House Of Hades

The book House of Hades, by Rick Riordan is an engaging story about Eight demigods (half mortal-half gods also known as half-bloods) named Piper, Jason, Leo, Hazel, Frank, Nico, Annabeth, and Percy. They are on a quest to stop Gaea, the ancient and powerful earth goddess, from resurrecting the Giants, a group of very large and dangerous monsters that are set on killing all demigods, mortals, gods (Olympians) and everything else that isn't evil enough. They are thwarted by monsters, curses, problems, and minor gods who generally want to get in their way and each have their own specific reason for wanting them dead. As well, the Olympian Gods’ Greek and Roman sides are warring within their bodies, each fighting for dominance. Instead of helping the quest like they usually do, they are completely useless and unhelpful, sometimes even getting inside the half-blood’s heads and distracting them. As if all these problems aren't enough, they also have to stop a civil war between the Greek demigods and the Roman demigods. The half-bloods are left to their own defenses and have very little help from anyone besides each other. The one thing they have to guide them is something they call The Prophecy of Seven. The Prophecy is supposed to help them, but prophecies are often confusing, unclear, and have double meanings. One line in The Prophecy of Seven says: “To storm or fire the world must fall.” The demigods all seem to think this pertains to Jason (a son of Jupiter who can summon storms) and Leo (a son of Hephaestus who can summon fire) However, I have a different theory as to what this prophecy means.

The Prophecy of Seven says: “To storm or fire the world must fall.” I think that the storm or fire in the Prophecy is not a symbol for Jason and Leo, but for Greek and Roman. Both the Greek and Roman demigods and Gods are battling, when they should be unified and fighting the larger more important war against Gaea and the Giants. Traditionally to defeat the Giants, demigods and gods must work together. I think that the Prophecy is explaining that one side, either Greek or Roman is going to accidentally or purposefully destroy the world or that the demigods will be so wrapped up in their own quarrels that Gaea overpowers them. In one part of the book, Jason visits the God of the South Winds. He tells him “It is time to choose a direction. A wind that blows aimlessly is of no use to anyone.” The God is referring to the fact that Jason is a little confused about whether he is Greek or Roman. I think that everyone needs to not pick a side as Greek or Roman, but demigod or monster.

All in all, the Prophecies of demigods can be double sided and misleading, but I think the Prophecy of Seven is saying that the demigods need to wake up and fight Gaea instead of each other. I hope that the half-bloods realize this before it is too late to fix.