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The Lightning Thief begins with the narration of the protagonist, Percy Jackson. Percy is unsure of his identity and insecure about his life. This resonates as a common rite of passage for a twelve-year-old but is complicated by the sudden appearances of monsters and other figures from Greek mythology. Percy values family, exemplified most notably in the love he has for his mother and his belief that she is the best person he knows. Because he values family so highly, he longs to know more about his father. He finally learns that he is the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea. However, simply knowing who his father is after all this time does not suddenly make Percy feel more secure in his identity, nor does it fulfill his desire to know and be known by his father. 

The introduction and interspersion of Greek mythology conjures images of a contemporary world with a fantastical twist. The inciting incident, or the event that activates the plot, is also one of the first major encounters that Percy has with the divine: his mother is taken by a Minotaur. At the beginning of the story, Percy implores readers (“if you’re a normal kid”) to turn their back on the fantastical and return to the world they know devoid of monsters and magic, suggesting the “normalcy” of the real world is merely surface-level. Indeed, as the plot progresses, Percy is exposed to people, things, and powers that he never believed were real before. Gradually, the presence of myths in a modern world comes to shape the story, introducing both Percy and the reader to these elements.

The prophecy that Percy receives foreshadows the rising action and climax of the book. After he is claimed as Poseidon’s son, he is accused of stealing Zeus’s master bolt and he must return the bolt to Zeus to prevent a catastrophic war. The prophecy provides direction through exposition. The line “You shall go west, and face the god who has turned” leads Percy, Annabeth, and Grover west, where they assume they must retrieve the bolt from Hades. They are also given assurances that the conflict will be resolved in their favor with the line “You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.” The final two lines of the prophecy reference a secondary, more nuanced conflict that challenges Percy’s views on who or what to trust as well as what true success really means. 

As Percy, Annabeth, and Grover embark on their quest, their journey west parallels many different Greek myths. The quest has an episodic nature, like Odysseus’s journey in The Odyssey, with the trio traveling, defeating various enemies, and completing side quests before moving on. They even encounter a modern version of the Lotus-eaters at the Lotus Hotel. They also defeat Medusa, referring to the myth in which Perseus, Percy’s namesake, defeats Medusa without being turned to stone. When the group encounters Procrustes in the modern world, they follow in the hero Theseus’s footsteps and defeat Procrustes the same way he did.

As Percy and his friends near the Underworld, he uses not his divine powers but the power of empathy to humanize the mythical beasts surrounding them. By allowing these myths to be complex beings with human emotions, he in turn allows himself to overcome the challenges they pose and subsequently feel more confident in his own abilities. On his journey west, Percy becomes secure in his identity and in his powers as the son of Poseidon. He is also more secure in his friends and family. This gives Percy the confidence to fight Ares, despite how uneven the fight between a mortal demigod and immortal god should be. When he meets Hades, Percy is able to understand why he doesn’t want a war. This realization allows him to see through Ares’s manipulation. Percy wins and restores both the master bolt and Helm of Darkness to their owners, thus resolving the conflict and preventing war. He returns the bolt in a bittersweet meeting with Poseidon and Zeus, which prompts Percy to accept himself despite his father’s lack of acceptance. 

As the conflict is resolved and Percy returns to camp, the meaning of the third line of the prophecy is revealed. Percy’s dreams, the warning he received not to trust gifts, and the line of the prophecy “You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend” all foreshadow the surprising reveal that another individual orchestrated the whole conflict. This individual, revealed to be Kronos, uses Luke, whom Percy considers a friend, to try and instigate a war between the gods. Percy feels the pain of making friends and then losing them, challenging what he has learned throughout the novel. The revelation of this unresolved conflict sets the story up for continuation in the following books of the series.

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