Monday, October 5, 2020

AP English Godly Parents?

Well...since we are on the topic of books from our childhood, I wanted to bring up the book series mine was shaped around: Percy Jackson. With the news that these books will get their own show on Disney+ soon, I really got back into my Percy Jackson phase. So this week for my blog post, I will be detailing the 13 main cabins and what qualities go with each godly parent. After reading the descriptions, much like Hunter's, decide what cabin your classmates will belong to. There is one very slight problem: there isn't much on what the exact characteristics of the demigod child of each god, so I will try my best to explain it. The gods and their children are not going to be exactly alike, so I won't be going into a lot of detail on the god's themselves unless it really applies. I know this probably won't be super interesting to most of you, but I was such a huge fan of these books, so I will be the resident Percy Jackson expert. I am a proud child of Poseidon (just as I am a proud Slytherin house member although I know some of you didn't put that...proves how little you know about me...I know who you are too), but I will start off with the king of the god's and major playboy himself, Zeus. 

As we know, Zeus is the king of the gods. His domain is Olympus, and his godly powers are vast, but most focus on his lightening/thunder controlling abilities. I'd say the character traits of his children relate to leadership, confidence, fearlessness, and strength. They will have a sort of "god complex" as they are deemed very important; mind you, they also are extremely impatient and will let you know that. 

Ares is the god of war. His children are usually going to be athletic, passionate, wild, and a bit aggressive. They are also extremely competitive people, even though they definitely have a more vulnerable side that they kept hidden. Think of them as foils to the children of Aphrodite, which will be next. 

Aphrodite is the goddess of love. Her children are elegant, charming, deceptive, and either too kind or too cruel (can be either, depends on the circumstance). These are outwardly the opposite of the children of Ares, however, they aren't really that different as they both can have an equally dark side if pushed the wrong way. Children of Aphrodite are powerful, but are often overlooked because they are deemed weak, which is a big mistake. 

Dionysus is the god of wine. If you think party, you also have to think of Dionysus. His children are going to be vibrant, impulsive, outgoing, and definitely the life of the party. They will have a wild side, as he is also known for that, but it isn't always a bad thing. They aren't just party animals though, as they are usually quite relaxed and are the type of people you'd also like to hang out with on a Sunday brunch while you sip a mimosa.   

Poseidon is the god of the sea, and his domain consists of the entire ocean. His children have been known to be powerful, vindictive, ambitious, and loyal. Although we don't get many of these qualities in Percy Jackson himself, think of any child of Poseidon on how you'd think of the ocean and how there is always a calm before the storm. Most children of the Big 3 do have a temper problem and become angry quickly, especially for Poseidon's children as their temperament matches that of the ocean and changes quickly.  

Hermes is the god of roadways, travelers, merchants, and thieves (yeah he gets a lot in his official title). His children are mischievous, clever, cunning, and are usually jokester. These are the types fo kids that will always have amazing comebacks when insulted, and will come up with the most insane pranks to get you back. They are generally light-hearted and are usually well liked by their peers. 

Athena is the goddess of wisdom. Her children tend to take on a lot more of her traits than most gods from what I've seen. They are curious, intelligent, logical, and typically very skeptical. They plan everything and can be seen as sort of the "moms/dads" of friend groups because of this. They aren't boring or dull, don't think that, but they are going to be very rational and think out all of their decisions. 

Hephaestus is the god of blacksmith and fire. They are introspective, innovative, independent, and ironically fiery. They are very caring people, and while their dad might be considered the outcast of Olympus, his children are some of the most impactful people at Camp Half-Blood, as they are the ones who fix everything. They are crafty, good with their hands and total softies at heart, just like their dad.  

Apollo is the god of the sun, music, poetry, prophecy, medicine, and archery (he has even more titles than Hermes). His children are creative, expressive, nonconventional, and are artist but through various means. These are going to be the artsy kids of the world, and yes, they will let you know that is exactly who they are; they are very, very proud of that fact. They are usually chill people, and you would be able to find them around just doing various artistic tasks that they enjoy. 

Demeter is the goddess of agriculture. Her children are kind, vulnerable, nurturing, and what I like think of a sunflower in an open field, but as a person. While yes, they are going to be very nice, they also can be very possessive as well, just like their mother is known to be. Just like Aphrodite's children, this cabins niceness should not be mistaken for weakness. 

Hades is the god of the underworld and the final member of the Big 3. His children are thought of as fair, hard-working, and humble, although bit on the darker side but not in a bad way. They are usually quiet, shy and reserved as well, because like their dad, they value their isolation. They are extremely powerful despite this and are not people you want to take for granted, or else they will remind you that they aren't always so nice. They really aren't mean though, they're just a bit broken in some ways and aren't the best at communicating. 

Artemis is the goddess of the moon, the hunt, and young maidens, but she has no children. Instead she has the Hunters of Artemis, a group of young, female demigods that travel with the goddess. Since they come from various godly parents, it's a bit harder to think of qualities, but I do see the Hunters as her metaphorical children. Because of this, I deem them practical, loyal, protective, and very group-oriented. These girls are a family, and family is very important to their patron goddess. 

I saved the queen of the gods, Hera, for last. She, like Artemis, also has no children, but for very different reasons. She does this to stay loyal to her husband Zeus, despite his constant cheating. If Hera were to have children, I'd expect their qualities to be loyalty, family-orientation, revenge, and just...trouble. I don't really like Hera, and I won't have her on the form to fill out, but I thought I should include her for fun since she is still an Olympian. 

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Rikki,

I'm so glad you brought this up. It's always interesting to look at characteristics of a person and compares them to various literary figures, especially when it's to a series that we all know and love. As for the Percy Jackson series, I think you did an excellent job of describing the typical demigod for each divine parent. However, as for those who have read the Heroes of Olympus series as well, we know that Rick Riordan also incorporates the Roman version of the gods and their semi-divine children. Many people believe that the Romans adopted the Greek culture and just changed the names, but in addition to the name change, their personalities differs as well. All of them as a whole are more militaristic, which we can see in the violent society of the Roman Empire. Particularly, there is more emphasis on gods like Mars (Ares) and Venus (Aphrodite) and less on Minerva (Athena). In Roman divinity, Minerva is a virgin goddess a well, like Diana (Artemis). Additionally, Juno (Hera) is slightly fairer than her Greek counterpart but also connotes the idea of fear as she often appears to warn against war. Jupiter, the Father of the Gods. Gods like Ceres (Demeter), Mercury (Hermes), Vulcan (Hephaestus), Bacchus (Dionysus), and Apollo (whose name doesn't change) are relatively similar, and while the overall realms of Neptune (Poseidon) and Pluto (Hades) haven't changed, they differ in the ideas that the Roman people focused heavily on the nobility of fighting and war, but Neptune is extremely less important because the Romans are not big fans of fighting on sea. They respected Pluto, as they should with the God of Death, but he also picks up the aspect of wealth in his Roman transformation. As for their children, they too are more militaristic. Jupiter's children, like Zeus's, are very powerful, and children of Mars are the leaders of Camp Jupiter (the Roman version of Camp Half Blood). But the most interesting part of this camp is how welcoming they are of minor godly children, like Nemesis, Bellona, etc. While there are many similarities between the two, it's overall incorrect to say that they are the same.

Camila Figueroa said...

Hey Rikki! I love how creative this post is. So clever! Anyway, when I was doing the quiz, it was so hard figuring out which student goes with which greek god or goddess, but your explanation helped I would say my favorite greek goddesses are Aphrodite and Athena. I don't know why but after I did a 6th grade project on Athena, I just reallu adored her. After class today, I realized how crazy some of the god or goddesses' lives have been. For example, Athena was birthed from Zeus' forehead and Zeus stitched Dionysus to his stomach to make him fully divine. I just never knew about the eccentric details about these Greek gods and goddesses, but I am excited to learn about it in literature!