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Percy has many impressive moments of bravery throughout The Sea of Monsters. However, it is the quieter moments that reveal the depth of his maturation and his heroism. Percy and Clarisse have had an antagonistic relationship ever since his arrival at Camp Half-Blood. He is angry when Clarisse is sent on the quest for the Golden Fleece instead of him, and eager to set out on his own unofficial quest with Annabeth and Tyson. However, after fighting at Clarisse’s side against Polyphemus, Percy finally starts to see things from her point of view. “How would I feel,” Percy asks himself in Chapter 17, “if a bunch of other heroes had butted in [to my quest] and made me look bad?”

As a result, he sends Clarisse on alone with the Golden Fleece and willingly allows her to claim full glory. Percy’s selfless decision to give Clarisse credit for finding the Golden Fleece anticipates the moment in Chapter 19 when he and Annbeth credit their chariot victory—and their victories on their unsanctioned quest—to Tyson. Percy praises Tyson and publicly refers to him as his brother in order to make Tyson feel loved and appreciated, even though Percy was previously embarrassed by having a monster for a half-brother. In both of these instances, Riordan shows the reader that there is more than one way to be a hero and that, sometimes, empathy is even more important than valor.

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