Next

“My dear young cousin, if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the eons, it’s that you can’t give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it.”

Hermes, the messenger god, delivers this line to Percy in Chapter 7 when he gives Percy supplies and encourages him to leave Camp Half-Blood on an unsanctioned quest to rescue Grover and find the Golden Fleece so they can heal Thalia’s tree. Hermes admits that he is helping Percy because he is hoping he can get through to Luke—Hermes’s son who has joined Kronos’s plot to overthrow Olympus. Percy begins to say that Luke is a lost cause, but Hermes sadly reminds Percy that families should stick together. The conversation between Hermes and Percy is important on two levels. To begin with, Riordan establishes that, contrary to Luke’s beliefs, Hermes has not abandoned his son. This development in Luke and Hermes’s relationship lays the foundation for Luke’s path for the rest of the series. The scene is also significant because it anticipates Percy’s growing affection and appreciation for Tyson. Percy was initially humiliated by and resentful of his monstrous half-brother. However, over the course of the novel Percy learns to overcome his own pride (and his fear of other people’s reactions) and embraces his new family member.

Next section Famous Quotes Explained Page 2

Take a Study Break