Today we bring you the gods that inhabit the Percy Jackson & the Olympians universe. Now when I say gods I mean the polytheistic belief that the Greek’s believe in. Here are some of the immortals that appear in Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief.

Brought to you by OBS staff member Katlyn & Chris.

Poseidon

Roman Name: Neptune
Parents: Rhea, Kronos
Spouse: Amphitrite
Most Well Known Consorts & Children:

• Sally Jackson (Percy Jackson Universe Only)
• Perseus Jackson
• Amphitrite
  • Triton
• Aethra
• Theseus
• Clieto
• Atlas
• Euryale
• Orion
• Gaia
• Charybdis
• Medusa
• Pegasus
• Unknown Mother
• Tyson (Percy Jackson Universe Only)

Personality: Poseidon is stubborn, proud, and tempermental (like his brothers). He is kind to those who hold his favor, but quick to temper should someone get on his bad side. He has a good sense of humor unlike his brother zeus who is dramatic.

Powers and Abilities: Control over water (creating storms, etc.), Project blue beams from his Trident that can transform or destroy its target, and standard god powers.

Symbol of Power: Trident

Summary: Poseidon, like his siblings, spent his childhood in the belly of his father Kronos until Metis and Zeus tricked him to dislodge them. Afterwards, Poseidon joined the cause to defeat his father and drew lots with Zeus and Hades for what parts of the wrold they were to rule; Poseidon became the Sea God.

Poseidon met Sally Jackson in Montauk, where Percy was concieved, and left before Percy was born. In The Lightning Thief, Poseidon claimed Percy after a hellhound attacked him in order to get his aid in finding Zeus’ lightning bolt.

Portrayed by: Kevin McKidd

Zeus

Roman Name: Jupiter
Parents: Rhea, Kronos
Spouse: Hera
Most Well Known Consorts & Children:

• Ms. Grace (Percy Jackson Universe Only)
• Thalia Grace
• Ananke
• The Fates (or possibly daughters of Themis)
• Atropos
• Clotho
• Lachesis
• Demeter
• Persephone
• Dione or Thalassa
• Aphrodite
• Hera
• Ares
• Eris
• Hebe
• Hephaestus (or possibly Hera alone)
• Leto
• Apollo
• Artemis
• Maia
• Hermes
• Metis
• Athena
• Themis
• Nemesis
• Alcmene
• Hercules
• Danae
• Perseus
• Europa
• Minos
• Semele
• Dionysus

Personality: Like his other brothers, Zeus is stubborn, proud, and quick tempered. At times he can be ver paranoid, which lead to the story for The Lightning Thief. As the king of gods Zeus expects everyon to obey him without question. When someone doesn’t Zeus can be unforgiving and dramatic, but has a soft spot for certain favorites such as Thalia Grace.

Powers and Abilities: As the king of gods, Zeus is said to be the most powerful god. He can control and form of weather he wishes from the storm (including lightning and thunder storms). He also possess the standard god powers.

Symbol of Power: Master Bolt

Summary: Unlike his other siblings, Zeus was not devoured by Kronos and with the aid of Metis he forced Kronos to dislodge his siblings. Afterwards, Zeus released the Cyclops from Tartarus. As a token of gratitude the Cyclops gave Zeus his mastor bolt. With this, he and his siblings defeated Kronos and the other Titans.

In The Lightning Thief, Zeus accuses Poseidon of stealing his Master Bolt which leads Percy on a journey to recover it from the real thief.

Portrayed by: Sean Bean

Hades

Roman Name: Pluto
Parents: Rhea, Kronos
Spouse: Persephone
Most Well Known Consorts & Children:

• Maria di Angelo (Percy Jackson Universe Only)
• Bianca di Angelo
• Nico di Angelo

Personality: Like his brothers, Hades is stubborn, proud and quick tempered, but he is also vicious and vengeful. Hades believes that he got the short end of the stick by ruling the underworld and blames his brothers for it. Wanting to rule everything, Hades frequently makes plots to destroy his brothers.

Powers and Abilities: As god of the underworld, Hades has dominion over the dead and all the creatures that live there. He has the ability to transform into any shape he wishes, including others. He also can throw fireballs and summon waves of the dead to fight for his cause. Like others, he has the standard god powers.

Symbol of Power: Helm of Darkness

Summary: Like the rest of his siblings, Hades spent his childhood in his fathers belly. After becoming the Lord of the Underworld, Hades wanted a wife and fell for Demeter’s daughter Persephone. He kidnapped her and dragged her to the Underworld where she slowly relished in her freedom and learned to love Hades. Zeus finally got in the arguement and ordered Hades to return Persephone, but due to eating six pomegrante seeds she would have to spend six months a year in the Underworld.

In The Lightning Thief, Hades kidnaps Sally Jackson and uses her as a bargaining tool for the Master Bolt.

Portrayed by: Steve Coogan

Check out the rest of the immortals and their children HERE.

Also remember to check out our Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief book club HERE for summaries, quotes, and discussion.

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school…again. And that’s the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he’s angered a few of them. Zeus’s master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.
(percyjacksonbooks.com)

Starting next month, OBS book club will be Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lighting Thief”. This is the first book, in the series of 5 novels about Percy Jackson and his journey to discovering that the myths are true, that his father is alive, very much so, and dealing with all the trouble that follows! Disney has adapted the series into a movie, the first movie is set to be released in theaters presidents day, February 10th. No only is this young adult fiction hugely entertaining to read, but it will be fascinating to see it come alive on screen, this is why OBS has choose this adventurous book for our book club.

So we want to invite you to join OBS in a chapter by chapter breakdown of ‘The Lighting Thief’. OBS staff members, read through the chapters and write short overviews along with questions for consideration, that are discussed between readers on our forum. So in order to participate in this exciting book club, you probably NEED THE BOOK!

With that being said…OBS is giving away the first book in the series ‘The Lighting Thief’!!! Also and added bonus, we will be giving away the 4rd book in the series as well “The Battle for the Labyrinth”

So now, how to WIN these free books??
Well it’s rather simple, OBS wants to know ‘Who is your favorite character in the series and why’?? Just name one of the countless interesting characters, and give a summary as too why you consider that person; interesting, brave, funny, strongest, etc. Everything that appeals to you, what ever the character does that sticks out in your mind, when you read or watch this interesting story!!!

Only rule are that your summaries, can only be up too 300 characters!! So choose your words and descriptions wisely, because we will pick this best description and reason why, to be the WINNER! The top 2 most inspiring answer’s will be our winners, and receive the prizes!

The contest ends one week from today, January 23rd!!!
So you that will give the winners plenty of time to read, review and join the discussion!!! Good luck

All submissions email
chris54@openbooksociety.com
or reply/comment to this blog! If you think you’re “demi-god” worthy, reply to our twitter with your response www.twitter.com/openbooksociety but you will only 140 characters!!

by Sara Gundell at www.examiner.com:

The first book in Rick Riordan’s series Percy Jackson & the Olympians is coming to the big screen in 2010 — and a new trailer for the big screen adaptation is giving fans a glimpse at some of the coming action.

The movie adaptation is directed by Chris Columbus — who also helmed “Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets” and “Home Alone.” His adaptation of “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” looks to have more Harry Potter than “Home Alone” — thank goodness.

The premise of Riordan’s book series is this: the gods of Olympus are alive and well here in the 21st Century … and you could be one of their children. The books follow the adventures of Percy Jackson and his modern demigod friends as they fight mythological monsters. In the first book in the series, The Lightning Thief, 12-year-old Percy discovers the existence of these modern gods of Olympus and his relation to them. He must then travel across the United States to catch the thief who stole Zeus’ master bolt — and along the way, fight mythical creatures trying to stop him.

Source

This looks really good, one more movie to add to my ’must-see’ list. Will you go see ‘The Lightning Thief’? Have you read this book or any in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series? If not, will you give them a try?