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So, I love Mythology. And I happen to be very big on Greek Mythology, for a variety of reasons. So, of course, I tend to love everything Rick Riordan writes. Kane Chronicles, Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus...they're all so much fun and absolutely great for a mythology nerd like me. But sometimes I have to set the fanboy cap aside and take a bit of a critical look at some things, and Percy Jackson is one of them.
Most particularly, for this post at least: Demeter.
Percy has a very dismissive attitude towards Demeter's children. Annabeth shares it (though I cannot for the life of my dig up the quote I'm thinking of, which is frustrating!), so it isn't just a Percy thing. It also doesn't help that there aren't any focal characters who are Demeter kids, so we don't know if it's just how Percy and Annabeth think or if it really is an overarching problem within Riordan's world building.
Because here's the thing about Demeter: She's a nature goddess. Nature goddesses can seriously fuck your shit up. Freak snow storms, droughts, dead crops, etc... Nature is kind of really important to the survival of every species on this planet, so whether the Demeter kids are 'aggressive' (pg. 117) or not shouldn't really factor in, you don't have to be aggressive to seriously hinder or hurt your opponent when you control nature.
Clearly Riordan is aware of this, to an extent, as Gaia is the bad guy in the Heroes of Olympus series, so he's aware that nature goddesses have the ability to be difficult opponents.
I don't know, the dismissive attitude Percy has towards Demeter's kids just kind of bothers me.
Well, that wraps up this week's Wednesdays with Wart. I'm not sure what I'll be doing next week, feel free to throw some suggestions my way. If all else fails, I'll probably do a recommendations post.
Most particularly, for this post at least: Demeter.
Percy has a very dismissive attitude towards Demeter's children. Annabeth shares it (though I cannot for the life of my dig up the quote I'm thinking of, which is frustrating!), so it isn't just a Percy thing. It also doesn't help that there aren't any focal characters who are Demeter kids, so we don't know if it's just how Percy and Annabeth think or if it really is an overarching problem within Riordan's world building.
Because here's the thing about Demeter: She's a nature goddess. Nature goddesses can seriously fuck your shit up. Freak snow storms, droughts, dead crops, etc... Nature is kind of really important to the survival of every species on this planet, so whether the Demeter kids are 'aggressive' (pg. 117) or not shouldn't really factor in, you don't have to be aggressive to seriously hinder or hurt your opponent when you control nature.
Clearly Riordan is aware of this, to an extent, as Gaia is the bad guy in the Heroes of Olympus series, so he's aware that nature goddesses have the ability to be difficult opponents.
I don't know, the dismissive attitude Percy has towards Demeter's kids just kind of bothers me.
Well, that wraps up this week's Wednesdays with Wart. I'm not sure what I'll be doing next week, feel free to throw some suggestions my way. If all else fails, I'll probably do a recommendations post.
