Percy Jackson

Percy Jackson (Original title: Percy Jackson & the Olympians ) is a five-volume fantasy book series by the American author Rick Riordan . Your action takes place mainly on the east coast of the USA and is based on Greek mythology . The first volume appeared in the original 2005, the last in 2009. In Germany, all the volumes in a translation by Gabriele Haefs in Carlsen publishing house appeared. With Heroes of Olympus , Rick Riordan has created a follow-up series in which, in addition to the previously known characters from the Percy Jackson series, new people and a new storyline were introduced. The book series has been translated into 37 languages ​​and sold over 33 million copies in the United States.

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The series is based on the assumption that the legends of Greek mythology are real. Accordingly, the Greek gods, but also all other immortal figures and monsters of Greek mythology, still exist today. The seat of the gods, Mount Olympus , is no longer in Greece, but has shifted with the power center of the western world and is now in Manhattan ( New York City ), where the action begins.

As in Greek legends, some gods fathered children with humans. These demigods (also called "half-bloods") are mortal, but have extraordinary powers. Among them is the eponymous hero Perseus "Percy" Jackson. Every summer he visits "Camp Halfblood", a training camp for half-bloods, in which they are prepared for the fight against their opponents in the world outside the camp, the "monsters". The monsters include the countless chimeras , giants , titans , monsters, demigods and gods of Greek mythology.

In the first volume , twelve-year-old Percy learns that he is a demigod (a son of Poseidon ) and that a war is brewing between the gods and the titans in which, according to a prophecy, he himself has to play a special role. The Titans, under the leadership of Kronos, plan an uprising against Olympus to regain their former position of power. Percy, Annabeth (daughter of Athena ) and Grover (a satyr ) must endure numerous adventures to defend Olympus.

In the second volume , Grover is captured by Polyphemus , a cyclops , while searching for Pan , the god of the wilderness, predetermined for his species . Percy, Annabeth and Percy's half-brother Tyson (a Cyclops and son of Poseidon) go in search of Grover. They have to defeat numerous monsters and discover the headquarters of Kronos' army on a cruise ship. The crew also includes demigod Luke (son of Hermes ), once Annabeth's best friend and Percy's former camp mate. Kronos himself rests in fragments in a golden coffin on the ship. Every recruitment of a demigod into his army has the effect that a piece of him from Tartarus (the underworld) finds him and completes his earthly presence in that coffin. The heroes free Grover, defeat the Cyclops and return home unharmed.

In the third volume , Grover leads the siblings and half-bloods Bianca and Nico di Angelo towards the half-blood camp. On the way a fight against a manticore breaks out , to which Percy, Grover, Annabeth and Thalia (daughter of Zeus ) as well as the hunters of Artemis (a guild of girls who were raised into immortality by Artemis and can only die in battle) come to the rescue . Annabeth is kidnapped by the manticore. At the same time, the goddess Artemis is captured. The huntsmen's lieutenant Zoë Nightshade (daughter of the titan Atlas and the goddess Pleione ) as well as Bianca, Percy, Thalia and Grover move out for the liberation . On the way, Talos (a robot from the forge of Hephaestus ) kills Bianca, who sacrifices herself to save the life of her companions. On Mount Tamalpais , a mountain near San Francisco, the heroes fight against Atlas and free Artemis and Annabeth. During the subsequent fight against Luke and the army of Kronos, Zoë dies. Nico belatedly receives certainty about his divine father, who reveals himself as Hades . Thalia joins the Artemis hunters.

In the fourth volume, the residents of Camp Halfblood discover that the labyrinth of the mythological inventor Daedalus still exists and has access to the camp. It is feared that Kronos' army could gain access to the otherwise magically protected training camp in this way and try to destroy the local demigods. Percy, Annabeth, Grover and Tyson search the labyrinth for Daedalus' workshop to conquer the thread of Ariadne , with which one can orientate oneself in the labyrinth. However, Percy and Co. discover a much better way to find their way around the maze: the eyes of a mortal with special visionary abilities - Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who Percy had met last winter. In the end, the demigods of Camp Halfblood overcome the deployed army of Kronos at the exit of the labyrinth in a great and costly battle in which, among other things, the two children of Dionysus die.

In the fifth and last volume, Typhon awakened by Kronos marches against Olympus. The main Olympic gods go to war in a remote arena, leaving Olympus almost defenseless. Only the "last goddess" Hestia holds the fortress of the gods. Kronos has fully manifested himself with the help of Luke's body and attacks New York and Olympus. Percy and his friends defend the city in a great battle in which they receive divine help in the end. Poseidon destroys Typhon and Percy and Annabeth face Kronos. He seems invincible, but Annabeth gains some influence over his "host" Luke, who was once her closest friend. With a gun that Luke gave Annabeth years ago, Luke, later realizing his mistakes, commits suicide and thereby destroys Kronos. At the victory celebration Zeus offers Percy the elevation to divine immortality, but he refuses and ensures that in future all children of God have to be recognized by their divine parents as soon as they are 13 years old. This should also apply to the children of the gods Hades, Janus , Morpheus and other lesser, secondary / non-Olympic gods, who were previously ignored by Olympus . Rachel Elizabeth Dare is raised in the half-blood camp by the god Apollo to the personified oracle of Delphi . Their first prophecy is about a renewed rescue of Olympus by several demigods, which heralds a continuation of the five-volume saga.

Overview of the volumes

Volume number	title	Original title	Publishing year
1	Percy Jackson - Thieves in Olympus	The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson & the Olympians)	2005
2	Percy jackson under the spell of the Cyclops	The Sea of ​​Monsters (Percy Jackson & the Olympians)	2006
3	Percy Jackson - The Titan's Curse	The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson & the Olympians)	2007
4th	Percy Jackson - The Battle of the Labyrinth	The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson & the Olympians)	2008
5	Percy Jackson - The Last Goddess	The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson & the Olympians)	2009

characters

Demigods

Perseus (Percy) Jackson

Perseus "Percy" Jackson lives with his mother Sally Jackson and stepfather Gabe Ugliano in New York. He is twelve years old in the first book. His real father is the Olympian god Poseidon. Because Percy has dyslexia and attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder - but these later prove to be helpful - he does poorly at school. Because of this, and because of some strange accidents , Percy has to change schools every year. After a teacher turns into a fury in front of his eyes and tries to kill him, Percy learns that he is actually a demigod of Greek mythology. The Olympian gods still exist, but over the centuries they have migrated west with Western civilization and now live on the invisible 600th floor of the Empire State Building . From now on Percy attends Camp Half-Blood , a kind of training camp for demigods. Here he trains for the fight against monsters and enemies of the gods and learns that he is a son of Poseidon and that his dyslexia stems from the fact that his brain is tuned to ancient Greek . In the fourth part, he discovers that he feels more than friendship for Annabeth Chase. Is the weapon of Percy Jackson a sword of celestial bronze called Riptide (Anaklysmos, in ancient Greek Ανακλυσμός)

Annabeth Chase

Annabeth is the daughter of Athena and a scientist. Percy and Annabeth see each other at camp for the first time. Although Annabeth initially dislikes Percy, she accompanies him and Grover on their search for the Ruler's Lightning. In the second volume she helps Percy and Grover to find the Golden Fleece. In the third volume she is captured by Kronos' army, but Percy, Grover, Bianca, Thalia and Zoë save her. She has a deep friendship with Luke until he joins Kronos, and later with Percy. Annabeth kisses Percy in volume four when he is in danger. At the end of the fifth book, the two become a couple. Annabeth's weapons are a bronze knife and baseball cap that make the wearer invisible. The cap is a birthday present from her mother Athene. Annabeth is described as sporty with wavy blonde hair, tanned skin, and gray eyes. She becomes the architect of Olympus after Kronos devastated it almost completely.

Luke Castellan

Luke is a son of Hermes , but out of anger at his father, whom he feels abandoned, changes sides and joins the army of the Titan Kronos, in which he takes on an important role. He tries in vain to get Thalia, Annabeth and Percy to his side. In the fifth part he finally decides for the good and kills himself and with it Kronos, whom he had served as a host.

Thalia Grace

Thalia is a daughter of Zeus . She moved around with Annabeth and Luke until Grover found her and was about to take her to Camp Half-Blood. Shortly before the camp, however, they were attacked by Cyclops, and Thalia sacrificed herself for her friends and was transformed into a spruce by her father Zeus, who from then on protected the boundaries of the camp. At the end of the second book, Thalia is brought back to life by a deceitful plan of the Titan Kronos with the help of the Golden Fleece to influence the prophecy of the oracle. In the third volume she joins Artemis and thus becomes an immortal hunter. In 'Heroes of Olympus' you learn that she has a brother who supposedly disappeared at the age of two. He is one of the seven demigods from prophecy.

Clarisse La Rue

Clarisse is a daughter of Ares . She and Percy have hated each other since they first met, Clarisse tries to dip Percy's head in the toilet. Percy struggles and, through his influence on the water, causes the toilets to explode, splashing their contents on Clarisse and her friends. At the beginning of the second part they fight briefly on the same side, but the hatred is not overcome until the end of the third part, although they help each other in some situations. On the other hand, in the short story Percy Jackson and the stolen Chariot from The Demigod Files it becomes clear that a friendship develops between the two, which Percy admits to her (and only to her).

Bianca di Angelo

Bianca and her little brother Nico are recognized as half-bloods by Grover in the third book. Bianca joins Artemis' hunters - to Nicos's annoyance - and accompanies Zoë on her ventures on behalf of the goddess. It turns out that Nico and Bianca spent over seventy years at the Lotus Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, where you forget the time and barely age. In a fight against the metal giant Talos, she sacrifices her life for her friends and is then nowhere to be found. Bianca was a daughter of Hades .

Nico di Angelo

Bianca's ten year old brother is fascinated by everything related to Greek mythology. He also plays Mythomagic , a trading card and figure game that revolves around gods and monsters. He asks Percy to take care of his sister. When he learns that she is dead, he declares himself Percy's enemy. As he tears up the ground to devour attacking monsters, Percy realizes that he and Bianca are children of Hades. Nico then leaves the camp. In Volume 4 he forgives Percy and fights at his side to save the camp. But he leaves the camp again because he is a son of Hades. Since Hades does not belong to Olympus, he cannot adapt in the camp. In the follow-up series Heroes of Olympus it turns out that Nico was once in love with Percy Jackson.

Charles Beckendorf

Charles Beckendorf is a son of Hephaestus and is known for his craftsmanship. He is the boss of the Hephaestus hut. In the first four books he has a supporting role, but in the fifth volume he plays a larger role. He is in love with Silena Beauregard (daughter of Aphrodite), whom he first invites on a date in the short story The Bronze Dragon in The Demigod Files . Then the two are together. Most of the half-bloods in Camp Half-Blood address him by his surname Beckendorf. At the beginning of the fifth volume, The Last Olympian , he sacrifices himself to destroy the Princess Andromeda , Kronos' ship and headquarters, which, however, does not seem to bother him.

Silena Beauregard

Silena is a daughter of Aphrodite . In the first volumes she played a supporting role and taught Percy to ride a Pegasus . In the last volume she saves the other demigods by pretending to be the sulking Clarisse and fighting the Drakon; the others from the Ares hut follow her. After her death it turns out that she was the wanted spy of Kronos. Luke could blackmail her because she used to love him.

Ethan Nakamura

Ethan is a son of Nemesis and meets Percy for the first time in the fourth volume in the arena of Antaios . Because Nemesis is only a secondary goddess, has no throne in Olympus and there is also no Nemesis hut in the camp, he has joined the army of Kronos. He is angry with the Olympian gods for showing too little respect for the secondary gods and their children. He has sacrificed an eye to his mother, who in return assured him that he could help ensure that the children of the secondary gods received more respect. He dies in the final battle when he turns against Kronos, however, through him, Percy understands that the secondary gods must be given more attention to avoid another war, and makes this part of his wish for the Olympian gods.

Gods and titans

Zeus

Zeus is god of heaven and ruler of Olympus. His most powerful weapon is the ruler lightning, which is stolen from him in the first book by Luke to destroy Olympus. He is a son of Kronos and Rhea . He and his brothers Poseidon and Hades dismembered their father and plunged him into eternal torment in Tartarus . He is also referred to as the father of gods.

Poseidon

Poseidon is Percy Jackson's father and father of the Cyclops, the god of the sea (the waters) and the horses. He is also called "The Earth Shaker" and Stormbringer, as he is also responsible for earthquakes. He is one of the big three and after the Second World War - just like Hades and Zeus - swore not to father any more children, since the next child of the big three, who turns 16, could either crumble Olympus or strengthen it . The gods did not want to take this risk.

Hades

Hades is the god of the underworld. He is the husband of his niece Persephone and the father of Bianca and Nico di Angelo. Percy meets him in the first volume on his assignment to find Zeus' ruler lightning. In the fifth volume, The Last Olympian , Hades lures Percy into a trap when Nico leads him into the palace of Hades. Hades plans to lock Percy in dungeon until Nico's sixteenth birthday so that Nico can fulfill the prophecy. In the end he fights together with Persephone and Demeter on the side of Mount Olympus and his own hut is opened at Camp Half Blood.

Dionysus

Dionysus , also known as Mr. D, is the Greek god of wine and vines. Because he had attacked a nymph that had been declared taboo, his father Zeus punished him with a ban on alcohol and made him head of Camp Half-Blood. This task frustrates the god; he shows little interest in his students. Many think he hates them because he bullies them.

Hera

Hera is the goddess of family and marriage. She threw her son Hephaestus from Olympus because she wanted a perfect family. When she meets Percy in Part 4, she initially seems calm. However, when Percy turns against her, she becomes very angry.

Hermes

Hermes , the god of thieves and messenger of the gods, is Luke's father and helps Percy on his mission in the second part: He gives him various pieces of equipment to take with him on his search for Grover. He does this so that Percy convinces Luke to return to camp and to the side of the gods, but the attempt initially fails.

Hephaestus

Hephaestus is the god of blacksmiths, fire and craftsmen. He is Aphrodite's husband. In the third volume, The Curse of the Titan , he appears several times, but does not play an important role. In the fourth volume, The Battle of the Labyrinth , he plays a bigger role and helps Percy several times. He is the father of Charles Beckendorf. When Hephaestus was born, his mother Hera threw him from Olympus because she thought he was too ugly and she wanted a "perfect" family. However, Hera denies this.

Ares

The god of war Ares is manipulated in the first volume by Luke, who acts on behalf of Kronos, in order to turn the gods Zeus, Hades and Poseidon against each other. He reveals his plan to Percy, Annabeth and Grover on the beach in Los Angeles, but claims to be acting independently. Percy holds out against the god in a duel for Hades' helmet of darkness, which he sends back to the ruler of the underworld. Ares then declares himself to be Percy's enemy and curses Percy's sword. In volume 3 the curse works in the fight against Atlas, General Kronos'. Ares has had a relationship with Aphrodite for millennia.

Athena

Athena , the goddess of wisdom, the art of war and patron goddess of Athens, is Annabeth's mother, who tells Percy at the end of the third volume that she is against the friendship of Annabeth and Percy. When the gods have to decide at the end of the third part whether to kill Percy or to let him live, they, Ares and Dionysus are in favor of killing Percy.

Apollo

Apollo is the brother of Artemis, god of culture, prophecy and light, and drives a chariot that is the sun. The faster you drive, the hotter the sun shines. In the third volume he is supposed to bring Percy, Thalia, Grover and Artemis' hunters to Camp Half-Blood and lets Thalia drive his car. Despite Artemis' prohibition, he calls some hunters “sweetie” several times. He later gives valuable advice to Percy's friends, disguised as a homeless man named Fred.

Artemis

Artemis is the sister of Apollo and goddess of the hunt, the stars and the moon. She has renounced the man's world and instead surrounds herself with a retinue of hunters. They have to take an oath, according to which they also renounce the male world and serve Artemis forever, for this they become immortal. In the third book Artemis is kidnapped by Atlas, but freed by Percy, Grover and Thalia. Thalia then joins the hunters.

Aphrodite

Percy meets Aphrodite for the first time in Part 3 in Ares' car. He finds her stunning and is a little speechless at first, but pinches his arm and can finally have a reasonable conversation with her while he holds the mirror for her and she puts on make-up. The goddess tries to persuade him to turn away from the hunters of Artemis and look for the missing Annabeth instead of Artemis. She is the wife of Hephaestus, but has a relationship with Ares.

Pan

Pan is the forest and pasture god. He is especially venerated by the satyrs, but he has disappeared without a trace for over two thousand years. Almost everyone thinks he is dead, but the satyrs believe he is still alive and are looking for him. Grover in particular sees this search as his life's work. At the end of volume four, Percy and his friends find him lying dying. Pan dies peacefully, leaving Grover to take care of nature conservation in his place.

Hecate

Hecate is the goddess of magic and fog, who hides the gods and titans from the eyes of mortals. Hecate lights the way for Demeter with her torches when she is looking for her daughter Persephone, who has been kidnapped by Hades. Hecate also destroys the shadowy giant Klythios by setting fire to his hair. In the fourth part of "Heroes of Olympus" she leads Hazel Levesque to an intersection, gives her advice and instructs her to learn how to control the fog.

Hestia

Hestia is the goddess of the hearth, the fire place and the place of sacrifice. She plays an important role in the fifth volume, because she meets Percy in difficult situations and shows him details from Luke's past. The fifth volume, The Last Goddess, means that Hestia does not take part in the battle against Typhon and remains the only goddess on Mount Olympus. She is considered a secondary goddess in the novels, while she is one of the twelve Olympian gods in Greek mythology.

Kronos

Kronos is the father of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades and Chiron and King of the Titans, but was chopped into pieces by his son Zeus with his own scythe and thrown into Tartarus. For this he now wants revenge and tries to come back to power with the help of mortals, monsters and demigods. In the first volume he uses Percy to turn the gods against each other. However, Annabeth, Grover, and Percy can prevent this from happening. In the second book, with the help of Luke, he poisons the spruce (Thalia), which strengthens the boundaries of the camp and makes them impenetrable for enemies. In the third part he lures Artemis into a trap to free his accomplice Atlas, who has carried the sky for millennia. In the fourth part his soul merges with Luke's body, which makes him powerful again. However, Nico's plan can prevent him from attacking the camp on the spot.

People

Sally Jackson

Sally Jackson is Percy's mother. She knows about the gods and demigods because she had an affair with Poseidon and also has the rare ability for humans to see monsters and magical processes clearly through a fog. In the first volume she is married to Gabe Ugliano, who terrorizes her and Percy, but whose fumes protect Percy from attacks by monsters. Gabe Ugliano is turned into stone by the head of Medusa at the end of the first book. Sally later meets the English teacher Paul Blofis, whom she married in the fourth book and with whom Percy got along much better. In the first volume, Sally Jackson is kidnapped by a Minotaur into the underworld, but saved by Percy, Annabeth and Grover. In the last volume she takes part in the battles against the army of Kronos.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Rachel Elizabeth Dare does not appear until the third volume. It is only mentioned briefly, but then plays a bigger role in the fourth and fifth volumes.

She can see through the so-called fog, like Sally Jackson, and can therefore also see, when she and Percy meet in the third volume, how a group of skeletons is after him. After she helps Percy and Annabeth through the labyrinth in the fourth volume and helps in the fight against Kronos' army in the fifth volume, she becomes the new oracle at the end of the fifth volume. At the beginning of volume five you can tell that she spent a lot of time with Percy and fell in love with him, which Annabeth doesn't seem to like. At the beginning of the fifth volume they are sitting together in a car and Rachel kisses him when Beckendorf lands on a Pegasus on the car. What Rachel doesn't know: Beckendorf had to promise Percy that he wouldn't tell Annabeth anything about it, because Percy is still unclear about his feelings, but later he realizes that he loves Annabeth and only likes Rachel as a good friend. Rachel becomes the new oracle at the camp.

Gift Ugliano

Percy's stepfather Gabe Ugliano is also called Gabe the Stinkers by Percy. Sally Jackson is only with him because his smell covers that of Percy's blood. Later he is petrified by the head of Medusa.

Paul Blofis

According to Gabe Ugliano, Paul Blofis is the new boyfriend and later husband of Percy's mother Sally. Percy likes him because he is very friendly and his mother is happy because of him. In the last volume he even helps in the fight against Kronos' army, since he really believes that Percy is a demigod.

May Castellan

May is Luke's mother and, like Rachel and Sally, can see through the fog. She wanted to become an oracle, but did not know that loving oracles were cursed, which made her partially blind. Luke left her at the age of seven to protect his mother. His father Hermes told Annabeth to keep him from becoming Kronos.

Frederick Chase

Frederick Chase is Annabeth's father. When Annabeth is kidnapped in volume three, he helps her rescue by flying to Mount Tamalpais on a Sopwith Camel from the First World War and shooting the monsters with bullets made from heavenly bronze.

Other figures

Grover Underwood

Grover Underwood is a satyr , a human from the waist up, a goat from the waist down, who disguises himself as a student in Percy's school. They become friends before Percy finds out he's a demigod. Grover is supposed to take Percy to camp; later he helps him find Zeus' ruler lightning. Grover and Percy share an empathy link that lets them feel how each other is doing from a distance. Grover was supposed to protect the demigoddess Thalia, daughter of Zeus, before Percy and bring her to Half-Blood-Hill together with Annabeth and Luke. However, they were attacked by monsters. For several years after the incident, Grover took no notice of his role as protector. His biggest dream is to find the nature god Pan, who disappeared 2000 years ago. His father and uncle Ferdinand (who was turned to stone by Medusa) have already tried to find him but have not returned, as has every satyr who set out to find Pan so far. At the end of volume four, Grover and friends find him before he dies. Pan dies after a conversation and leaves Grover with the task of looking after nature in his place.

Tyson

Tyson is a friend of Percy's at Mortal School in the second volume. He is a homeless orphan , exceptionally tall and strong, but also very shy and often a victim of bullying . Later he helps Percy in the fight against the Laistrygons and turns out to be a camouflaged Cyclops. Percy takes him to Camp Half-Blood, where it turns out that Tyson is also a son of Poseidon. He supports his brother during the adventure that follows and later leaves camp to work with other Cyclops in the forges of gods in Poseidon's undersea kingdom. As a present for Percy, Tyson gives him a shield disguised as a clock. He also supports Percy and his friends in the fourth volume while they are in the labyrinth. In the fifth volume he helps hunt down the monster Typhon and for this he is appointed general of the Olympic Cyclops Army by Zeus.

Chiron

Chiron is a centaur and the instructor at Camp Half-Blood, where demigods learn to cope on their own in a world that is full of monsters. Once, shortly before his death, he asked the gods for immortality in order to be able to further train demigods. He assigns Percy the task of retrieving Zeus' ruler's bolt. He was already teaching Percy at Yancy Academy , where he disguised himself as a disabled Latin teacher named Mr. Brunner . Chiron is immortal as long as you need him in this world; he is also a son of Kronos .

Zoë Nightshade (org.Zoe Nightshade)

Zoë is an immortal hunter of the goddess Artemis and her right hand. She hates Thalia because she once refused to join the Slayers. Zoë leads the search for Artemis in the third volume, initially not accepting the camp members in general and Percy in particular, but slowly becoming friends with them during the adventure - in the end even with Thalia. She is a daughter of Atlas and therefore a sister of the Hesperides , who was rejected. In the end, she fights her father on Mount Othrys , the hometown of the Titans, and is killed in the process, which fulfills the prophecy that a participant in the search will die at the hands of parents. Artemis immortalizes Zoë as a constellation in the sky, her successor is Thalia.

Blackjack

Blackjack is a black Pegasus that appears in the third part and is very good friends with Percy. Since his father Poseidon created the horses, Percy can hear the horses' thoughts and talk to them. Blackjack previously belonged to Luke or Kronos' army, but then switched sides to help Percy with his duties and to lead a better life himself. He supports Percy several times in his adventures as a means of transportation.

Themes and motifs

Percy Jackson follows the classic scheme of Greek mythology with her troubled hero's journeys, during which a small group of the demigods' camps are sent off with a specific mission. Analogous to the heroes of Greek mythology, the protagonists are repeatedly confronted with randomly appearing famous fictional monsters such as the Hydra or Scylla and Charybdis during their adventures and visit different places such as the underworld or Olympus. Since these places follow the most successful country in each case, they are currently mostly all in or near the USA and have been adapted to modern times in one form or another. Thus, the Olympus is now above the Empire State Building , accessible by elevator and the Amazons have audited the consolidated Amazon founded, with whom she now among other Pegasi sell.

The author not only makes use of gods, heroes and monsters, but also many motifs from Greek mythology. The first volume tells of a typical hero's journey , which combines elements of the journeys of the Greek heroes Perseus , Theseus , Bellerophon and Heracles . In the second volume, the protagonist undertakes a ship journey based on the Odyssey and the Argonaut saga. A motif from the Odyssey already plays an important role in the first volume and also in the further course of the story: The Lotos Hotel & Casino is a modernized version of the island of the lotophages , where you can tell the time and destination of your journey by eating the lotus plant forgets. The basis for the fourth book is the legend of Daidalos and the Cretan king Minos . The fifth and final book contains strong references to the myth of the battle for Troy . The storyline about Clarisse, who does not take part in the war because of personal anger at her allies, but is motivated to intervene by the death of a friend who fell in battle in Clarisse's armor, is based on the story of Achilles and Patroclus Homer's Iliad .

An important topic in the series is nature conservation. Percy's best friend Grover is given the task of making sure that each individual takes responsibility for the preservation of nature after the death of the god Pan.

Follow-up series "Heroes of Olympus"

With the first volume “The Disappeared Demigod”, published in 2010, Riordan started a follow-up series to the Percy Jackson book series with “Heroes of Olympus”. Based on the prophecy uttered in the last volume “The Last Goddess”, a new group of demigods sets out to fight a new threat to Olympus, Gaia . In addition to the three newly introduced main characters Jason, Piper and Leo, well-known characters from the Percy Jackson series such as Annabeth and Chiron also play a role in the first volume.

In the second volume "The Son of Neptune" Percy Jackson is one of the main characters. In exchange for the Roman demigod Jason, who plays an important role in the first volume in the Greek camp Half Blood, Percy is brought by Juno / Hera to Camp Jupiter on the west coast, the home of the Roman demigods. Just like Jason with no memory of his past, he is supposed to win the trust of the Roman demigods here in order to unite the warring Greek and Roman demigods in the fight against Gaia and her second-born sons, the giants . Two new main characters, the Roman demigods Frank and Hazel, are introduced.

In the third volume, “The Sign of Athena”, the meanwhile seven Greco-Roman demigods and the satyr “Trainer Hedge” set out for Rome in a ship, the Argo II. According to the prophecy, they can only fight Gaia and the giants in the "Old World" and there in Greece.

In the fourth volume, Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus. The other five demigods are on their way to Greece. Trainers Hedge and Nico are also on the ship. It is discovered that Nico was once in love with Percy. Leo spends some time in this volume on the island of Ogygia. He was sent there by Chione, the goddess of snow, an ancient enemy of Piper, Jason and Leo. Leo is the first with whom the girl on the island of Ogygia, the daughter of the Titan Atlas, Calypso, does not fall in love. (Percy was there too - and of course she fell in love with him too. Leo, however, is known to always fall in love with the girls who do not love him.) Leo swears that he will save the girl. In the end, she falls in love with him too. The book ends in the house of Hades. This is where Percy and Annabeth join the others. The heroes find out that the statue of Athenes, which they saved in Volume 3, has to be brought to the Greeks (Camp Half-Blood) by a Roman in order to make peace. So they call Reyna. She comes on her Pegasus Scypio, who dies after the long journey. With the help of Nico and trainer Hedge, she makes her way to Camp Half-Blood with the statue.

The fifth volume is marked by the journeys of the Argo II around the Peloponnese, stopping at Ithaca, Epirus and Olympia before they encounter an army of giants on the Acropolis in Athens. Meanwhile, Nico di Angelo travels with Reyna and trainer Hedge as well as the statue of Athena by shadow rice through Europe, which over time costs him so much strength that he almost becomes a shadow himself. At the individual stops they are attacked by Orion, among others, and Reyna is confronted with her past. Finally, trainer Hedge arrives at the camp in time for the birth of his child and after the statue of Athena has been erected on Half-Blood-Hill and the Roman and Greek demigods are reconciled, the gods of Olympus are at peace with themselves again enough that they can intervene in Athens in the fight against the giants. Some blood drips from Percy and Annabeth on the rocks of the Acropolis and Gaia wakes up ...

Volumes of the next series

Volume number	title	Original title	Publishing year
1	Heroes of Olympus - The vanished demigod	The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero	Fall 2010 (Germany: September 2012)
2	Heroes of Olympus - The son of Neptune	The Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune	Fall 2011 (Germany: December 2012)
3	Heroes of Olympus - The sign of Athena	The Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena	Fall 2012 (Germany: October 2013)
4th	Heroes of Olympus - The House of Hades	The Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades	Fall 2013 (Germany: October 2014)
5	Heroes of Olympus - The blood of Olympus	The Heroes of Olympus: The Blood of Olympus	Fall 2014 (Germany: October 2015)

Supplementary books and other series in the Percy Jackson universe

In Percy Jackson told: Greek Gods tell the legends of the gods from the standpoint of Percy Jackson be told. In Percy Jackson Narrated: Greek Hero Tales , the hero tales are told by him.

In Percy Jackson - On the hunt for monsters with the Kane siblings, it's about how Percy and Annabeth fight monsters with the Kane siblings.

The series The Adventures of Apollo tells the story of Apollo who was thrown from Mount Olympus. So far (April 2019) the volumes Das Verborgene Orakel , Die dunkle Prophezeiung and The Burning Labyrinth have been published in Germany.

In addition, there is the Magnus Chase series, which is based on the Scandinavian mythology of the Edda (with various adaptations, e.g. Walhalla location in Boston). The protagonist Magnus Chase is the cousin of Percy Jackson's friend Annabeth Chase.

Film adaptations

→ Main articles : Percy Jackson - Thieves in Olympus (film)  and Percy Jackson - Under the spell of the Cyclops (film)

On February 11, 2010, the film version of "Percy Jackson - Thieves in Olympus" was released in German cinemas. The 16-year-old hero in the film adaptation is played by the American actor Logan Lerman . The plot is very different from the book. The second part of the Percy Jackson series, Percy Jackson - Im Bann des Cyclopen , was filmed in 2012 and was released in German cinemas on August 15, 2013. Chris Columbus , who directed the first film, is this time executive producer, while Thor Freudenthal directed it.

In May 2020 it was announced that Disney- owned Fox 21 TV Studios was working on a series adaptation of the material.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Zorianna Kit: 'Percy Jackson' sequel hopes to lure in bigger US audience Reuters article from August 6, 2013. Accessed May 7, 2020
2. ↑ Nellie Andreeva, Denise Petski, Nellie Andreeva, Denise Petski: 'Percy Jackson' Series In The Works At Disney +. In: Deadline. May 14, 2020, accessed on May 18, 2020 . 

Web links

• Percy Jackson - Carlsen Publishing House website