by Rick Riordan
Flavian the Flavians were an imperial dynasty that ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96 CE
Gaea the Greek earth goddess; wife of Ouranos; mother of Titans, giants, Cyclopes, and other monsters
Ganymede a divine hero from Troy whom Zeus abducted to serve as his cupbearer in Olympus
Germani (Germanus, sing.) tribal people who settled to the west of the Rhine river
Gidigbo a form of wrestling that involves head-butting, from the Yoruba of Nigeria, Africa
gloutos Greek for buttocks
Gorgons three monstrous sisters (Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa) who have hair of living, venomous snakes; Medusa’s eyes can turn the beholder to stone
Greek fire an incendiary weapon used in naval battles because it can continue burning in water
griffin a winged creature with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion; the sacred animal of Britomartis
Grove of Dodona the site of the oldest Greek Oracle, second only to Delphi in importance; the rustling of trees in the grove provided answers to priests and priestesses who journeyed to the site
Hades the Greek god of death and riches; ruler of the Underworld
harpy a winged female creature that snatches things
Hausa a language spoken in northern Nigeria and Niger; also the name of a people
Hecate goddess of magic and crossroads
Hemithea teenage daughter of King Staphylus of Naxos; sister of Parthenos; Apollo made her and her sister divine to save them when they jumped off a cliff to escape their father’s rage
Hephaestus the Greek god of fire and crafts and of blacksmiths; the son of Zeus and Hera, and married to Aphrodite
Hera the Greek goddess of marriage; Zeus’s wife and sister; Apollo’s stepmother
Heracles the Greek equivalent of Hercules; the son of Zeus and Alcmene; the strongest of all mortals
Hercules the Roman equivalent of Heracles; the son of Jupiter and Alcmene, who was born with great strength
Hermes Greek god of travelers; guide to spirits of the dead; god of communication
Hessian mercenaries the approximately thirty thousand German troops hired by the British to help fight during the American Revolution when they found it too difficult to recruit their own soldiers
hippocampi (hippocampus, sing.) half-horse, half-fish creatures
Hunters of Artemis a group of maidens loyal to Artemis and gifted with hunting skills and eternal youth as long as they reject romance for life
Hyacinthus a Greek hero and Apollo’s lover, who died while trying to impress Apollo with his discus skills
ichor the golden fluid that is the blood of gods and immortals
ìgboyà the Yoruba word for confidence, boldness, and bravery
Imperial gold a rare metal deadly to monsters, consecrated at the Pantheon; its existence was a closely guarded secret of the emperors
Iris the Greek goddess of the rainbow, and a messenger of the gods
Julius Caesar a Roman politician and general who became a dictator of Rome, turning it from a republic into the Roman Empire
Karmanor a minor Greek harvest god; a local deity in Crete who married Demeter; together they had a son, Eubouleus, who became the god of swineherds
karpoi (karpos, sing.) grain spirits
Kronos the youngest of the twelve Titans; the son of Ouranos and Gaea; the father of Zeus; he killed his father at his mother’s bidding; Titan lord of fate, harvest, justice, and time
Labyrinth an underground maze originally built on the island of Crete by the craftsman Daedalus to hold the Minotaur
Lethe the Greek word for forgetfulness; the name of a river in the Underworld whose waters caused forgetfulness; the name of a Greek spirit of oblivion
Leto mother of Artemis and Apollo with Zeus; goddess of motherhood
Little Tiber the barrier of Camp Jupiter
Lityerses the son of King Midas; he challenged people to harvesting contests and beheaded those he beat, earning him the nickname “Reaper of Men”
Marcus Aurelius Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 CE; father of Commodus; considered the last of the “Five Good Emperors”
Marsyas a satyr who lost to Apollo after challenging him in a musical contest, which led to Marsyas being flayed alive
melomakarona Greek Christmas honey cookies
Midas a king with the power to transform anything he touched to gold; Lityerses’s father; he selected Marsyas as the winner in the musical contest between Apollo and Marsyas, resulting in Apollo giving Midas the ears of a donkey
Minotaur the half-man, half-bull son of King Minos of Crete; the Minotaur was kept in the Labyrinth, where he killed people who were sent in; he was finally defeated by Theseus
Mnemosyne Titan goddess of memory; daughter of Ouranos and Gaea
Mount Olympus home of the Twelve Olympians
Mount Othrys a mountain in central Greece; the Titans’ base during the ten-year war between the Titans and the Olympians
myrmeke a large antlike creature that poisons and paralyzes its prey before eating it; known for protecting various metals, particularly gold
Narcissus a hunter known for his beauty; the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope; he was vain, arrogant, and disdainful of admirers; he fell in love with his own reflection; Narcissus was also the name of Commodus’s personal trainer and wrestling partner, who drowned the emperor in his bathtub—these were two different Narcissuses
Nemean Lion a large, vicious lion that plagued Nemea in Greece; its pelt was impervious to all human weapons; Hercules strangled it with his bare hands
Nero ruled as Roman Emperor from 54 to 58 CE; he had his mother and his first wife put to death; many believe he was responsible for setting a fire that gutted Rome, but he blamed the Christians, whom he burned on crosses; he built an extravagant new palace on the cleared land and lost support when construction expenses forced him to raise taxes; he committed suicide
Nine Muses Greek goddesses of literature, science, and the arts, who have inspired artists and writers for centuries
nymph a female nature deity who animates nature
Oceanus the eldest son of Ouranos and Gaea; the Titan god of the sea
Ogygia the island home—and prison—of the nymph Calypso
Oracle of Delphi a speaker of the prophecies of Apollo
Oracle of Trophonius a Greek who was transformed into an Oracle after his death; located at the Cave of Trophonius; known for terrifying those who seek him
Orion a giant huntsman who was the most loyal and valued of Artemis’s attendants until he was slain by a scorpion
Ouranos the Greek personification of the sky; husband of Gaea; father of the Titans
Pan the Greek god of the wild; the son of Hermes
Parthenos teenage daughter of King Staphylus of Naxos; sister of Hemithea; Apollo made her and her sister divine to save them when they jumped off a cliff to escape their father’s rage
Peloponnese a large peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece, separated from the northern part of the country by the Gulf of Corinth
Persephone the Greek queen of the Underworld; wife of Hades; daughter of Zeus and Demeter
podex Latin for anus
Poseidon the Greek god of the sea; son of the Titans Kronos and Rhea, and brother of Zeus and Hades
Potina a Roman goddess of children, who watches over what they are drinking
praetor an elected Roman magistrate and commander of the army
Primordial Chaos the first thing ever to exist; the miasma from which the Fates wove the future; a void from which the first gods were produced
princeps prince of Rome; the early emperors used this title for themselves
Python a monstrous serpent that Gaea appointed to guard the Oracle at Delphi
River Styx the river that forms the boundary between earth and the Underworld
satyr a Greek forest god, part goat and part man
Sibyl a prophetess
S
ibylline Books a collection of prophecies in rhyme written in Greek
Sparta a city-state in ancient Greece with military dominance
spatha a long sword used by Roman cavalry units
Staphylus king of Naxos, Greece; a demigod son of Dionysus; father of Hemithea and Parthenos
Styx a powerful water nymph; the eldest daughter of the sea Titan, Oceanus; goddess of the Underworld’s most important river; goddess of hatred; the River Styx is named after her
Suburra an area of the city of Rome that was crowded and lower-class
Tantalus a king who fed the gods a stew made of his own son; he was sent to the Underworld, where his curse was to be stuck in a pool of water under a fruit tree but never be able to drink or eat
Tartarus husband of Gaea; spirit of the abyss; father of the giants; the lowest part of the Underworld
Teumessian Fox a giant fox sent by the gods to ravage the city of Thebes in punishment for a crime; the beast was destined never to be caught
Three Fates Even before there were gods there were the Fates: Clotho, who spins the thread of life; Lachesis, the measurer, who determines how long a life will be; and Atropos, who cuts the thread of life with her shears
Three Mile Island a nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where, on March 28, 1979, there was a partial meltdown in reactor number 2, causing public concern
Throne of Memory Mnemosyne carved this chair, in which a petitioner would sit after visiting the Cave of Trophonius and receiving bits of verse from the Oracle; once seated in the chair, the petitioner would recount the verses, the priests would write them down, and they would become a prophecy
Tiber River the third-longest river in Italy; Rome was founded on its banks; in ancient Rome, executed criminals were thrown into the river
Titan War the epic ten-year battle between the Titans and the Olympians that resulted in the Olympians taking the throne
Titans a race of powerful Greek deities, descendants of Gaea and Ouranos, that ruled during the Golden Age and were overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Olympians
Triptolemus son of King Celeus and brother of Demophon; a favorite of Demeter; he became the inventor of the plow and agriculture
trireme a Greek warship, having three tiers of oars on each side
triumvirate a political alliance formed by three parties
Trojan War According to legend, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband, Menelaus, king of Sparta
Trophonius demigod son of Apollo, designer of Apollo’s temple at Delphi, and spirit of the dark Oracle; he decapitated his half brother Agamethus to avoid discovery after their raid on King Hyrieus’s treasury
Troy a Roman city situated in modern-day Turkey; site of the Trojan War
Underworld the kingdom of the dead, where souls go for eternity; ruled by Hades
Via Appia the Appian Way, one of the first and most important roads of the ancient Roman republic; after the Roman army subdued the revolt led by Spartacus in 73 BC, they crucified more than six thousand slaves and lined the road for 130 miles with their bodies
yale (see also centicore) a fierce yak-like creature with large horns that can swivel in any direction
Yoruba one of the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria, Africa; also a language and a religion of the Yoruba people
Zeus the Greek god of the sky and the king of the gods
Zoë Nightshade a daughter of Atlas who was exiled and later joined the Hunters of Artemis, becoming the loyal lieutenant of Artemis
Also by Rick Riordan
PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS
Book One: The Lightning Thief
Book Two: The Sea of Monsters
Book Three: The Titan’s Curse
Book Four: The Battle of the Labyrinth
Book Five: The Last Olympian
The Demigod Files
The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel
The Sea of Monsters: The Graphic Novel
The Titan’s Curse: The Graphic Novel
Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods
Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes
From Percy Jackson: Camp Half-Blood Confidential
THE KANE CHRONICLES
Book One: The Red Pyramid
Book Two: The Throne of Fire
Book Three: The Serpent’s Shadow
The Red Pyramid: The Graphic Novel
The Throne of Fire: The Graphic Novel
THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS
Book One: The Lost Hero
Book Two: The Son of Neptune
Book Three: The Mark of Athena
Book Four: The House of Hades
Book Five: The Blood of Olympus
The Demigod Diaries
The Lost Hero: The Graphic Novel
The Son of Neptune: The Graphic Novel
Demigods & Magicians
MAGNUS CHASE AND THE GODS OF ASGARD
Book One: The Sword of Summer
Book Two: The Hammer of Thor
For Magnus Chase: Hotel Valhalla Guide to the Norse Worlds
THE TRIALS OF APOLLO
Book One: The Hidden Oracle
PRAISE FOR RICK RIORDAN
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Lightning Thief
“Perfectly paced, with electrifying moments chasing each other like heartbeats.”
—The New York Times Book Review
The Sea of Monsters
★ “In a feat worthy of his heroic subjects, Riordan crafts a sequel stronger than his compelling debut.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
The Titan’s Curse
“All in all, a winner of Olympic proportions.”
—School Library Journal
The Battle of the Labyrinth
★ “Look no further for the next Harry Potter; meet Percy Jackson, as legions of fans already have.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
The Last Olympian
“The hordes of young readers who have devoured Rick Riordan’s books…will no doubt gulp down this concluding volume as greedily as they would a plateful of ambrosia, or maybe pizza.”
—The Wall Street Journal
The Heroes of Olympus
Book One: The Lost Hero
“Percy Jackson fans can rest easy: this first book in Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus spin-off series is a fast-paced adventure with enough familiar elements to immediately hook those eager to revisit his modern world of mythological mayhem. Rotating among his three protagonists, Riordan’s storytelling is as polished as ever, brimming with wit, action, and heart—his devotees won’t be disappointed.”
—Publishers Weekly
“With appealing new characters within a familiar framework, this spin-off will satisfy the demand for more.”
—Booklist
“Riordan excels at clever plot devices and at creating an urgent sense of cliff-hanging danger. His interjection of humor by incongruous juxtaposition…provides some welcome relief. The young heroes deal with issues familiar to teens today: Who am I? Can I live up to the expectations of others? Having read the first series is helpful but not essential, and the complex plot is made for sequels.”
—School Library Journal
“Riordan extends the franchise in a logical direction while maximizing the elements that made the first series so popular: irreverent heroes, plenty of tension-filled moments fighting monsters, and authentic classical mythology mixed in with modern life. Completely in control of pacing and tone, he balances a faultless comic banter against deeper notes that reveal the characters’ vulnerabilities. With Percy Jackson slated to make an appearance in later volumes, fans nostalgic for the old books should find in this new series
