Percy Jackson Research Paper

The Percy Jackson series can be considered Greek because the premise of the series is based on Greek myths. The Homeric writings are often considered the basis for defining what it means for a literary work to be Greek, and the similarities between the Lightning Thief and Homeric works show the books are based upon the foundation laid out by the Homeric works, in addition to other Greek myths. The Lightning Thief book brings the characters and stories of ancient Greece, to life again in a way that modernizes them. Modernizing classic Greek myths into a new story resulted in the book being quite different from Homeric works in structure and narrative style. However, the subject matter is still Greek in nature because Greek works are used to define the parameters of the fictional world of Percy Jackson. If the Iliad or The Theogony not been written, texts which are widely accepted as Greek, this book would likely not exist because the author would not have had those previous stories to draw inspiration from. The explanation given for the origin of the gods in The Lightning Thief is directly influenced by Hesiod’s Theogony (pg. 344). Ideas from Iliad were also used, such as the use of mist. In the Iliad, Poseidon uses mist to protect Aeneas from Achilles (Book 20), and mist hides monsters from

Percy Jackson is The Lightning Thief’s version of Homer’s Achilles. In both works, the hero was of half mortal and half immortal decent. Although Percy Jackson’s quest was to prevent a war from occurring between the gods, and Achilles’ mission was to end the Trojan war, in both stores the heroes fight seemingly impossible battles. As a result, both heroes gain honor; Percy is welcomed back to Half-Blood Camp with a standing ovation (page 359) and Achilles is thought of as the best warrior after the Trojan War. Additionally, both heroes are prophesized to be ill-fated due to their status as a