even though it is very old. It has pinkish granite walls and crumbling support columns. It had arched windows that looked upward and was mostly intact, about 1/4 of a mile long and 70-80 feet tall making the shops below look small in comparison. There Jason and Nico were transported to a old abandoned city with shells of buildings like temples, half buried amphitheater and places where it looked like there were excavations but it was mostly abandoned, “The old city walls wove in and out of the hillside like stone thread through a green cloth.”

The turtle attacking the Argos II

Ruins of Salona, Croatia A painting of Diocletian's Palace.

Croatia

Afterwards they sailed off to Epirus. But they got attacked by Khione who used the north winds to push them off course. They landed somewhere in north Africa at a weathered temple made of sandstone owned by the southern winds. The area had rolling sandy dunes and sparse areas of brownish green vegetation. Not too far from the sandstone palace there was a bay with red sand where the Argo II is now stranded on. The air was so hot and dry that the moisture in your lungs could be dried out with a few breaths. The palace is huge, built into a cliff with a honey comb of halls, caverns, tunnels all built so that the wind spirits that fly around the building create noise. The building was constantly filled with a eery pipe organ sounds because of this. With the help of the south winds and there king there they make it to Epirus. During the attack Leo got flung onto an uncharted island that had magic guarding it, making it so no one could find the island unless it wanted to be found. It was a slice of paradise with a pristine beach (it would be if it weren't for Leo's crash landing), palm trees and what seemed like every colorful sweet sounding bird and there nests in them, and the nicest garden Leo had ever seen. The garden had colorful orchards, large vineyard and peach trees plus various things that could't be recognized but still assaulted the senses especially with the sweet smells it gave off. “Leo’s nose was assaulted by good smells—cedar, juniper, jasmine, peaches, and fresh herbs.”The garden was like ones on a front porch but where the house should be there is a cave entrance, the inside large enough to live in and lined with glowing multicolored crystals. On the inside there were clothes and dishes doing themselves as if invisible servants were at work in the cave. With the help of the goddess Calypso that lived there he left and met up with the rest of the demigods at a island called Valetta, Malta.

Paradise, and not so much

Though Calypso's island, named Ogygia is a Myth many people believe it was based off another island named Bozo shown here

The North African desert

They made there way to Epirus, Greece where it is mid day and hot. Above them there is a cloud of dark energy that seemed to be absorbing the light and giving off bad vibes to the demigods. The building they went into is called the Necromanteion and is where the goal of the demigods is held, the doors of Death. It is large but the outside wasn't described very well, its just an old Greek styled building that is in ruins. After the large stone entrance there is a tunnel that spirals downwards with large diagonal white columns holding up the ceiling, Frank notices that it reminded him of a spiral staircase going down through a rib cage. “A set of stairs curved deeper into the earth, the barreled ceiling held up by more repeating arches, closer together and carved from polished black stone. The descending arches made Frank feel dizzy, as if he were looking into an endlessly reflecting mirror.” On some of the walls there were paintings of black cattle climbing down the same stairs they were. They made it to a stairwell where the find a golden chalice filled with dark green liquid. They made there way through dark tunnels that interconnect and split with burial chambers that all looked the same on some corners and holes dug into the wall that probably once held bodies, This was the house of the dead. Theres an archway mad up of human skulls. After that the tunnels had were filled with whispering and flickering shadows. The corridors get bigger with ceiling going up to six meters high and getting much wider with elaborate paintings of poplar trees and owls on the walls. Silver coins and pieces littered the floor. They got to a huge room with a domed ceiling so high you could barely see it and the rooms walls decorated, “It was a gruesome mosaic of bones and gems—human femurs, hip bones, and ribs twisted and fused together into a smooth surface, dotted with diamonds and rubies. The bones formed patterns, like skeletal contortionists tumbling together, curling to protect the precious stones—a dance of death and riches.” The group gets separated with Hazel and Leo forced to go into a large cavern with obsidian walls, the walls had carvings of deaths, plague victims and corpses on battlefields all embellished with bright precious stones. Also the Argos II where they sailed is a large trireme (a large greek rowboat) styled ship, has many oars, large masts and a mechanical dragons head for the front of the ship.

Necromanteion

Tartarus: Whilst the 6 other demigods made there way to the doors of death on land, Percy and Annabeth had an even more dangerous job of moving through Tartarus to get to the doors of Death there. When they fell intoTartarus

they had been falling for around 9 days and only survived by landing in a bubbling black river called the Cocytus which filled them with thoughts of misery and dread. They made it out onto a beach of broken shards of glass and explored the rest of Tartarus. It was a gigantic cavern, like an entire world underground. The air was toxic and there was blood colored clouds floating over head. The area was as "Healthy as a nuclear blast zone" and the two could barely make it through the beach. They made out of the glass shard beach and proceeded through a field with black grass that led to a cliffs edge. At the bottom of the cliff ran the Plegethon river, a river of liquid fire that ran through a obsidian crevasse. The liquid fire healed Percy and Annabeth after drinking it and soon they became immune to the Tartarus air. The banks of the river was made of solid obsidian that glowed with the refection of the Plegethon. About a mile or two forwards the river flows down into another huge cliff “The River Phlegethon spilled over the side in jagged tiers of fiery waterfalls. The demon ladies were picking their way down the cliff, jumping from ledge to ledge like mountain goats.” At the bottom of the cliff was dark and gloomy with an eerie feel to it, it felt like something was going to jump at you from behind every tree. It had gray plains and black trees, the ground was full of blisters like burned skin. Sometimes the blisters would swell and burst, oozing out monsters like larvae from an egg. More blood red clouds swirled above and dragon like creatures flew between them. The atmosphere gave you a feeling that everything here was made to kill you. If you make it past this area the river of fire splits into multiple streams and the ground becomes more loose. If you were to dig some dirt up you would find that below it is a smooth slimy membrane as if the ground is simply skin. More up a head there is a flat wasteland that leads to a shrine, the shrine of Hermes. And after that a place called the Dark Lands which were, well, dark. Visibility couldn't reach more than 2 meters in front of you. There are pits and sharp rocks loomed from seemingly no where.

Percy and Annabeth making there way through Tartarus on the banks of the Phlegethon

While they make there way through the land I have a feeling they're going subtly deeper and deeper into Tartarus. I know because they say they sometimes stumble walking forwards but feel tired and heavy just backtracking a step. The farther you go down the darker it gets. But when you're in Tartarus you start to see it as much more than just a place, you see it as something living, something sentient. “she suddenly felt insignificant compared to the vastness of Tartarus. This place had no respect for anything—good or bad, small or large, wise or unwise. Tartarus swallowed Titans and demigods and kittens indiscriminately.” The temperature changes rapidly there, you can walk 20 meters one direction and have the temperature

rise or fall by 10 degrees. After the Dark Lands you enter a sort of forest with towering black trees. The trees sometimes quiver and vibrate because of the things that inhabit the area who fly above the trees. There called Arai and they look like old ladies with leathery wings and chicken like talons. They attack but instead of shredding you up with there claws they deliver curses to you. They attack you with curses from everyone you've ever wronged, like if you were to hurt someone you would be cursed with there pain. After the forest the land levels out into a dark life-less looking swamp. "Sulfur-yellow mist hung in the air. Even without sunlight, there were actual plants—clumps of reeds, scrawny leafless trees, even a few sickly-looking flowers blooming in the muck. Mossy trails wound between bubbling tar pits.” In the swamp theres a hut woven from a sickly green reptilian skin and rough jagged branches. After that there is a dusty plain with thick fog that lead to a peninsula that jutts out into a endless expanse of pitch black darkness. This is the edge of Tartarus, below lies Chaos which like Tartarus is a fundamental evil that has always been there. Below, not even visible, is the castle of Night (A goddess) and it leads to the heart of Tartarus which is where the doors of death are. Through the castle is a valley that you could've fit lake Ontario in. The ground shook from beneath them like a giant heart beat and the landscape itself looked like a giant heart. “Under poisonous clouds, the rolling terrain glistened purple with dark red and blue scar lines.” At one point that was more dark than its surroundings are tens of thousands of monsters clumped together. You could be miles away but you'll still be able to feel the pull and power of the doors of Death.

Monsters coming out of the doors of Death

Hazel Levesque: During the beginning of the book Hecate, the goddess of magic tells Hazel that she must learn to manipulate the mist in order to defeat the gods that guard the door of Death. Learning this Hazel now knows that there mission relies on her ability to manipulate the mist and this puts a lot of pressure on Hazel to succeed. The mist is like a veil that covers things so mortals don't see them as they are. Like for example the Argos II may fly over and the people looking up would see a jet flying by. Hazel has trouble with this not really knowing how it works or how to do it. Hecate the goddess of magic after showing Hazel's responsibilities told Hazel that there was a cross road. The cross road had different paths that Hazel could take but all the paths either involved flying to America and save many lives by stopping the camps from destroying each other. Or she could go to Epirus to stop Gaea from destroying and remaking the world, though this is for the greater good if she chose this path the camps would destroy each other and she wouldn't have a home to go back to. She decides not to choose any of the paths and make her own which adds more weight onto her shoulders. When the turtle attacked the ship Hazel had to distract it as her friends got away. She had to fly over it on her horse Arion that can run on any surface, including air. She stabs at the turtles face with her dagger and dodges its attacks. She fights the turtle long enough for her friends to escape. Later they run into a pirate who has golden flint lock pistols and can shoot with ridiculous accuracy. He demands all there riches and Hazel being the daughter of Pluto the god of the underground, can summon gold and precious gems. Before they leave Scipio the pirate asks for one last thing before they leave. He requests that Jason and Hazel (who were very high up on a steep island while the rest were down below) wash his feet as a sign of respect (don't question it). Hazel knew from legend that Scipio killed his victims by kicking them off the island and into the sharp rocks far below. Hazel figuring this out and using the mist tricked Scipio and Jason managed to tackle him into the rocks below. The House After figuring out how to use the mist Hazel could face Pasiphaë who is Hazels antagonist and was the Anti-Hecate. Hazel used her magic to defeat Pasiphaë and close the doors of Death. Though hazel had to learn to use the mist for the group she made the others uncomfortable with her abilities. “Jason noticed that the others were reluctant to meet her eyes. Since her trick with the Mist against Sciron the bandit, even Jason felt a little nervous around her. He knew that wasn’t fair to Hazel. It was hard enough being a child of Pluto, but she’d pulled off some serious magic on that cliff. And afterward, according to Hazel, Pluto himself had appeared to her. That was something Romans typically called a bad omen.” Hazel had a lot of external conflicts and not a lot of internal conflicts though the weight of knowing her choices and self doubt was present in the book.

Hazel Levesque is a character that is not in the original character traits description. But I have chosen to use her instead of Piper because Piper doesn't have a lot of conflict and those were covered in the character traits anyways. I've chosen her for the sake of having more to write about.

Leo Valdez: Leo is haunted by the death of his mother and finds it hard to summon his fire ability because of it. He has to face a god with Hazel to get to the doors of death. Also Leo has a tendency to fall in love with every girl thats out of her league. This leads to a external and internal problem. From before Leo had angered Khione by hitting on her and because of this Leo was flicked onto Ogygia by Khione. Leo now has the problem of being stuck on the island and away from his friends, Leo knows without his help that his friends can't fix Argos II and go on with there mission. Also landing on the island Leo meets a goddess named Calypso who can never leave the island. She is cursed to have heroes land on her island and when she falls in love with them a raft appears and the hero is forced to leave. Initially though the Calypso was very mad and hated Leo because the gods promised to let Calypso go but never did it. Leo obviously likes Calypso but tries to deny it. “She held up her calloused, grimy fingers. Leo couldn’t help thinking there was nothing hotter than a girl who didn’t mind getting her hands dirty. But of course, that was just a general comment. Didn’t apply to Calypso. Obviously.” Calypso ended up liking Leo in the end, helping him build and giving him new clothes and food. When Leo promised to come back to the island for Calypso even after she said it wasn't possible, she ended up in love with Leo and the raft appeared. “She turned, wiping her eyes furiously, and stormed up the beach, the breeze tousling her hair.” In the book, oaths are very serious. There is a saying "A oath to keep with a final breath" and swearing on the River Styx is the most dangerous and serious promise you can make. “He understood how dangerous oaths could be. But Leo didn’t care. “I’m coming back for you, Calypso,” he said to the night wind. “I swear it on the River Styx.” Because if this experience Leo becomes heart sick which is noted by Jason. He also becomes more serious and still jokes around but with less spirit than he did before. But before all this, in Bologna Leo had another problem involving the Argos II. Two elf like creature who could moves extremely quick on there feet and steal things with ease harassed the the crew and stole things from them. They stole Leo's magic tool belt which was quite important and the Archimedes sphere which was key for the ship to work properly. After the "Kerkopes" escaped Leo tracked them down and made a plan to get his stuff back. He used his knowledge of chemistry (Awesome) to create homemade flash bang grenades and got his stuff back. Leo has many external problems and has some internal ones as well but he hides it from his friends with his sense of humor.

Contents

Cover Special Thanks Character Trait Analysis: Percy Character Trait Analysis: Annabeth Character Trait Analysis: Jason Character Trait Analysis: Piper Character Trait Analysis: Leo Time & Placement The visit to Bologna Venice & The Adriatic Sea Croatia Paradise, and not so much Necromanteion Tartarus The conflicts of demigods Percy Jackson Conflicts Annabeth Chase Conflicts Jason Grace Conflicts Hazel Levesque Conflicts Leo Valdez Conflicts Symbolism Biography Of The Author

Symbolism Because of the books nature there tends to be a lot of symbolism involved. This is because the author wrote the book on the theme of Greek mythology which has close ties to symbolism. An example would be Percy's name which his mom chose because she knows that demigods usually don't lead happy lives, so she named him after Perseus who is the only known demigod to lead a happy life. The gods themselves have symbols for all of them, including the parents of the 8. Zeus/Jupiter who is the ruler of the sky has the symbol of the thunder bolt, oak tree and eagle. Poseidon/Neptune has the symbols of the horse, trident and dolphin. Hades/Pluto has many symbols such as the Helm of Darkness, Keys of Hades, Sword, Hades' Staff, screech owl, cows of Hades, and white poplar tree. The screech owls and the cows were on the paintings in the house of hades or the Necromanteion. Also like Percy's name the others have carefully thought out names that hold a lot of meaning and symbolism. Also the Argos II is named after the original Argos that held the Argonauts who were very successful. I think when Leo named the ship he chose that name because the Argos represented victory and good luck since the original was so successful. Also Jason was named after the original Jason who was an Argonaut. I think the adventures that the demigods are on symbolizes the mission that was had before. Frank Zhang who is one of the demigods on the mission has a very symbolic name. The name Frank is the name of Germanic tribes long ago who named themselves after the spears they use, which is the same type Frank uses. Also his name Zhang mean to be accurate and a good archer in Chinese and Frank is well known for his accuracy and skill with the bow. The demigods that originate from the Roman camp have symbols on there arms that represent there godly heritage and the legion. For example Jason has an eagle for his father Jupiter, SPQR which is the initials for the roman legion and bars that represent the years they've served. Before there mission like any other the heroes have to go to the Oracle which gives them a prophecy that will will come to life during the mission. The prophecy is written in a cryptic manner and cannot be changed. Because of the fact that it cannot be changed this makes it important for the heroes to understand the prophecy as it gives them and idea of whats to come. "Seven half-bloods shall answer the call, To storm or fire, the world must fall, An oath to keep with a final breath, And foes bear arm to the Doors of Death." The first line is more obvious than the rest, meaning the 7 demigods go on the mission. The second part hasn't happened yet but I predict that storm means Jason who is the son of Jupiter and fire is Leo who can control fire, the "world" might symbolize Gaea who is mother earth. Originally it was thought that the last line meant the Romans and Greeks but in the end at the doors of Death Damasen who is a giant helps Percy and Annabeth who are with Bob, a Titan. Giants, Titans and demigods are all enemies but still work together and fight. Though the third isn't confirmed it may be referring to Leo who swore to come back to Calypso

And special thanks to Stephanie, Leanne, Eric and Athena for help on the cover that was originally so bad I threw out the first copy (seriously you guys are awesome)

Biography Of The Author

Rick Riordan or Richard Russell Riordan, Jr. Was born in June 5, 1964 (age 49) San Antonio, Texas. He wrote the Percy Jackson series, the 39 Clues and the Heroes of Olympus, which is the series House Of Hades. He graduated at Alamo Heights High School. Afterwards he graduated from the University of Texas and taught english and social studies for 8 years. Many of the books/series he writes are very successful and has become featured films like the film Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief. He is also planning to release a new series on Norse mythology. When he was a kid he enjoyed reading, particularly Lord Of The Rings. He read mostly science fiction and fantasy in high school and before that in middle school he loved Greek and Norse mythology. In college he developed a love for mysteries. When he was in middle school at my age he wrote his first story and submitted it, though it was never published it didn't dampen his creativity and love for writing. While in college he was a music director at a summer camp which gave him inspiration for Camp Half Blood. He lives with his wife and two sons, Haley and Patrick and in his spare time he enjoys, swimming, playing guitar, and traveling with his family. Ricks love for writing carried over from his childhood to his work life and it has certainly paid off.