“Percy Jackson and The Olympians” Is Not Appropriation

I argue that the “Percy Jackson and The Olympians” series is not an appropriation of Greek culture. Darshini Gokli argues that the “Percy Jackson and The Olympians” series is an appropriation of Greek culture in her paper, “Americanization of the Greeks in Percy Jackson series.” The following essay will point out flaws in her arguments, therefore proving it is not appropriation.

An argument made by Gokli, in the introduction on page 3 is that:

the perspective that Riordan has used to narrate the whole story of Percy Jackson and his friends, is actually Americanization of the Greek ways, culture, traditions and thus its mythology as well.

A flaw in this argument is that the stories in Greek mythology had originally started their existence as being part of the main religion of the ancient Greeks, however according to Cultural Atlas, about 98% of modern Greeks considers themselves as part of the Greek Orthodox Christian faith. Christianity has only one God who controls everything. Whereas the main religion of the ancient Greeks was comprised of gods each with their own separate domain such Poseidon being the god of the sea and Zeus being the god of the sky. As such the series cannot be considered an Americanization of modern Greek ways, culture, traditions because the stuff it is using is from the time of ancient Greece.

A second argument made by Gokli, in the introduction is that:

There is no doubt that Riordan has taken the Greek mythology as the base of this series, but simultaneously, we can see that slowly and tactfully he Americanizes the whole Greek culture and he clearly brings forth the American culture as the culture that is more powerful, responsible, strong, moral, ethical and thus better than any other culture of the world.

The flaw in this argument is that the story takes place in America with the elements from Greek mythology. So, it does not make sense for characters to be attired in ancient Greek clothes when no one wears that in modern times daily. It also therefore makes sense for locations in the series to look more modern because the locations are visible to people and so must blend in the rest of the area to avoid attracting unwanted attention that would realistically occur if the locations were exclusively built in same way as buildings were in ancient times.

A third argument made by Gokli, which is throughout her paper is that Riordan is using Greek mythology to create his own mythology.

The flaw in this argument is that as mentioned earlier, Greek mythology originally started as being the main religion of the ancient Greeks. So Gokli is basically arguing that Riordan is creating his own religion. This is like saying any work of fiction whether it be literature, theater, or movies to name a few, that contains religious elements are automatically creating new religions. Which is not true, those religious elements in the works of fiction are just intended to add depth to the story, not spark a new religion. Likewise, Riordan is just writing stories that include elements from Greek mythology.

A fourth argument made by Gokli on page 8, is that:

Daedalus is shown not in his original form but a smart looking American man in
his forties, working and managing the Labyrinth through his high-tech computer technology.

The flaw in this argument is that Daedalus is supposed to be a genius to begin with so it would make sense for him to have a high-tech lab to work in since the series is set in modern times and not ancient times.

Another flaw is that in story Daedalus says that his current body is not his original one and he has switched bodies multiple times and is actively avoiding death. As such it makes sense that his current body does not look like his original one, especially since he would not want any immortals to be able to recognize him on sight.

A fifth argument made by Gokli, also on page 8 is that:

Also, Riordan brings up a very important point of Global warming and destruction of
nature because of the pollution created by humans, through the quest of Grover of finding Pan. Yes, the battle is a major part of the book and shows how united are the campers of Half-Blood camp, but the two main foci of the book are the above mentioned point, which are again very much contemporary rather than Greek.

The flaw in this argument is that the series takes place in modern times not the ancient past. Another flaw in this argument is the very fact that Gokli claims that Global warming and destruction of
nature are not Greek issues. Global warming affects the whole planet including Greece as implied in the global part of its name. The same can be said in regard to the destruction of nature that is occurring across the globe.

A sixth argument made by Gokli on page 12, is that:

these Gods are Greek who choose to follow their ancient customs and rituals, there is a touch of modernism in their ways as well. For example, we don’t see any of the Gods in their Greek attires, except during the last battle. In fact they wear quite modern clothes.

The flaw in this argument is that as mentioned previously the series takes place in modern times, so it is perfectly reasonable for them to wear modern clothes like Zeus wearing suits or Ares wearing a biker outfit. It is logical they would adjust their everyday attire to blend in with the mortals. Also, another issue with this argument is that the gods are gods and can change their appearance with a thought, so they are just going to look however they want, which considering that the gods are vain, they are probably going to make themselves look good while they are seducing mortals to have demigod children with or interacting with said demigods.

Overall, Gokli’s argument that the “Percy Jackson and The Olympians” series being appropriation is wrong. This is because her arguments are mostly centered around the changes made to make Greek mythology blend together with the modern time period that the series takes place.

References

Evason, N. (2019). Greek – religion. Cultural Atlas. https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/greek-culture/greek-culture-religion

Gokli, D. (2015). Americanization of the Greeks in Percy Jackson series. Gujarat University.

Riordan, R. (2005). The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson & the Olympians #1) (1st ed.). Disney/Hyperion.

Riordan, R. (2006). The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson & the Olympians #2) (1st ed.). Disney /Hyperion.

Riordan, R. (2007). The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson & the Olympians #3) (1st ed.). Hyperion Books for Children.

Riordan, R. (2008). The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson & the Olympians #4) (1st ed.). Hyperion Books for Children.

Riordan, R. (2009). The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson & the Olympians #5) (1st ed.). Disney/Hyperion Books.