The Lightning Thief and its Parallels with The Odyssey Rant

Throughout The Lighting Thief by Rick Riordan there are several references to other stories. They are references to Greek mythology. These references are to the fates, but the majority of references are to The Odyssey. The reference to the fates is when there are three old ladies. They represent the three fates. The fates controlled the destiny of everyone on earth. They affected events from ones birth till their death. In the book they tell a bit of the future of Percy Jackson and some potential events that he will encounter along his journey. The reference to The Odyssey is when Percy Jackson goes into a casino. He goes in there with his two companions and once in there they eat some of the food. For a while they are just having a good time partying playing games and so on. Eventually Percy encounters a man from the 1970’s who says that they are still in the 70’s. Percy realizes that they have been drugged and gathers his companions and subsequently leaves. This food which slows the senses and reality is like the lotus flowers that Odysseus and his men encountered on their journey. It almost completely halted their progress had it not been for Odysseus’s quick realization and swift action. Another parallel exists when Percy has to journey to the underworld. Odysseus also has to journey into the underworld. The difference between the two journeys is how descriptive The Lightning Thief is as opposed to the Odyssey. In the Odyssey the underworld is a vague place with little description to it as opposed to The Lightning Thief where the account is more like the Aeneid; there is much more descriptive terminology used in portraying the underworld. The whole story itself is much like the Odyssey. For one they are both journeys across large areas; the Odyssey around the Mediterranean and The Lightning Thief around the United States. Another parallel is that everywhere Percy goes he encounters something going wrong. Whether it is at Medusas lair, Hoovers dam or even the lotus casino. This is much like Odysseus encountering many mythological creatures such as the Cyclops, sea monsters and yes, he also encounters lotus plants. Of course to go with any epic journey there has to be an epic fight at the end. For Percy in The Lightning Thief, it was against a fellow half-blood, Luke. Luke called on a scorpion to fight Percy and after a fight Percy eventually kills the scorpion but Luke escapes. Odysseus has his own battle in The Odyssey. He his son and two of his servants fight over a hundred suitors who were trying to steal his wife from him and were dishonoring the tradition of Xania. Odysseus eventually triumphs. After each of these fights both go on to live their lives happily for the foreseeable future.  The Lighting Thief is a good parallel with Greek mythology, especially with The Odyssey. The many allusions are fascinating to see, look at, and examine.