71 pages • 2 hours read
Rick RiordanThe Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus, #5)
Fiction | Novel | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Memory
In Greek mythology, the questions of what should be remembered and why are especially central in Homer’s The Odyssey, which is believed to have been composed orally before the creation of written language in the Greek world. In such a culture, memory is especially significant, as it’s the only way to preserve and transmit cultural values, beliefs, and events. Forgetting can be deadly; it can cause people to lose their way, literally (they forget where their home is) and figuratively (they forget where they belong). However, certain memories can be harmful, causing excess grief, which fuels conflict, as when Menelaus remembers a story of Helen betraying her people. In Virgil’s Roman epic Aeneid, Aeneas refuses to spare Turnus when he notices the warrior wearing the sword belt of Aeneas’s friend, whom Turnus killed.
Riordan incorporates the problem of memory in several ways. Both Jason and Percy had their memories taken from them to enable them to switch camps. Attempting to recover those memories is what brought the Roman and Greek camps into contact. Characteristically, memory can be both harmful and beneficial, depending on what is being remembered.
Related Titles
By Rick Riordan
Daughter of the Deep
Rick Riordan
The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4)
Rick Riordan
The Burning Maze (The Trials of Apollo, #3)
Rick Riordan
The Chalice of the Gods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #6)
Rick Riordan
The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo, #2)
Rick Riordan
The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #2)
Rick Riordan
The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, #1)
Rick Riordan
The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4)
Rick Riordan
The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #5)
Rick Riordan
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1)
Rick Riordan
The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, #1)
Rick Riordan
The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, #3)
Rick Riordan
The Maze of Bones (The 39 Clues, #1)
Rick Riordan
The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, #1)
Rick Riordan
The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2)
Rick Riordan
The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus, #2)
Rick Riordan
The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure (Camp Half-Blood Chronicles, #17)
Rick Riordan, Mark Oshiro
The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #1)
Rick Riordan
The Throne of Fire
Rick Riordan
The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3)
Rick Riordan
Featured Collections
Action & Adventure
View Collection
Ancient Greece
View Collection
Ancient Rome
View Collection
Animals in Literature
View Collection
Colonialism & Postcolonialism
View Collection
Coming-of-Age Journeys
View Collection
European History
View Collection
Fantasy
View Collection
Juvenile Literature
View Collection
Mortality & Death
View Collection
Mythology
View Collection