'The Lightning Thief' and References to Greek Mythology

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Updated on May 30, 2019

Rick Riordan's "The Lightning Thief" (the first volume of Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series) mentions many names familiar from Greek mythology. Here you'll find further information on the explicit mythological references and some more subtle mythological allusions. The order of the list below attempts to follow the sequence of mentions in the book as well as Riordan's other references to Greek mythology.

The Book Series

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series consist of five books by author Rick Riordan. The first book, "The Lightning Thief," focuses on Percy Jackson, who is about to get kicked out of boarding school for the second time. Mythological monsters and gods are after him and he only has ten days to rectify what they want from him. In the second book, The Sea of Monsters, Percy finds trouble at Camp Half-Blood where mythological monsters are back. In order to save the camp and keep it from being destroyed, Percy needs to gather his friends.

The third book, The Titan's Curse, has Percy and his friends looking to see what happened to the goddess Artemis, who went missing and is believed to have been kidnapped. They need to solve the mystery and save Artemis before the winter solstice. In the fourth book, The Battle of the Labyrinth, the war between the Olympians and Titan lord Kronos grows stronger as Camp Half-Blood becomes more vulnerable. Percy and his friends have to go on a quest in this adventure.

In the fifth and final installment of the series, The Last Olympian focuses on the half-bloods preparing for the war against the Titans. Knowing it is an uphill battle, the thrill is strong to see who will reign more powerful.

About the Author

Rick Riordan is most known for the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series but has also written the Kane Chronicles and the Heroes of Olympus. He is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and has won multiple awards for the mystery series for adults known as Tres Navarre.

Mythological References

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Gill, N.S. "'The Lightning Thief' and References to Greek Mythology." ThoughtCo, Sep. 9, 2021, thoughtco.com/the-lightning-thief-references-greek-mythology-118578. Gill, N.S. (2021, September 9). 'The Lightning Thief' and References to Greek Mythology. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-lightning-thief-references-greek-mythology-118578 Gill, N.S. "'The Lightning Thief' and References to Greek Mythology." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-lightning-thief-references-greek-mythology-118578 (accessed June 26, 2022).