Analysis of Percy Jackson and the Olympians

The fact that Percy Jackson has friends is incredible. It is an unshakable fact that any friend of his within a ten-mile radius will be in a life or death situation with him by dinner, and they are not always as lucky as he is. However, that is getting ahead of ourselves. Over the course of the five-part contemporary young adult series, Percy Jackson & The Olympians, the titular character, Percy Jackson, must embrace his Greek God parentage and save Olympus with the help of his fellow demigods. The aim of this paper is to discuss his Hero’s Journey throughout the series, provide an in-depth character analysis, and draw parallels between Percy and the three classic Greek heroes of mythology: Perseus, Theseus, and Hercules. The first novel in the series, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, is where Percy's Hero's Journey begins, encompassing the first five stages. The Ordinary World, the first stage, introduces the main hero. "The hero, uneasy, uncomfortable or unaware, is introduced sympathetically so the audience can identify with the situation or dilemma" (Campbell). Percy Jackson, a twelve-year-old diagnosed with both dyslexia and ADHD, lives in New York with his loving, overworked mother and abusive stepfather. He begins his story attending a boarding school for "troubled youth" and has a less than spectacular time being the new kid. Despite his good intentions of protecting his only friend Grover from a bully, Percy gets in trouble at school and is pulled aside by one of his teachers, who is revealed to be the Fury Alecto, one of Hades's servants in disguise. It is at this point in the story that the second stage, The Call to Adventure, comes into play....

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...Over the course of this novel, Percy must embark on a quest to clear his name, much like Hercules had to endure his Twelve Labors. These Twelve Labors would prove to be a recurring theme for Percy throughout the entirety of his five-part series. While Hercules abandoned his quest with Jason for the Golden Fleece, Percy did not, and succeeded where the ancient hero had failed. Hercules was also directly referenced in Titan’s Curse in a flashback by Percy’s new friend and Hesperide Zoe, a goddess entrusted with protecting Hera’s apples which Hercules had stolen. Over the long chain of events throughout the entire series, Percy and his friends encountered and battled numerous monsters that Hercules had originally slain in his Twelve Labors, such as Cerberus, a hydra, the Nemean Lion, the Erymanthian Boar, and cleaning the Aegean stables, home to flesh-eating horses. Suffice it to say that Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a contemporary masterpiece of a series and is more than worth its salt in the context of classic, factual Greek mythological references. Therefore, one can examine the series through the scope of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and explore the heroic parallels between Percy Jackson and the great Greek heroes Perseus, Theseus, and Hercules through a timeless lens. No paragraph provided.