Percy Jackson Book Club discussion
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parallels between percy and perseus - a deep dive
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Hello, campers! The first one was better, but we'll have to make do. Please gather around the fire as I tell you Perseus' story.
Let's get better acquainted with Percy's namesake
There once was a King who wished to have sons, but his wife had only given him a daughter, Danae. The King once visited the Oracle of Delphi to ask if he'd ever have a son, he was told that he wouldn't, but he'd have a grandson who would kill him one day. And so he cast his daughter in a cell underneath the palace where she prayed. Zeus heard her and nine month later, she gave birth to their son in her cell.
The King put them in a chest and sent them on the sea. Fortunately, a fisherman saw them and got them ashore. He took them to the King Polydectes of Seriphus who instantly wished to marry Danae, so he trapped her in his castle and sent Perseus, who cried whenever the king came near his mother, to the Temple of Athena to be nursed. Perseus and his mother still loved each other deeply and the boy visited his mother whenever he could. As he grew, it was obvious he was strong and the King was trying hard to get him out of his picture so he could marry Danae. And so he uncovered what Perseus' fatal flaw - to prove himself. And so he tricked him into promising that he'd get Medusa's head.
Athena and Hermes both aided the demigod as they gave him a shield, winged sandals, Hades' Helm of Invisibility and a sword (depending on what version of the myth you've read). And so the boy sets on this treacherous journey. He uses the shield to watch Medusa's reflection. He find her asleep and so he carefully beheads her. While he is on his way back, he manages to rescue an Ethiopian princess, Andromeda, who was going to be killed by a sea monster because her mother had claimed she was much more beautiful than Poseidon's Nymphs and the only way to spear her kingdom from his wrath, she'd have to be murdered by a sea monster. He also marries her.
When he returns home, he turns the king and his supporters to stone and then he gives Athena her shield back and Medusa's head, and gives Hermes back the sword, the sandals, and Hades' Helm.
He then takes his mother back to her home kingdom where he accidentally kills his grandpa, thus fulfilling the prophecy. He founded Mycenae and became one of the most overrated hero's ancestor (yes, Hercules, I'm looking at you).
Parallels
Boys who love their mothers survive!
Both Perseus' had their mothers trapped by mediocre men whom they saved them from by turning them to stone (though, in Percy's case - Sally herself turned Gabe to stone)
If you're a son of one of the big 3 and your name starts with "P" and ends in "erseus", then you are bound to behead Medusa (I don't make the rules)
Both Percy's encounter Medusa and have to behead her. While Percy faces her when she's asleep, and looks at her reflection through a green glass ball while Medusa mocks him and Annabeth tells him not to listen to her. (I'll be honest, I know that the scriptwriters for the movies didn't do their homework as a demigod, unless they are Annabeth, doesn't carry any devices with them as it attracts monster, but Percy killing Medusa with the help of an iPod was kind of iconic).
Personality
They also parallel each other as they are both jumping to rescue as many people as they can.
To conclude
So, if your name is Perseus, you'll go through a lot, but at least your mum loves you, you'll find love and you'll survive, so it's okay!!!
As always, please comment your thoughts or if I've missed anything.
Let's get better acquainted with Percy's namesake
There once was a King who wished to have sons, but his wife had only given him a daughter, Danae. The King once visited the Oracle of Delphi to ask if he'd ever have a son, he was told that he wouldn't, but he'd have a grandson who would kill him one day. And so he cast his daughter in a cell underneath the palace where she prayed. Zeus heard her and nine month later, she gave birth to their son in her cell.
The King put them in a chest and sent them on the sea. Fortunately, a fisherman saw them and got them ashore. He took them to the King Polydectes of Seriphus who instantly wished to marry Danae, so he trapped her in his castle and sent Perseus, who cried whenever the king came near his mother, to the Temple of Athena to be nursed. Perseus and his mother still loved each other deeply and the boy visited his mother whenever he could. As he grew, it was obvious he was strong and the King was trying hard to get him out of his picture so he could marry Danae. And so he uncovered what Perseus' fatal flaw - to prove himself. And so he tricked him into promising that he'd get Medusa's head.
Athena and Hermes both aided the demigod as they gave him a shield, winged sandals, Hades' Helm of Invisibility and a sword (depending on what version of the myth you've read). And so the boy sets on this treacherous journey. He uses the shield to watch Medusa's reflection. He find her asleep and so he carefully beheads her. While he is on his way back, he manages to rescue an Ethiopian princess, Andromeda, who was going to be killed by a sea monster because her mother had claimed she was much more beautiful than Poseidon's Nymphs and the only way to spear her kingdom from his wrath, she'd have to be murdered by a sea monster. He also marries her.
When he returns home, he turns the king and his supporters to stone and then he gives Athena her shield back and Medusa's head, and gives Hermes back the sword, the sandals, and Hades' Helm.
He then takes his mother back to her home kingdom where he accidentally kills his grandpa, thus fulfilling the prophecy. He founded Mycenae and became one of the most overrated hero's ancestor (yes, Hercules, I'm looking at you).
Parallels
Boys who love their mothers survive!
Both Perseus' had their mothers trapped by mediocre men whom they saved them from by turning them to stone (though, in Percy's case - Sally herself turned Gabe to stone)
If you're a son of one of the big 3 and your name starts with "P" and ends in "erseus", then you are bound to behead Medusa (I don't make the rules)
Both Percy's encounter Medusa and have to behead her. While Percy faces her when she's asleep, and looks at her reflection through a green glass ball while Medusa mocks him and Annabeth tells him not to listen to her. (I'll be honest, I know that the scriptwriters for the movies didn't do their homework as a demigod, unless they are Annabeth, doesn't carry any devices with them as it attracts monster, but Percy killing Medusa with the help of an iPod was kind of iconic).
Personality
They also parallel each other as they are both jumping to rescue as many people as they can.
To conclude
So, if your name is Perseus, you'll go through a lot, but at least your mum loves you, you'll find love and you'll survive, so it's okay!!!
As always, please comment your thoughts or if I've missed anything.
I hope you liked my narration haha, I tried to sound smart and like I was telling people a story around an actual campfire
I got all my info from Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes (English), Legendele Olimpului Vol 2: Eroii (Romanian), but if you want to read more right now and don't have either of these books, Britannica has a nice short version with all of the important info (it doesn't really go into detail about Andromeda and Perseus, but there was this other guy who was in love with Andromeda and he and his army attacked Perseus, but he took them all down and he turned the sea monster to stone with the help of Medusa's head, so now you know the whole thing, lol)
Mod
oh, I forgot to mention: the next deep dive is about grover and his ptsd!!
Perseus X steffys deep dives= perfection <3
so excited for the grover deep dive!
@lowri you’re making me blush! AND THE GROVER DEEP DIVE IS GONNA BE AMAZING I HAVE BEEN REREADING EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF DIALOGUE WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE TRAUMA HIDDEN IN HIS WORDS
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Percy Jackson Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes (other topics)Legendele Olimpului Vol 2: Eroii (other topics)
You do not need to know the myth of Perseus as I will explain it before hand