The House of Hades

Riordan has been called the storyteller of the gods because his stories are inspired by different world mythologies. The Heroes of Olympus series is inspired by Greek and Roman mythology. Riordan wrote, “These stories are part of our collective heritage. I certainly don’t see the harm in learning mythology. In fact, I think you have to know myths to understand where our modern culture came from. It’s part of being an educated member of society” (Riordan, Rick. “An Interview with Rick”).

Greek and Roman mythology is very similar because Roman mythology was based on Greek mythology. Both are polytheistic religions, and both have 12 main gods known as the 12 Olympians. Before modern science, the Greeks and Romans believed weather and inexplicable events were controlled by gods. In their mythologies, there are gods of the sea, sky, sun, underworld, etc.

Both Greek and Roman pantheons have similar gods called by different names. The king of the gods for the Greeks is Zeus and Jupiter for the Romans. His wife is Hera or Juno. The sea god is Poseidon or Neptune. The god of the Underworld is Hades or Pluto. The Goddess of wisdom is Athena or Minerva. The war god is Ares or Mars. The goddess of love is Aphrodite or Venus. Some gods only exist in one Pantheon or exist in both. For example, Apollo the sun god is called Apollo in both the Greek and Roman mythologies. Other gods, such as Triptolemus, the god of farming, are only Greek. All these gods play roles in the Heroes of Olympus series. In history, the Roman Empire overthrew the Greek one, which created tension between the two cultures, so this historical conflict is brought to the fictional world of Heroes of Olympus through the clash between the Roman and Greek demigod camps.

Both mythologies include stories of demigods, who are mortal heroes with a godly parent and a mortal parent. Hercules, or Heracles in Greek, is a famous example whose father was Jupiter/Zeus. Gods allowed mortal heroes to do their bidding and fight battles to save the world. The mythological history is rich with stories of how the world was created and who came before the gods. According to Greek mythology, the world was created by Gaea, the earth goddess, and Ouranos (Uranus), the sky god. Gaea birthed Titans with Ouranos and birthed Giants with Tartarus. Eventually, the Titans overthrew the Giants and their parents. The Titans led by Kronos were cruel rulers, so Kronos’s children, the gods led by Zeus banished them to Tartarus. The gods ruled from Mount Olympus.

The Heroes of Olympus series is set in Greek and Roman mythology because all the heroes are demigods, and the Greek and Roman myths are their history. They must fight the monsters that their predecessors fought to save the world. In the Heroes of Olympus, the gods are sidelined much of the time because their Greek and Roman counterparts are fighting.