Once stated by Edith Hamilton, the author of the original myth “Perseus”, “The fullness of life is in the hazards of life. ” (Hamilton). Meaning that you aren’t living unless you are truly face to face with death and risk. You are on edge and not cooped up afraid of going for something. And that is exactly what Perseus and Percy Jackson, two heroic figures, live up to. To that extent, “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan transforms the ancient legend of “Perseus” in a compelling, entertaining, and imaginative way through it’s craftsmanship of modernization, sequence of events, characters, and themes.
The way in which the innovative retelling captures an audience is a direct statement of it’s creative remake based off the concrete foundation of the original copy produced centuries ago. Utmost, is the way in which the things of the past (a. k. a. -weapons, methods of communication, routine behaviors, etc. ) were made present to fit in today’s generation is quite an accomplishment beyond the “old-joe’s” capabilities and says more than words. Furthermore, there are many ways that the old mythical story is revamped and updated in regards to the props and materials used to make the story come to life.
The overall vibe deduced by Rick Riordan and Chris Columbus, is remodeled in way that doesn’t affect all variables and results in a similar story. For instance, “Percy Jackson” is a common teenager who encompasses the characteristics of an “Everyman” or “Misfit”. In other words, he is relatable. As Rick Riordan writes, “My name is Percy Jackson. I’m twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am la troubled kid? Yeah. You could say that. ” (Riordan 1). Therefore it shows a much more realistic and imaginable home life, a modern setting.
In the ancient literary copy of “Perseus”, his grandfather tries to kill him when he is a baby. As Edith writes, “But if he could not kill them outright, he could put them in the way of tolerably certain death. He had a great chest made, and the two placed in it. Then it was taken out to sea and cast into the water. ” (Hamilton 193). This goes to show how the scene was changed to fall into a more common day-to-day, legal, event. Similarly, the heart of Percy’s quest is taken along different lines where he has a multitude of events to face before the ultimate task can be accomplished.
Perseus went along the same lines when he visited the Gray Women, the nymphs of the North, met with Hermes and Athena, and finally reached enough preparation to encounter Medusa. As I previously mentioned, Perseus confrontated with Hermes and Athena whom gave him gifts and tools that he would need to face and defeat the gorgon. In the same fashion, Percy Jackson, Grover, and Annabeth all had weapons and strategic devices they used.
“Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she told me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture,… Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes…. ” (Riordan 149-150). Additionally, Percy had “Riptide” or Anaklusmos and Luke gave him the flying-sneakers which Grover evidently used (Riordan 152). Concisely, the copy of “Percy Jackson” plays with the factor of time and uses it to spice up the old legend. Similarly, the sequence of events fluctuates.
Contradictingly, both characters have rough starts or you could say, collide and come in contact with the things of their murky pasts. To draw you an illusion, Perseus is prophesized to kill his grandpa so therefore, his grandpa, Acrisius, tries to end his life before that can happen (throws him in a crate). Whereas with Percy Jackson, he has a nasty stepdad and has no account of his biological father. Another thing is that he is challenged with dyslexia and gets thrown in-and-out of boarding schools. As Riordan states, “I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time.
My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class. Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn’t even sure what it meant, but it sounded good. The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week,…. ” (Riordan 17). Moving through their rocky pasts, both had roles and assignments to complete even though they went about them in different regards.
For instance, Percy Jackson had to return Zeus’s lightning bolt before World War Three broke out between the gods, he had a lot of tasks leading up to the greater “todo” that were all apart of the bigger picture. Perseus had to kill the only mortal gorgon of the three for the king, whom wanted her head as a wedding gift, supposedly, not knowing he really just wanted Perseus to die. “Each guest, as was customary, brought a gift for the bride-to-be, except Perseus alone. He had nothing he could give. He was young and proud and keenly mortified. He stood up before them all and did exactly what the King had hoped he would do,… ” (Hamilton 194-195). As I mention with Percy Jackson, both characters did have jobs they needed to complete before they could reach their final destination and Perseus went to the Gray Woman, the nymphs, as well as encountered Athena and Hermes. Correspondingly, both came in contact with mentors or as some might say “The Grizzled Old-Timer” who helped lead and guide them amongst manhood and fulfilling their prophecy (shaped their paths). For Percy Jackson, he had Grover who was his protector or “Keeper” and Perseus, was given the fatherly figure of “Dictys”.
As showcased in the following text, “Fate willed it – or perhaps Zeus, who up to now had done little for his love and his child – that they should be discovered by a good man, a fisherman named Dictys. He came upon the great box and broke it open and took the pitiful cargo home to his wife who was as kind as he. They had no children and they cared for Danae and Perseus as if they were their own. They tow lived there many years, Danae content to let her son follow the fisherman’s humble trade, out of harm’s way. ” (Hamilton, 194).
With all of the previous combined, it is apparent that the structures of each main character and those who hold supporting roles, have mandatory parts that play in the combustion of each literary piece. Meanwhile, the themes that criss-cross and intervene from both stories, as well as the persona who help attain the construction of the ideals, help alter and draw on the old legend of “Perseus” in a new light. Initially, both embrace aspects of an “Everyman”, “Misfit”, and the “Prodigy”. To make this more sustainable, Percy Jackson, was given a prophecy from the Oracle, Delphi. Gabe turned toward me and spoke in the rasping voice of the Oracle: You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.
His buddy on the right looked up and said in the same voice: You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned. The guy on the left threw in two poker chips, then said: You shall he betrayed by one who calls you a friend. Finally, Eddie, our building super, delivered the worst line of all: And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end. ” (Riordan 141). On the same note, from the get go, Perseus was foretold to kill his grandpa. She was beautiful above all the other women of the land, but this was small comfort to the King for not having a son. He journeyed to Delphi to ask the god if there was any hope that some day he would be the father of a boy.
The priestess told him no, and added what was far worse: that his daughter would have a son who would kill him. ” (Hamilton 192). Continuing, the new, updated tale of Perseus (“Percy Jackson”), takes a spin off the themes of the Underdog, pieces of Brain v. Brawn, and Brawn v. Brain. To draw ou an illustration, Perseus was never sought to defeat the gorgon, in fact he was supposed to die in the process. The same goes for Percy Jackson, here was this kid who had no idea he was even a half-blood, had dyslexia, and was the new boy at camp. He was sought out to find one of, if not the, most powerful weapon and return it to it’s owner in a ten-day time crunch. No one had ever returned home alive and been able to complete a quest at this extreme. Plus, everyone loves rooting for the “underdog”, so both author’s incorporated a huge component with this. Furthermore, the Brain v.
Brawn concept was used when both characters tried to kill Medusa. In “Percy Jackson” it states, “I took out my pen and uncapped it. The bronze blade of Riptide elongated in my hand. l followed the hissing and spitting sounds of Medusa’s hair. I kept my eyes locked on the gazing ball so I would only glimpse Medusa’s reflection, not the real thing. Then, in the green tinted glass, I saw her. ” (Riordan 182). Obviously, Percy knew he couldn’t look at Medusa directly but he needed to know where she was so he could cut her head off. I mean, how can you kill something when you don’t even know where it is?
So, he used his resources and smarts to figure out an alternative. Switching gears, Perseus has gods alongside him assisting in his battle. In the same fashion, Percy Jackson has Annabeth, Athena’s daughter, and Grover, his “Protector”, aiding him in his quest; not to mention, Poseidon, his father, was constantly looking out for him. “Come on, Percy. Go to the water. The water will give you power. ” (Columbus Percy Jackson, online script). All-in-all, the characters and themes impact and help advance the alteration of the old myth “Perseus” in an exuberant way unlike any other.
They add a third-dimension truly bringing this ancient legend to life once again. With all afloat and laid out vicariously, “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” magnifies the less-than-new epic in a layered depth with a focus on the plot, roleplaying, thematic elements (such that as tone, mood, and diction) and renovates the existing words and sequence structure of Edith Hamilton’s outline and her quote defining life’s meaning. It has been made know how the different one, two, and three-D characters effect and make the story.
A miraculous transformation took place between the piece we currently have now and that one of thousands of years. It is almost as if the original copy went through a time machine and what we have now, is the end result. All the ideas bounced off one another and made sure to encompass a strong moral, an effective stream of developed characters, and a modern remake of the myth “Perseus”“. That final product, with the remarkable and precise words, magnified through Rick and Chris, came out of the machine, and is what we now have in our hands.
