GREEK MYTHOLOGY

Greek Mythology

Greek Mythology

Introduction

“Who'd have thought that novels drawing heavily on Greek mythology would be a hit with today's high-tech pop-culture-savvy youth?” Bolle, Sonja. Talking with Rick Riordan a master of myth and mirth, kid appeal isn't Greek to him. Percy Jackson is a world-wide phenomenon: Published in 67 languages, over 400 million copies of the text have been sold, a movie has been made of the first book and the sequel has been commissioned coming out late 2012. Gods and goddesses are shown as being a vital part in modern society. The series is based on the assumption that the legends of Greek mythology are real. Accordingly, there are the Greek gods, but also all the other immortal characters and monsters of Greek mythology today (Riordan, 2005, 46). The seat of the gods, Mount Olympus, is no longer in Greece, but has shifted the power center of the western world and is now in New York, where the action begins.

For instance, Mount Olympus is at the top of the Empire State Building and Hades is underneath Hollywood. During the course of the years that we know Percy, he recovers Zeus' missing lightning bolt, undoes the terrible mistake of Zeus's daughter Thalia being killed and saves the world from a war between the Titans and the Olympians (Graf & Marier 1996, 79).

Discussion

There are many ways that one could say that a religion still practiced today, such as Christianity with its rich history is similar to Greek mythology. They both teach the right or “moral” way to live one's life, they both speak of the downfall of humanity involving female figures (Eve and Pandora,) and they both believe in saviors (Jesus and Prometheus.) Having mentioned these similarities, it's important to note that the success behind Percy Jackson, or any reinvention of Greek mythology in modern society, is because of all the reasons that it is different to anything that exists in the world today (Payment, 2005, 25). According to the author of Percy Jackson, the story became famous because children were not fully aware with the Greek myths. Through Percy's current adventures the stories of Zeus, Ares and Poseidon. The myths were retold in such an attractive way for customers that children believed them. Another reason for its success was that Percy was suffering from learning disabilities and ADHD. This made an ordinary, disable boy a hero in the book.

Greek mythology offers so much more; inspiration for many works of art (both written and visual,) insight into the human condition, a glimpse at an ancient people trying to make a sense of phenomena they could not explain, and the source of many terms and names we use today. There are many references with the Greek names and myths that we use in our daily lives nowadays (Riordan, 2005, 46). A few examples include Atlas Tires (The Titan Atlas), The Titanic (The Titans), Apollo Missions (The God Apollo), The Olympics (The Olympians) and ...