Character Traits

Percy Jackson: Percy is a demigod, son of poseidon. Since poseidon is one of the most powerful gods
this makes percy more powerful than others. Demigods usually have lots of problems with their lives but
Percy has relatively little since he had 5 books and a lot of story before hand to develop his character. He
is the main protagonist in the book. He is protective of his friends, page 267(chapter 29):

'Ive got you, Percy promised. He put his arm around Annabeth.
In this passage Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus which is the
equivalent to hell for the Greek/Roman mythological world that
the story takes place in. Also when monsters are killed in the
mortal world the monster disintegrate and become re-born in
Tartarus. The monsters take time to get out of Tartarus and back
into our world but it varies a lot from a few months to centuries.
Because of this Tartarus is inhabited by many monsters and is
made for monsters it is not very welcoming to them, with rivers of
fire and sands of broken glass everything is trying to kill them.

Percy is very protective especially to Annabeth because
they've been together through a lot and he has even imagined a
future with her when they're adults which is rare since demigods
usually don't live long.

While literally falling into Tartarus Annabeth lost her
belongings including her beloved sword leaving Percy in an even
more protective role. Though I find it noble how Percy is so caring
of his friends and family and sometimes people he doesn't even
know, but this can sometimes be dangerous for him or make his
decisions unwise in the long run. Also with this power and
responsibility sometimes Percy may go overboard with his power,
like when he and Annabeth fought the goddess of misery they
were losing so percy decided to use his power over water to
choke the goddess inside her own throat by boiling her saliva
(which was poison). Page 414, chapter 48

Stop she pleaded, her voice hoarse.

He didnt want to stop. He wanted to choke this goddess. He wanted to watch her drown in her own
poison.

Annabeth had to make him stop and control his anger.

Percy, please dont ever Her voice broke in a sob. Some things arent meant to be controlled.
Please.

Percy is also an extremely good leader with leadership coming naturally for him. He is seen as
the leader and most powerful at Camp half blood (for Greek demigods) and when he got his memory
swiped and dropped into camp Jupiter (Roman demigod camp, the two camps kind of hate each other
from a war in the past) he helped them retrieve something very important in a mission and very quickly
became the praetor (each of two roman "civil officers" ranking below consul) with another praetor Reyna.

Percy is a good guy and wants the best for his friends, but he still has the problem of handling his
fatal flaw, which is the fact that he would choose to save his friends over the greater good. But with his
sarcastic sense of humor and laid-back attitude Percy is good at getting the trust and respect from
several gods (That hate men, demigods and just people in general) and the Romans who hated Greeks
so much they coined a swear after them. People look up to Percy and he never disappoints

Annabeth Chase: Annabeth is the daughter of Athena the goddess of wisdom. This makes her
ridiculously brilliant in an admirable way (Sometimes shes referred to as the "badass bookworm"). She
also has gray eyes which reflect her cool and intelligence with a slight edge of danger which is noted several times in
the book. When she is not getting straight A+'s on everything she helps design buildings for Olympus (home of the
gods), but don't let that fool you into thinking shes all brain and no brawn.

She is very athletic and active which goes great with her
intelligence. With this deadly combination she is also a valuable
player in the capture the flag games they hold at Camp Half-Blood.
Athena might not be the goddess of war but she is the goddess of
tactics. This makes Annabeth a strategist and all her plans have a
way of coming together and getting her friends out of a sticky
situation with one of her brilliant plans. Page 201 chapter 22:

Annabeth? Percy said again. Youre planning something. Youve

got that Im-planning-something look.
I dont have an Im-planning-something look.
Yeah, you totally do. Your eyebrows knit and your lips press together
and
Do you have a pen? she asked him.

And like her boyfriend Percy, she also has a sense of leadership and
responsibility
Next to her, Percys breathing turned shallow. Even through his misty
ghoul disguise, Annabeth could tell he was on the verge of panic. She
had to stand her ground for both of them. I am a daughter of Athena,
she thought. I control my own mind.

Annabeth is also a very determined person who doesn't give
up in impossible odds and keeps working towards her goal but this
doesn't give her tunnel vision, she still uses all options available to
her (and if theres none she'll make some). Even in the most
dangerous place imaginable without her sword, very weak and a mission that is deemed impossible even
by the gods she never complains and uses her knowledge and wit to go on. She even manages to send a
message to the mortal world trying to stop the Romans (remember them?) from invading Camp HalfBlood.

Unlike the other characters Annabeth doesn't have special powers with the elements meaning
she cannot control water like Percy or Fly and control the winds like Jason. This makes most of her
enemies underestimate her but with her intelligence, grit, bravery and strength she is still a force to be
reckoned with and usually tricks/manipulates her enemies to win.

Even with all this everyone has a fatal flaw and being as smart as Annabeth she quickly figures
out that her fatal flaw is hubris. This means extreme pride or an over estimation in ones abilities. This
gives her the illusion that she can do anything and tends to makes her arrogant.
Like when the Sphinx asked Annabeth questions and if she got them wrong the Sphinx would kill Percy
and Annabeth. She aggravated the Sphinx after refusing to answer her questions and saying the
questions were trivial and easy.

"She looked just the way she had when she'd faced the Sphinx - like she wasn't going to accept
an easy answer, even if it got her in serious trouble. "
Another flaw Annabeth faces is that even though she is very caring she can get possessive over people
like when she wasn't very kind to Calypso or Rachel Dare when she thought they might've taken Percy
away from her. She also has arachnophobia like all children of Athena and a fear for Cyclopes because of
a childhood incident. Annabeth is looked up to for her ingenious ideas and devising the best strategy for
the team.

Jason Grace: Jason is the son of Jupiter, the Roman lord of the sky. Like Percy, Jason also had his memory
swiped and was brought to Camp Half-Blood from Camp Jupiter. Jason is the deuteragonist next to Percy and kept
the crew of 8 (now 6) together especially after they lost Percy to motivate the crew and Annabeth to come up with
ideas, he led them forward to accomplish there mission. One of Jason's most important roles is to resolve tension in
the group plus organize and executing plans. Here he's dividing up jobs for the crew
Page 309 Chapter 34:

Jason stood. Frank, youre in charge of defending the ship. Leo, youve got repairs to do. The rest of you,
help out wherever you can. Nico and I He faced
the son of Hades. We have a ghost to find.

He spends a lot of time not only leading but
also making the crew feel comfortable and trust each
other. Since Jason is a people person he is very
perceptive and can sense when somethings off when
others can't. On this page Jason and the
other demigods reunite with Leo but Jason can sense
that there friend wasn't fine like he said he was and
related it to another problem he solved with his friend
Nico. Page 504 Chapter 60

Leo mustered a faint smile. Hey, guys. Nah, nah,

Im good. Jason could tell he wasnt good. Leo
wouldnt meet their eyes. His hands were perfectly
still on the table. Leos hands were never still. All
the nervous energy had drained right out of him,
replaced by a kind of wistful sadness. Jason
wondered why his expression seemed familiar.
Then he realized Nico di Angelo had looked the
same way after facing Cupid in the ruins of Salona.
Leo was heartsick.

In the book Jason uses his observant insightfulness as a tool to get to know people better and more easily
take care of them. I think Jason is a very unique character because unlike most he doesn't just care about the
physical health of his friends but about there mental well being and emotions as well. On this excerpt Jason is trying
to get to know Nico and fix the emotional problems that were caused with his sisters death. Page 486 Chapter 57:

Yeah, okay. But, Nico, you do choose how to live your life. You want to trust somebody? Maybe take a risk
that I'm really your friend and I'll accept you. It's better than hiding.
Although Percy and Jason are both important leaders, Jason is more official and proper being raised at the Roman
camp where its more strict and breaking rules were unacceptable.


Jason is not only a good leader but has good personality traits. He is optimistic and never gets angry or
upset when things don't go his way, it seems as if positivity comes naturally to him. Even though Jason is very caring
he can still be standoffish and distant initially. But sometimes even after getting to know him Jason's leader role
forces him to be stoic so he doesn't get emotional for the sake of his allies. Jason is confident in his abilities but is
plagued by doubt and critical about his own errors. Even though he is serious most of the time he has a moderate
sense of humor. Page 329 Chapter 36:

Love is on every side, Cupid said. And no one's side. Don't ask what Love can do for you. "Great," Jason
said. "Now he's spouting greeting card messages.
Jason is referred to as "everybody's golden boy" because of the fact that everybody looks to him for answers and his
unwavering honor that he shows through his compassion.

Piper McLean: Piper is the daughter of Aphrodite the goddess of love. She is one of the crew
of 7 on the ship Argos II (it also flies) and is the girlfriend of Jason Grace. She may not be a
great warrior or have powers that can help her fight directly in combat but she can
charmspeak. This means that when she wants (and sometimes by accident) her words come
out with power hypnotizing people and giving her the ability to persuade them into doing
anything she wants.

This power is given to her by Aphrodite and works best on mortals, but not so much
with gods. Unlike most children of Aphrodite Piper is more intelligent and down to earth, she
also doesn't look at herself all the time and tries to defy the stereotype by dressing in drab
clothing and messing up her hair. Though Piper is no great warrior she is resourceful and uses
all her assets to help her whether its her charmspeak, her dagger Katoptris or just her wits in
general. Here she is using charmspeak to release her friends, though it doesn't work on
Khione who is a goddess, though it does work on her two weaker minded brothers. Page 376

What are you doing? Piper demanded. Then, in charmspeak: Let my friends go.
Zethes blinked. We should let your friends go.
Yes, Cal agreed.
No, you idiots! Khione snapped. She is charmspeaking. Use your wits.

Piper also doubts herself because she thinks among the crew she has no purpose as voiced by Khione. Page 382
You are a meddler, the daughter of a useless goddess. What can you do alone? Nothing. Of all the seven demigods, you
have no purpose, no power.
Even with her self doubts in the end she asked herself what would Annabeth do and used her intelligence to trick Khione. I think this
scene is great for developing Pipers character by forgetting her doubts.
All her life, Piper hadbeen looked down upon, told she was useless.
It has never been true, another voice whispereda voice that sounded like her mothers. Each of them berated you
because they feared you and envied you. So does Khione. Use that!

Leo Valdez: Leo is the son of Hephaestus the god of fire and creating machines. He has a tool
belt in which he can pull tools and objects out of and he can control fire at will. Leo is easy
going, friendly, positive and and loves to tell jokes, funny or not. Here Jason is lecturing them on
a old emperor and Leo replies. Page 306 Chapter

He faltered when he looked at Leo, who was mimicking taking notes with an air pencil.
Go on, Professor Grace! he said, wide-eyed. I wanna get an A on the test. Shut up,
Leo.

Even though Leo is very easy-going he is very intelligent building and acting as a
mechanic for the Argo II plus very honest. He also carries a lot of guilt over indirectly killing his
mother in a fire he started. Leo can be very serious if he or his friends are threatened or when
he needs to. He is also very serious about his work with machines. He is very caring and of his
friends and on page 605 he shows off his serious, intelligent and caring side as he tries to
comfort his friend

I figure the universe is basically like a machine. I dont know who made it, if it was the
Fates, or the gods, or capital-G God, or whatever. But it chugs along the way its
supposed to most of the time. Sure, little pieces break and stuff goes haywire once in a
while, but mostlythings happen for a reason. Like you and me meeting.

Leo also has an unfortunate habit of falling in love with almost every beautiful girl he encounters which often ends up in
disaster, like when he first met Khione he called her "hot" which she took offense to since she was the goddess of snow. Leo is full
of nervous energy and is afraid he'll accidentally harm others around him with his fire ability since he heard that the last child of
Hephaestus with the power started the great fire of London and because of his guilt towards his mothers death. Leo is also seen as
a sort of "sad clown" as noted in the book that Leo would much rather be funny than sad about the things he can't control. And
though annoying, Jason acknowledges how important Leo's sense of humor is to the crews morale

Time & Placement

The Apennine mountain range

Placement: The placement of the story as being seen through the eyes of 5 of the main

characters (Jason, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Piper) are either on board the Argo II above central
Europe of on land in central Europe. But the story is also narrated by Percy and Annabeth as
they go through Tartarus. At first they are flying above the Apennine mountains on the Argos II.

The Apennines are about 1,200 km in length and run through peninsular Italy. To reach
Epirus, all they had to do was go straight eastover the Apennines and across the
Adriatic Sea. Though the text didn't really mention much about the the Apennines, I know it is
very long since it stretches across Italy.


The mountains though aren't very high, high enough in altitude to have snow on them
but not high enough to be too cold or have a lack extreme case of oxygen. I know this because
the crew were on deck while crossing the mountains and didn't complain about the cold or thin
atmosphere much. Also the book mentions a special route the demigods had to take to get
across the mountains on page 38 Chapter 4:

There is a secret pass here in the north, a place where I hold sway, where Hannibal once
crossed when he marched against Rome.
The goddess made a wide loopto the top of Italy, then east to the sea, then down along
the western coast of Greece. Once through the pass, you would travel north to Bologna,
and then to Venice. From there, sail the Adriatic to your goal, here: Epirus in Greece.

So even though they didn't describe the Apennines very well they did mention Hannibal,
a great general and I remember hearing stories and accounts from him that some soldiers died
from exposure from the cold and that most of the soldiers have never seen snow before which
confirms that there is snow on the mountains, also the accounts say that many soldiers simply
slipped and fell to there deaths meaning that the mountains must've been steep.

The visit to Bologna

They were held up in an attack and were forced to take a secret passage taking the long
way to Bologna (Hannibal's route) on the Argo II. Again the author didn't mention too much
about the area but more about the story that takes place there. But I imagine they're in a
european styled neighborhood (wouldn't make sense for it to be Korean) thats kind of oldish
since they mentioned stone paved path and other hints in the text like the type of roofing,

They stayed just at the edge of his vision, scampering over red-tiled rooftops, knocking
over window boxes,

or a description of a building that hints even more at the theme of the area,

He turned a corner and saw two ancient stone towers jutting into the sky, side by side,
much taller than anything else in the neighborhoodmaybe medieval watchtowers?

Plus from my background knowledge I know that Bologna isn't a modernized city so the
buildings are most likely old looking and weathered. Also the area might of been sub urban with
crowded buildings (narrow streets and tight corners were mentioned) but in the text there were
no people on these streets so I assume the demigods didn't go to a particularly crowded area of
Bologna. They landed temporarily and left for Venice.

Venice & The Adriatic Sea

At Venice the city is beside a half kilometer wide shipping canal where the Argos II docked. The
city has the same oldish european style as Bologna did but the characters got to explore more
of Venice than they did Bologna,

red-tiled roofs, metal church domes, steepled towers, and sun-bleached buildings in all
the colors of Valentine candy heartsred, white, ochre, pink, and orange.

The buildings of Venice must not have been brand new looking and looking a little
weathered since it talks of old styled buildings and even those are sun bleached.

Also they talked about the lion statues that appeared everywhere in the city which they
assumed were mascots. Where the streets were suppose to be there were green canals that
went between neighborhoods and through the city, with motor boats parked at houses.
Along the docks of Venice were side walks packed with tourists and souvenir shops, one of the
characters noting that there were more tourists than Rome. Walking in the streets were odd anteater like creatures,

Each monster was about the size of a cow, with a bowed back like a broken-down horse,
matted gray fur, skinny legs, and black cloven hooves. The creatures heads seemed
much too heavy for their necks. Their long, anteater-like snouts drooped to the ground.
Their overgrown gray manes completely covered their eyes.

The people there didn't think anything of the monsters though since they were covered
by the mist and most likely mistaken them as dogs or other animals (one of the tourists petted
them). At Venice the story develops a lot with the characters and valuable information is earned.
After that the 6 move on across the Adriatic sea which was described as being a beautiful
expanse of blue.

Croatia

The turtle attacking the

Argos II

Ruins of Salona, Croatia

A painting of Diocletian's
Palace.

The Adriatic is a body of water lying between Italy and Croatia/Greece. While flying over the
Adriatic they ran into a turtle that tried to kill them. Even though the turtle is a animal and not a
place it is the size of a small island and I count it as a place.

When she saw the massive dome of craggy black and brown squares, the word turtle
simply did not compute. Its shell was more like a landmasshills of bone, shiny pearl
valleys, kelp and moss forests, rivers of seawater trickling down the grooves of its
carapace.

Its gold eyes were the size of wading pools, with dark sideways slits for pupils. Its skin
glistened like wet army camouflagebrown flecked with green and yellow. Its red,
toothless mouth couldve swallowed the Athena Parthenos in one bite.
Hazel watched as it snapped off half a dozen oars.

The Athena Parthenos is a 40 foot statue that the demigods were holding on the ship.
The turtle chased them until they sailed through a narrow strait where they became stranded
surrounded by a rocky island with tall white cliffs leaving no exit but the strait that the turtle was
guarding. They got out of the island and flew across the Adriatic sea to Split, Croatia.

Once there the city was a mix of medieval and modern, standing over all of it on a
mountain was a large building that the characters are looking for called Diocletian's palace. It
was huge Roman styled and and very impressive even though it is very old. It has pinkish
granite walls and crumbling support columns. It had arched windows that looked upward and
was mostly intact, about 1/4 of a mile long and 70-80 feet tall making the shops below look
small in comparison.

There Jason and Nico were transported to a old abandoned city with shells of buildings
like temples, half buried amphitheater and places where it looked like there were excavations
but it was mostly abandoned, The old city walls wove in and out of the hillside like stone thread
through a green cloth.

Paradise, and not so much

Though Calypso's island, named Ogygia is a Myth many people believe it

was based off another island named Bozo shown here

The North African desert

Afterwards they sailed off to Epirus. But they got attacked by Khione who used the north
winds to push them off course. They landed somewhere in north Africa at a weathered temple
made of sandstone owned by the southern winds. The area had rolling sandy dunes and sparse
areas of brownish green vegetation. Not too far from the sandstone palace there was a bay with
red sand where the Argo II is now stranded on. The air was so hot and dry that the moisture in
your lungs could be dried out with a few breaths.

The palace is huge, built into a cliff with a honey comb of halls, caverns, tunnels all built
so that the wind spirits that fly around the building create noise. The building was constantly
filled with a eery pipe organ sounds because of this. With the help of the south winds and there
king there they make it to Epirus.

During the attack Leo got flung onto an uncharted island that had magic guarding it,
making it so no one could find the island unless it wanted to be found. It was a slice of paradise
with a pristine beach (it would be if it weren't for Leo's crash landing), palm trees and what
seemed like every colorful sweet sounding bird and there nests in them, and the nicest garden
Leo had ever seen. The garden had colorful orchards, large vineyard and peach trees plus
various things that could't be recognized but still assaulted the senses especially with the sweet
smells it gave off.

Leos nose was assaulted by good smellscedar, juniper, jasmine, peaches, and
fresh herbs.The garden was like ones on a front porch but where the house should be there is
a cave entrance, the inside large enough to live in and lined with glowing multicolored crystals.
On the inside there were clothes and dishes doing themselves as if invisible servants were at
work in the cave. With the help of the goddess Calypso that lived there he left and met up with
the rest of the demigods at a island called Valetta, Malta.

Necromanteion

They made there way to Epirus, Greece where it is mid day and hot. Above them there is
a cloud of dark energy that seemed to be absorbing the light and giving off bad vibes to the
demigods.

The building they went into is called the Necromanteion and is where the goal of the
demigods is held, the doors of Death. It is large but the outside wasn't described very well, its
just an old Greek styled building that is in ruins. After the large stone entrance there is a tunnel
that spirals downwards with large diagonal white columns holding up the ceiling, Frank notices
that it reminded him of a spiral staircase going down through a rib cage.

A set of stairs curved deeper into the earth, the barreled ceiling held up by more
repeating arches, closer together and carved from polished black stone. The descending
arches made Frank feel dizzy, as if he were looking into an endlessly reflecting mirror.

On some of the walls there were paintings of black cattle climbing down the same stairs they
were.

They made it to a stairwell where the find a golden chalice filled with dark green liquid.
They made there way through dark tunnels that interconnect and split with burial chambers that
all looked the same on some corners and holes dug into the wall that probably once held
bodies, This was the house of the dead. Theres an archway mad up of human skulls. After that
the tunnels had were filled with whispering and flickering shadows. The corridors get bigger with
ceiling going up to six meters high and getting much wider with elaborate paintings of poplar
trees and owls on the walls. Silver coins and pieces littered the floor. They got to a huge room
with a domed ceiling so high you could barely see it and the rooms walls decorated,

It was a gruesome mosaic of bones and gemshuman femurs, hip bones, and ribs
twisted and fused together into a smooth surface, dotted with diamonds and rubies. The
bones formed patterns, like skeletal contortionists tumbling together, curling to protect
the precious stonesa dance of death and riches.

The group gets separated with Hazel and Leo forced to go into a large cavern with obsidian
walls, the walls had carvings of deaths, plague victims and corpses on battlefields all
embellished with bright precious stones.

Also the Argos II where they sailed is a large trireme (a large greek rowboat) styled ship,
has many oars, large masts and a mechanical dragons head for the front of the ship.

Percy and Annabeth making there way through

Tartarus on the banks of the Phlegethon

Tartarus: Whilst the 6 other demigods made there way to

the doors of death on land, Percy and Annabeth had an
even more dangerous job of moving through Tartarus to get
to the doors of Death there. When they fell intoTartarus
they had been falling for around 9 days and only survived by landing in a bubbling black river
called the Cocytus which filled them with thoughts of misery and dread. They made it out onto a
beach of broken shards of glass and explored the rest of Tartarus. It was a gigantic cavern, like
an entire world underground.

The air was toxic and there was blood colored clouds floating over head. The area was
as "Healthy as a nuclear blast zone" and the two could barely make it through the beach. They
made out of the glass shard beach and proceeded through a field with black grass that led to a
cliffs edge. At the bottom of the cliff ran the Plegethon river, a river of liquid fire that ran through
a obsidian crevasse. The liquid fire healed Percy and Annabeth after drinking it and soon they
became immune to the Tartarus air. The banks of the river was made of solid obsidian that
glowed with the refection of the Plegethon.

About a mile or two forwards the river flows down into another huge cliff

The River Phlegethon spilled over the side in jagged tiers of fiery waterfalls. The demon
ladies were picking their way down the cliff, jumping from ledge to ledge like mountain
goats.

At the bottom of the cliff was dark and gloomy with an eerie feel to it, it felt like something was
going to jump at you from behind every tree. It had gray plains and black trees, the ground was
full of blisters like burned skin. Sometimes the blisters would swell and burst, oozing out
monsters like larvae from an egg. More blood red clouds swirled above and dragon like
creatures flew between them. The atmosphere gave you a feeling that everything here was
made to kill you.

If you make it past this area the river of fire splits into multiple streams and the ground
becomes more loose. If you were to dig some dirt up you would find that below it is a smooth
slimy membrane as if the ground is simply skin. More up a head there is a flat wasteland that
leads to a shrine, the shrine of Hermes. And after that a place called the Dark Lands which
were, well, dark. Visibility couldn't reach more than 2 meters in front of you. There are pits and
sharp rocks loomed from seemingly no where.

Monsters coming out of the doors of Death

While they make there way through the land I have a

feeling they're going subtly deeper and deeper into
Tartarus. I know because they say they sometimes
stumble walking forwards but feel tired and heavy just
backtracking a step. The farther you go down the
darker it gets. But when you're in Tartarus you start to
see it as much more than just a place, you see it as
something living, something sentient.

she suddenly felt insignificant compared to the

vastness of Tartarus. This place had no respect for
anythinggood or bad, small or large, wise or
unwise. Tartarus swallowed Titans and demigods
and kittens indiscriminately.

The temperature changes rapidly there, you can
walk 20 meters one direction and have the temperature
rise or fall by 10 degrees. After the Dark Lands you enter a sort of forest with towering black
trees. The trees sometimes quiver and vibrate because of the things that inhabit the area who
fly above the trees. There called Arai and they look like old ladies with leathery wings and
chicken like talons. They attack but instead of shredding you up with there claws they deliver
curses to you. They attack you with curses from everyone you've ever wronged, like if you were
to hurt someone you would be cursed with there pain. After the forest the land levels out into a
dark life-less looking swamp.

"Sulfur-yellow mist hung in the air. Even without sunlight, there were actual plants
clumps of reeds, scrawny leafless trees, even a few sickly-looking flowers blooming in
the muck. Mossy trails wound between bubbling tar pits.

In the swamp theres a hut woven from a sickly green reptilian skin and rough jagged branches.
After that there is a dusty plain with thick fog that lead to a peninsula that jutts out into a endless
expanse of pitch black darkness. This is the edge of Tartarus, below lies Chaos which like
Tartarus is a fundamental evil that has always been there. Below, not even visible, is the castle
of Night (A goddess) and it leads to the heart of Tartarus which is where the doors of death are.

Through the castle is a valley that you could've fit lake Ontario in. The ground shook
from beneath them like a giant heart beat and the landscape itself looked like a giant heart.
Under poisonous clouds, the rolling terrain glistened purple with dark red and blue scar
lines. At one point that was more dark than its surroundings are tens of thousands of monsters
clumped together. You could be miles away but you'll still be able to feel the pull and power of
the doors of Death.

Hazel Levesque is a character that is not in the original

character traits description. But I have chosen to use her
instead of Piper because Piper doesn't have a lot of conflict
and those were covered in the character traits anyways. I've
chosen her for the sake of having more to write about.

Hazel Levesque: During the beginning of the book Hecate, the goddess of magic tells
Hazel that she must learn to manipulate the mist in order to defeat the gods that guard
the door of Death. Learning this Hazel now knows that there mission relies on her ability
to manipulate the mist and this puts a lot of pressure on Hazel to succeed. The mist is
like a veil that covers things so mortals don't see them as they are. Like for example the
Argos II may fly over and the people looking up would see a jet flying by. Hazel has
trouble with this not really knowing how it works or how to do it.

Hecate the goddess of magic after showing Hazel's responsibilities told Hazel
that there was a cross road. The cross road had different paths that Hazel could take
but all the paths either involved flying to America and save many lives by stopping the
camps from destroying each other. Or she could go to Epirus to stop Gaea from
destroying and remaking the world, though this is for the greater good if she chose this
path the camps would destroy each other and she wouldn't have a home to go back to.
She decides not to choose any of the paths and make her own which adds more weight
onto her shoulders.

When the turtle attacked the ship Hazel had to distract it as her friends got away.
She had to fly over it on her horse Arion that can run on any surface, including air. She
stabs at the turtles face with her dagger and dodges its attacks. She fights the turtle
long enough for her friends to escape. Later they run into a pirate who has golden flint
lock pistols and can shoot with ridiculous accuracy. He demands all there riches and
Hazel being the daughter of Pluto the god of the underground, can summon gold and
precious gems.

Before they leave Scipio the pirate asks for one last thing before they leave. He
requests that Jason and Hazel (who were very high up on a steep island while the rest
were down below) wash his feet as a sign of respect (don't question it). Hazel knew
from legend that Scipio killed his victims by kicking them off the island and into the
sharp rocks far below. Hazel figuring this out and using the mist tricked Scipio and
Jason managed to tackle him into the rocks below. The House After figuring out how to
use the mist Hazel could face Pasipha who is Hazels antagonist and was the AntiHecate. Hazel used her magic to defeat Pasipha and close the doors of Death.

Though hazel had to learn to use the mist for the group she made the others
uncomfortable with her abilities. Jason noticed that the others were reluctant to
meet her eyes. Since her trick with the Mist against Sciron the bandit, even Jason
felt a little nervous around her. He knew that wasnt fair to Hazel. It was hard
enough being a child of Pluto, but shed pulled off some serious magic on that
cliff. And afterward, according to Hazel, Pluto himself had appeared to her. That
was something Romans typically called a bad omen.

Hazel had a lot of external conflicts and not a lot of internal conflicts though
the weight of knowing her choices and self doubt was present in the book.

Leo Valdez: Leo is haunted by the death of his mother and finds it hard to
summon his fire ability because of it. He has to face a god with Hazel to get to
the doors of death. Also Leo has a tendency to fall in love with every girl thats out
of her league. This leads to a external and internal problem. From before Leo
had angered Khione by hitting on her and because of this Leo was flicked onto
Ogygia by Khione. Leo now has the problem of being stuck on the island and
away from his friends, Leo knows without his help that his friends can't fix Argos
II and go on with there mission.

Also landing on the island Leo meets a goddess named Calypso who can
never leave the island. She is cursed to have heroes land on her island and
when she falls in love with them a raft appears and the hero is forced to leave.
Initially though the Calypso was very mad and hated Leo because the gods
promised to let Calypso go but never did it. Leo obviously likes Calypso but tries
to deny it. She held up her calloused, grimy fingers. Leo couldnt help
thinking there was nothing hotter than a girl who didnt mind getting her
hands dirty. But of course, that was just a general comment. Didnt apply to
Calypso. Obviously.

Calypso ended up liking Leo in the end, helping him build and giving him
new clothes and food. When Leo promised to come back to the island for
Calypso even after she said it wasn't possible, she ended up in love with Leo and
the raft appeared. She turned, wiping her eyes furiously, and stormed up
the beach, the breeze tousling her hair. In the book, oaths are very serious.
There is a saying "A oath to keep with a final breath" and swearing on the
River Styx is the most dangerous and serious promise you can make. He
understood how dangerous oaths could be. But Leo didnt care. Im
coming back for you, Calypso, he said to the night wind. I swear it on the
River Styx.
Because if this experience Leo becomes heart sick which is noted by
Jason. He also becomes more serious and still jokes around but with less spirit
than he did before.
But before all this, in Bologna Leo had another problem involving the Argos II.
Two elf like creature who could moves extremely quick on there feet and steal things
with ease harassed the the crew and stole things from them. They stole Leo's magic
tool belt which was quite important and the Archimedes sphere which was key for the
ship to work properly. After the "Kerkopes" escaped Leo tracked them down and made a
plan to get his stuff back. He used his knowledge of chemistry (Awesome) to create
homemade flash bang grenades and got his stuff back.

Leo has many external problems and has some internal ones as well but he
hides it from his friends with his sense of humor.

Contents

Cover
Special Thanks
Character Trait Analysis: Percy
Character Trait Analysis: Annabeth
Character Trait Analysis: Jason
Character Trait Analysis: Piper
Character Trait Analysis: Leo
Time & Placement
The visit to Bologna
Venice & The Adriatic Sea
Croatia
Paradise, and not so much
Necromanteion
Tartarus
The conflicts of demigods
Percy Jackson Conflicts
Annabeth Chase Conflicts
Jason Grace Conflicts
Hazel Levesque Conflicts
Leo Valdez Conflicts
Symbolism
Biography Of The Author

Symbolism

Because of the books nature there tends to be a lot of symbolism involved. This
is because the author wrote the book on the theme of Greek mythology which has close
ties to symbolism. An example would be Percy's name which his mom chose because
she knows that demigods usually don't lead happy lives, so she named him after
Perseus who is the only known demigod to lead a happy life.

The gods themselves have symbols for all of them, including the parents of the 8.
Zeus/Jupiter who is the ruler of the sky has the symbol of the thunder bolt, oak tree and
eagle. Poseidon/Neptune has the symbols of the horse, trident and dolphin. Hades/
Pluto has many symbols such as the Helm of Darkness, Keys of Hades, Sword, Hades'
Staff, screech owl, cows of Hades, and white poplar tree. The screech owls and the
cows were on the paintings in the house of hades or the Necromanteion.

Also like Percy's name the others have carefully thought out names that hold a
lot of meaning and symbolism. Also the Argos II is named after the original Argos that
held the Argonauts who were very successful. I think when Leo named the ship he
chose that name because the Argos represented victory and good luck since the
original was so successful. Also Jason was named after the original Jason who was an
Argonaut. I think the adventures that the demigods are on symbolizes the mission that
was had before.

Frank Zhang who is one of the demigods on the mission has a very symbolic
name. The name Frank is the name of Germanic tribes long ago who named
themselves after the spears they use, which is the same type Frank uses. Also his
name Zhang mean to be accurate and a good archer in Chinese and Frank is well
known for his accuracy and skill with the bow. The demigods that originate from the
Roman camp have symbols on there arms that represent there godly heritage and the
legion. For example Jason has an eagle for his father Jupiter, SPQR which is the initials
for the roman legion and bars that represent the years they've served.

Before there mission like any other the heroes have to go to the Oracle which
gives them a prophecy that will will come to life during the mission. The prophecy is
written in a cryptic manner and cannot be changed. Because of the fact that it cannot be
changed this makes it important for the heroes to understand the prophecy as it gives
them and idea of whats to come.
"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire, the world must fall,
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arm to the Doors of Death."

The first line is more obvious than the rest, meaning the 7 demigods go on the mission.
The second part hasn't happened yet but I predict that storm means Jason who is the son of
Jupiter and fire is Leo who can control fire, the "world" might symbolize Gaea who is mother
earth. Originally it was thought that the last line meant the Romans and Greeks but in the end at
the doors of Death Damasen who is a giant helps Percy and Annabeth who are with Bob, a
Titan. Giants, Titans and demigods are all enemies but still work together and fight. Though the
third isn't confirmed it may be referring to Leo who swore to come back to Calypso

And special thanks to Stephanie,

Leanne, Eric and Athena for help on the cover
that was originally so bad I threw out the first
copy (seriously you guys are awesome)

Biography Of The Author

Rick Riordan or Richard Russell Riordan,

Jr. Was born in June 5, 1964 (age 49)
San Antonio, Texas. He wrote the Percy
Jackson series, the 39 Clues and the
Heroes of Olympus, which is the series
House Of Hades. He graduated at Alamo
Heights High School. Afterwards he
graduated from the University of Texas
and taught english and social studies for
8 years. Many of the books/series he
writes are very successful and has
become featured films like the film Percy
Jackson & The Lightning Thief. He is
also planning to release a new series on
Norse mythology. When he was a kid he
enjoyed reading, particularly Lord Of The
Rings. He read mostly science fiction
and fantasy in high school and before
that in middle school he loved Greek and Norse mythology. In college he
developed a love for mysteries. When he was in middle school at my age
he wrote his first story and submitted it, though it was never published it
didn't dampen his creativity and love for writing. While in college he was a
music director at a summer camp which gave him inspiration for Camp Half
Blood. He lives with his wife and two sons, Haley and Patrick and in his
spare time he enjoys, swimming, playing guitar, and traveling with his
family. Ricks love for writing carried over from his childhood to his work life
and it has certainly paid off.