When Karen Santos turned seven, her sister, eight years older, decided to read the book to her. The lightning thieffirst volume of the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The sister had already read the work and wanted to introduce Karen to the story of the boy who discovers that he is the son of the Greek god Poseidon and experiences several adventures with his friends at Camp Half-Blood, where the so-called demigods are sent.
It was love at first sight: Karen became an avid fantasy reader and an unconditional fan of the American saga. Rick Riordanwhich has already given birth to two films and, now, to a television series, the second season of which reached Disney+ this Wednesday 10. Now 22 years old, Karen is about to finish her studies in history at the Federal University of Bahia – a journey that she says began with this reading with her sister.
The impact of these stories does not go unnoticed by the creator, Rick Riordan. “I was a teacher for many years and taught these myths, so I always hoped to increase interest in the stories,” he explains via email to Stadium. He also knows that this interest can lead to the great classics, such as the poems of Homer, Iliad And The Odyssey.
“I am very happy that readers are moving from Percy Jackson to ancient versions of mythology. It’s a great honor for me! Even though I modernize the myths, I do my best to be faithful to the structure and characters, so I love it when someone tells me they passed a classics exam in college just because they read it. Percy“, says the writer.
The modernization of myths in the plot is the theme of Karen’s final assignment. “I started from this idea of analyzing how Rick Riordan does this ‘Americanization’ of mythology – a term that I came across in one of the articles that I read for my project and that I use as a basis for my CBT – to bring this approach to contemporary students,” she explains.
It is based on the postulate that this modernization of myths allows children and adolescents to get closer to ancient history. “From there, it’s about thinking about exactly how to introduce this narrative that Rick uses in the classroom. And not just for Greek mythology, but also to apply it to other types of mythology,” he says.
“There are still a lot of children discovering Percy”
Last year, Karen presented an overview of her research at the XI Cycle of Debates in Antiquity, a conference at the UFBA Faculty of Philosophy and Human Sciences. She also tested the teaching method in real life: at the school in Salvador where she works as an assistant teacher, she taught an ancient Greece course based on Riordan’s book, which was part of the sixth-grade class’s teaching materials. “They are the age of Percy in the books. They loved the series so much that several students in the class read the entire saga,” he says.
João Paulo Silva, administrator of the Oráculo dos Deuses portal, dedicated to content on Percy Jacksonaffirms that the literary series has the capacity to speak to the school environment and recalls that Riordan offers support material for teachers on its website.
“From my own experience, I totally believe that story has this power,” he says. “I have known the saga for 16 years. I received the books as a gift from my aunt and, with that, I began to love reading. At the same time, it brought me closer to Greek mythology, to the point that I became interested in all kinds of things that related to it, like games and films. It all started with Percy Jackson“.
Karen’s students are examples of Rick Riordan’s defense of the timelessness of his work. He says he sees different readers from different generations at literary events. “The older fans are indeed adults now, but there are still a lot of kids discovering Percy for the first time, so the audience tends to range from eight years old to 30, 40, 80 years old. Like I always say, if you love the books, then you’re the right age for them,” he says.
“It has no expiration date, it ages very well. I see it a lot both in the books and now with the series which brings a new vision to the saga,” explains João, who has closely followed the evolution of the franchise and participated in the online campaign for a new adaptation of the books. For him, the Disney+ series modernized certain aspects of the book to reach a new audience.
Greek mythology on screen
Jon Steinbergproducer of Percy Jackson and the Olympianssays the search for depicting Greek mythology in the series begins with Riordan’s own books. The writer’s account explores how these myths would have adapted to modernity – for example, Olympus, home of the Greek gods, sits atop the Empire State Building.
In the first season, mythological figures such as Medusa and Chimera appear. This Monday, according to the book Sea of Monstersviewers can expect to see the cyclops Polyphemus and the witch Circe. “It was very important, from the beginning, to understand what these mythical creatures, stories and places meant and to make sure that the story we were telling wasn’t just using them for cool monsters, but rather as part of the same narrative,” says Steinberg.
He also explains that when myths deviate from traditional history, it is intentionally for meaning, but that the producers also rely on traditional sources. “The series is in conversation with its source material, both Rick’s books and these stories that have existed in the world for thousands of years,” he explains.
The protagonists of the series tell Stadium who needed to study Greek mythology to prepare for production. Walker Scobell And Aryan Simhadriaged 16 and 19, who play Percy and Grover respectively, had already been exposed to the theme by reading the books in the series even before being cast in the production.
“My first introduction to Greek mythology was through Percy Jackson and ever since, I’ve been fascinated by it. I think it’s very similar to Indian mythology,” explains Simhadri, son of Indian parents. “It’s fascinating, because each of the gods, especially in Percy Jacksonsomehow represents a type of person and different personality traits. That’s why it’s so easy to assign a cabin to who you think you are. »
In the plot, when a demigod arrives at Camp Half-Blood, he must be “claimed” by a god as his son or daughter. The children of major gods, such as Zeus and Athena, have their own cabin, while the children of minor gods stay in Hermes’ cabin. When Percy arrives at camp, Poseidon’s cabin is practically abandoned, as he is the god’s only son.
Charlie Bushnell21, who plays Luke, says he studied philosophy at school while filming the first season. “Everything that had to do with Greek mythology, I connected it to Percy Jackson. It was really crazy,” he remembers. Léa Sava Jeffries16, says that being a part of the show helped her learn more about Greek history and that she thinks studying certain myths helped her develop her character, Annabeth.
“The strangest thing to me is that after reading Percy and studying Greek mythology, (you realize) they leave a lot of stuff out,” Scobell jokes. “You learn a lot from Percy, don’t get me wrong, but when you read it you realize how different it is.” The actor’s response reminds us that there is an entire universe to study and explore, but that the spark necessary to explore it already exists.
The first two episodes of the second season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians are now available on Disney+. Future episodes will be streamed weekly on Wednesdays.
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