The Mark of Athena
The Mark of Athena is a 2012 American children's fantasy action-adventure middle grade children's fiction novel based on Greco-Roman classical mythology written by American author Rick Riordan. It was published on October 2, 2012, and is the third book in The Heroes of Olympus series, a sequel to the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. It is preceded by The Son of Neptune and followed by The House of Hades. The novel is narrated in the third-person.
The Mark of Athena received positive reviews from critics for its humor, characters, and mix of elements. Criticism was focused on its slow pace, action, and different perspectives. It has since been translated into many languages and released as a hardcover, e-book, audiobook, and paperback.
Plot
Six months after the events of The Lost Hero, Leo Valdez has constructed a flying trireme named Argo II, first to fly to camp Jupiter, later for use in the quest to Greece and Rome to stop Gaea from awakening. Leo Valdez, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, and Annabeth Chase, accompanied by Coach Hedge, arrive at Camp Jupiter to rendezvous with Percy Jackson and Roman demigods Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque. Camp Jupiter's praetor Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano tells Annabeth that, in order to unite Greek and Roman demigods against Gaea, they have to retrieve the Athena Parthenos, a giant statue of Athena that was stolen by the Romans from the Greeks in ancient times. The statue can only be retrieved by the demigod children of Athena through the help of the Mark of Athena, and no one has succeeded. Their conversation is interrupted by an Eidolon, who possesses Leo and forces him to attack the Roman camp. This causes the paranoid augur, Octavian, to convince the Romans that the Greeks are a threat and have to be destroyed.The seven demigods escape Camp Jupiter and briefly land near the Great Salt Lake. While there, Leo meets Nemesis, who gives him a fortune cookie that will help him if he breaks it, though doing so has consequences. Then, the group heads to Kansas, where Percy, Jason, and Piper disembark to find Bacchus, who tells them that they should find Phorcys. Gaea sends Eidolons to possess Percy and Jason in Kansas but they are repelled by Piper's charmspeak. When the demigods meet Phorcys and his sister, Keto, at the Georgia Aquarium, they turn out to be hostile, and the demigods are forced to battle them. Throughout the journey, tensions rise between Hazel, Frank, and Leo, especially when Leo discovers that Hazel's previous boyfriend was Leo's identical-looking great-grandfather Sammy Valdez. The group also learn that Nico di Angelo, who has been captured by the Giants during his travel to find the Doors of Death, is dying and must be saved. While searching for the Mark of Athena at Fort Sumter in Charleston, the demigods are ambushed by the Romans, but Reyna decides to let Annabeth continue her search for the Athena Parthenos, telling her that their next encounter will not be friendly. Annabeth finds a map about the mark of Athena, and returns to the ship.
While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the Argo II is attacked by the Scolopendra, one of Keto's children, and Leo, Frank, and Hazel are briefly sent underwater to Chiron's brother, the Ichthyocentaurs. While traveling to Rome, they dodge Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar and sail through the Mediterranean Sea, confronting Chrysaor along the way. There, the group splits up: Hedge guards the ship; Percy, Jason, and Piper scout the Colosseum; Frank, Hazel, and Leo search for Nico; and Annabeth looks for the Athena Parthenos. Percy and Jason defeat Ephialtes and Otis, the twin Giants who captured Nico, with the help of Bacchus. Frank, Hazel, and Leo are trapped by the Eidolons underground, but Leo uses his fortune cookie to bail them out. Annabeth, meanwhile, faces a variety of challenges, eventually confronting Arachne and defeats her using trickery, pushing her into Tartarus. The demigods secure the Athena Parthenos and save Nico; however, Arachne uses her remaining silk and pulls Annabeth and Percy into Tartarus; Percy hanging on the edge, asks Nico to meet them at the other side of the Doors of Death and falls into the abyss. Leo realizes that Percy and Annabeth's fall are the "consequences" mentioned by Nemesis and feels personally responsible. All the remaining members set sail for Greece.
Characters
- Annabeth Chase – daughter of Athena. She is tasked with recovering the Athena Parthenos, which will be instrumental in uniting the Greeks and Romans. She is the girlfriend of Percy.
- Leo Valdez – son of Hephaestus. He is briefly possessed by an eidolon in the book, and feels personally responsible for Annabeth and Percy falling into Tartarus.
- Piper McLean – daughter of Aphrodite. She is the girlfriend of Jason. Piper has the gift of charmspeak.
- Percy Jackson – son of Poseidon who recently recovered from amnesia and was formerly praetor in Camp Jupiter. He is the boyfriend of Annabeth.
- Jason Grace – son of Jupiter. He is the praetor of Camp Jupiter, who recently recovered from amnesia after Hera stole his memory. He is the boyfriend of Piper.
- Hazel Levesque – daughter of Pluto. She recently returned from the dead. She is the girlfriend of Frank.
- Frank Zhang – son of Mars and legacy of Poseidon. He is the boyfriend of Hazel. He briefly has tensions with Leo over Hazel.
- Coach Gleeson Hedge – satyr keeper of Camp Half-Blood. Hedge functions as the chaperone on board the Argo II.
- Nico di Angelo – son of Hades. He jumps into Tartarus to close the Doors of Death, but is captured by Ephialtes and Otis.
Accuracy
Riordan's eidolons are spirits that possess humans and automatons to kill and harm the heroes, a version of which can be found in Philostratus of Athens' The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, where an eidolon possesses a young boy, causing him to act out of character. In this story, Apollonius commands the eidolon to leave its host, similar to how Piper compels the eidolons to leave, removing them from Percy, Jason and Leo. However, eidolons are more commonly portrayed as visible remnants of the deceased, instead of possessive spirits. While these eidolons did not have a physical body, they were so life-like that they could be mistaken for the real person. In Helen, Euripedes claims that the Trojan War was fought over Helen's eidolon, while the real Helen was safely waiting in Egypt. Although Riordan's interpretation of eidolons is uncommon, it is rooted in a Greek myth.
The encounter with Echo and Narcissus offers a different interpretation of the original myth. Narcissus was an extremely handsome hunter who broke many hearts. Nemesis, the Greek goddess of revenge, cursed Narcissus to fall in love with his reflection, causing him to stare at his mirror image until death. Echo was a nymph who loved Narcissus, but when spurned, she wasted away until only her voice remained. When the heroes encounter the pair, Narcissus's vanity remains unchanged, but Echo's behavior differs. Instead of becoming heartbroken and wasting away, she is determined to save him so that he does not suffer the same fate. By making Echo steadfast in her goal, Riordan provides Echo a greater dimension of character than in the original story. She is no longer fading away from self-pity, but is fueled with purpose to save the man she loves.
The Scolopendra is a giant shrimp-like monster that attacks the heroes' ship in the novel, which withdraws after being pelted by Greek fire. Though the physical description of the monster remains accurate to mythology, no hero is ever depicted facing the Scolopendra. Its parentage is also unclear, but Riordan attributes it to one of Keto's monstrous children since she is the goddess of sea monsters. Keto's domain is never formally specified, but one of the earliest references to her children is Scylla, a terrifying sea monster that guards the Sea of Monsters.
Unlike other mythical creatures and encounters, most knowledge about the ichthyocentaurs is rooted in artistic renditions, such as mosaics and statues. Ichthyocentaurs have a humanoid upper body, the front legs of a horse, and the lower body of a fish. Since there is not much literature about these ichthyocentaurs, Riordan gives them a new backstory. Because of their resemblance to centaurs, the ichthyocentaurs become the aquatic equivalent of Chiron, training merpeople instead of regular heroes. Riordan also includes a gulf of tension between the ichthyocentaurs and Poseidon, as they choose not to meet with one of the heroes, who is a son of Poseidon. However, this strain is unsupported by the surviving ancient art, as in one mosaic, Poseidon is accompanied by an ichthyocentaur, which suggests companionship.
As the story progresses, the heroes must obtain Heracles's permission to enter the Mediterranean Sea, for which he demands Achelous's horn. Riordan blends two retellings of the Greek myth in the novel, describing a series of events where Heracles defeated Achelous for Deianira's hand in marriage, breaking off one of Achelous's horns, which became a cornucopia. The first variation Riordan draws inspiration from is also one of the earliest records of this event: Heracles fought Achelous over Deianira, breaking Achelous's horn in the process. However, the story claims that Achelous trades his broken horn for the horn of Amalthea, the horn of plenty. The second variation that Riordan blends with the first claims that Heracles diverted a river while fighting Achelous, and the resulting broken horn became the cornucopia.
The heroes' journey through the Mediterranean Sea is abruptly interrupted by Chrysaor and his crew of pirates, who are half man, half dolphin. The crew eventually scares off Chrysaor's crew by invoking the name of Bacchus and, soon after, dispose of the pirate as well. In the original Greek myths, Chrysaor was born holding a golden sword, which Riordan interprets as being exceptional at swordplay. As a son of Poseidon, Chrysaor becomes a ruler in his father's domain: a pirate of the seas. For his crew, Riordan draws inspiration from the story of a pirate crew who kidnapped the wrong god. In this tale, Dionysus drives the pirates insane and turns them into dolphins. In the novel, Chrysaor found those who were not fully transformed and formed a fearsome pirate crew.
When several heroes venture into an abandoned nymphaeum, they encounter nine vengeful nymphs who attempt to drain the heroes' lifeforce. Riordan maintains the nymphaeum's function as a shrine for the nymphs, but develops a new and malevolent backstory. In the novel, the nymphs nursed Zeus when he was a baby, and their life forces were tied to the nature of the surrounding area. One day, a son of Jupiter promised them a life of luxury and happiness if they were to move to Rome. To do this, they had to tie their anchors to the shells in a nymphaeum, which sustained them with fresh water from the aqueducts of Rome. However, Rome did not last. The nymphaeum became buried when the city fell, effectively cutting the nymphs off from water, and for over a thousand years, the nymphs withered away, plotting revenge. While this story of malevolent nymphs has no mythological basis, the usage of the nymphaeum as a shrine for the nymphs does have roots in history.
The heroes later encounter the twin giants Otis and Ephitalies, who have attempted to reach Olympus by stacking up mountains, which aligns with past mythological references. However, the rest of their description deviates significantly. In the novel, the twins are the sons of Gaea and Tartarus, bred to specifically oppose Dionysus. Riordan depicts them as about 9 ft tall, half the size of normal giants, which is a direct contradiction to their mythological description. In the myths, the giants are sons of Poseidon and Iphimedia, and are 54 feet tall.
At the story's climax, one of the heroes, a daughter of Athena, completes a set of deadly trials beneath Rome, ultimately facing off against Arachne, who is hungry for revenge. While the trials have no root in Greek myths, Arachne's hatred for Athena remains the same. In the ancient stories, Arachne was turned into a spider for daring to disrespect the gods. However, in Riordan's version, Arachne became a ginormous hybrid, half-woman, half-spider. While Arachne cannot lash out at Athena directly, she gets her revenge by killing almost every child of Athena through her deadly trails.
In the story, the Athena Parthenos was stolen by the Romans, who intended to break the Greeks' spirit by literally taking the physical embodiment of Athena. It eventually ended in Arachne's cave, where she kept it as a treasure for centuries. Bringing the statue home would repair the rifts between the Greeks and Romans after centuries of strife. In real life, the Athena Parthenos, an ivory and gold statue of Athena, mysteriously vanished. Some theorize that the Athena Parthenos was destroyed during the Persion invasion of Athens. Yet others theorize that it, a copy of the statue, was taken to Constantinople. Since the Byzantine Empire was initially from the Roman Empire, Riordan may have been inspired to attribute the disappearance of the Athena Parthenos to the Romans.
The mythological encounters that the heroes face demonstrate Rick Riordan's interpretations of ancient Greek sources. This analysis of The Mark of Athena demonstrates how Rick Riordan links his world to the ones found in mythology.