All Fiction Based on Previous Fiction is Fanfiction

All around the world, people read news articles, watch television, read advertisements that are posted around them, and read funny sayings printed on t-shirts and their ideas and opinions are influenced by them as a result. Books as a result of being written by people are no different regarding being influenced by external sources. Expanding upon this concept we can argue that fiction books that use characters or settings from previous books written by different authors can be considered fanfiction.

The books that I am going to be analyzing as evidence of this idea is the “Percy Jackson and The Olympians” series. This series uses characters and settings from Greek mythology and puts them into a modern world setting. The series is from the perspective of Percy Jackson, a kid in the modern world who discovers that the Greek gods are real and that he is a demigod, before proceeding to go on a series of quests to save the world. During these quests he has run ins with the gods and other characters from Greek mythology who at times provide tools and information to aid him or threaten to kill him. In Greek mythology, characters such as Hercules and Medusa had similar run ins with the gods during their own lives, like Hera causing Hercules to temporary go insane and murder his own family or Medusa being cursed by Athena and later killed by Perseus who had been given tools by the gods to aid him in the task.

In the first book, The Lightning Thief, he is introduced to this world, the camp where the demigods are trained, and sets off on a quest to find the master bolt and return it to Zeus by the summer solstice. Before he sets off on this quest, he receives training and advice from Chiron who in the myths trained multiple heroes.

In the second book, The Sea of Monsters, he and his friends go on a quest to retrieve the golden fleece to save the camp. During this quest, he fights a hydra and defeats it with outside help just as Hercules did for his second labor.

In the third book, The Titan’s Curse, he and his friends go on a quest to save the goddess Artemis by the winter solstice, during which they slay the Nemean lion just as Hercules did for his first labor.

In the fourth book, The Battle of the Labyrinth, he and his friends discover a secret passage into the camp that bypasses its defenses, leading to them going on a quest to find Daedalus in an attempt prevent the Titans and their forces from using the Labyrinth to destroy the camp. During this quest, he washes up on Calypso’s Island and spends time there before leaving just as Odysseus did in The Odyssey.

In the final book, The Last Olympian, he leads his fellow demigods in a final battle to save Olympus from the Titans. During this quest, he went through a similar process to what Achilles had been put through as a baby to become almost completely invincible.

In this essay “fanfiction” will be defined as a work of literature that makes use of characters and settings from previous works of literature and changes them to fit a new story while keeping their essence of them as recognizable. This means that the specific character or setting must be recognizable as that specific one instead of being someone or something that just happens to share a name. For example, in chapter 14 on page 213 of the second book, the cave that Polyphemus the cyclops lives in, on the island where the golden fleece is located is described as:

I pushed through the crowd of sheep and goats toward the back of the cave.

Even though I’d dreamed about this place, I had a hard time finding my way through the maze. I ran down corridors littered with bones, past rooms full of sheepskin rugs and life-size cement sheep that I recognized as the work of Medusa. There were collections of sheep T-shirts; large tubs of lanolin cream; and wooly coats, socks, and hats with ram’s horns.

Whereas in book 9 of The Odyssey, the cave that Polyphemus lives in is described as:

His cheese-racks were loaded with cheeses, and he had more lambs and kids than his pens could hold. They were kept in separate flocks; first there were the hoggets, then the oldest of the younger lambs and lastly the very young ones^[80] all kept apart from one another; as for his dairy, all the vessels, bowls, and milk pails into which he milked, were swimming with whey. When they saw all this, my men begged me to let them first steal some cheeses, and make off with them to the ship; they would then return, drive down the lambs and kids, put them on board and sail away with them.

Both passages describe the cave as being filled with sheep and sheep byproducts.

A difference between them is in the kind of sheep byproducts being described is probably due to the fact that Odysseus and his men are looking for things of value to them as shown in the part of the quote that comes after the description of what is inside the cave, so that’s all that is described for them, whereas Percy is looking in the cave for his imprisoned companions and is just describing the stuff that sticks out to him along the way. Another difference is that Percy used the sheep to get into the cave without Polyphemus seeing him while guiding the sheep in for the night by clinging to one of their underbellies, whereas Odysseus and his men didn’t have to sneak because Polyphemus did not seal the cave. A third difference is that Percy upon freeing his companions had left with them the cave as quickly as possible, whereas Odysseus and his men choose to wait in it for Polyphemus to show up.

These similarities and differences show that these settings in the books are in the same place while still telling a new story that is not just a retelling of the original one.

On the other hand, not all works that use the same characters and settings from the works that preceded them are fanfiction. Adaptations of previous works are an example of this. This is because they are basically the same story just changed for a different audience. For example, the version of The Odyssey that the quote above is from is an adaptation of the original version of it because the original is written in ancient Greek whereas the version the quote is from is in English and has had its grammar changed so that it makes sense in English. Also, the translation does not add new characters or circumstances into the story. Another example of this is sequels that are written by the author of the original work whose story they are continuing and adding additional lore to it. This is by virtue of being written by the same person means they cannot be fanfiction.

The series is not a simple retelling of ancient Greek mythology. An example of this is how the characters and settings have been relocated to North America where the series is happening when in the myths they were in Greece and the surrounding area. Another example is that while many characters in the series are from Greek mythology, the overarching story itself is focused on the original characters that were created for it.

Overall, the “Percy Jackson and The Olympians” series is an example of how fiction books that use characters or settings from previous books written by different authors can be considered fanfiction. This is through its reuse of characters, settings, and plot points from Greek mythology and putting them into a new story. This reuse of material also provides a degree of convenience for authors writing new stories.

There are many reasons to reuse characters, settings, and plot points from previous works of literature in new works of literature, but the greatest reason is that of convenience. This is because it is very difficult to come up with characters, settings, and plot points from scratch.

For characters the reason it is convenient to reuse them from previous works of literature in new ones is because it provides a basic outline of the characters’ beliefs, personality, background, strengths, and weaknesses that the author can then flesh out and expand upon to give the characters depth without having to come up with that basic outline themselves. In the case of Riordan takes the characters from the ancient Greek myths and portrays them in “Percy Jackson and The Olympians” as being the same characters with them being real and around since ancient Greece and have adapted to modern times.

An example of this is the god Dionysus. In the original myths he is portrayed as the god of wine, pleasure, and vegetation. Riordan has taken Dionysus and has him as the director of the camp and forbidden to drink wine as punishment by Zeus for doing something he was forbidden to do. Riordan uses his personality from the myths as a basis for how he interacts with Percy and the other demigods as a result of his discontentment with this punishment.

Another example of this is Medusa. In the original myths she is Poseidon’s lover who is cursed by Athena to turn everyone that sees her face to stone. This history is shown in Riordan’s The Lightning Thief during Percy and his friends’ encounter with her in the form of her living in an emporium that contains all her previous victims that she sells to others and her hatred of Annebeth, who is a daughter of Athena.

A third example of this is Tantalus. In the original myth he had cut up and cooked his own children, before feeding them to the gods, who upon discovering this sentenced him to the underworld where his punishment is described by Odysseus in book 11 of The Odyssey as follows:

“I saw also the dreadful fate of Tantalus, who stood in a lake that reached his chin; he was dying to quench his thirst, but could never reach the water, for whenever the poor creature stooped to drink, it dried up and vanished, so that there was nothing but dry ground—parched by the spite of heaven. There were tall trees, moreover, that shed their fruit over his head—pears, pomegranates, apples, sweet figs and juicy olives, but whenever the poor creature stretched out his hand to take some, the wind tossed the branches back again to the clouds.

Riordan takes Tantalus and incorporates him into The Sea of Monsters, as having been released from his sentence in the underworld to serve as a replacement for Chiron by the gods after they fire Chiron from his position as the trainer of the demigods. When this happens, Tantalus treats the children cruelly, such as handing out horrible punishments to Percy and his friends when they save the camp from the Stymphalian birds that try to eat everyone’s flesh. Tantalus’s punishment in the afterlife is used for comedic effect in the form of everything he tries to eat or drink moving away from him when he tries to grab it, despite having been released from his sentence. Riordan also has Tantalus tell his past to the demigods as a campfire story to frighten them into compliance.

A final example of this is Daedalus. In the original myths he is portrayed as a genius without equal. In The Battle of the Labyrinth Riordan uses this in his story when writing up the description of his wings in his personal lab as described by Percy in the quote below from pages 277-278:

The wings looked more advanced than the ones I’d seen in my dreams. The feathers were more tightly interwoven. Instead of wax seals, self-adhesive strips ran down the sides.

The wings shown in Daedalus’ lab are significantly more advanced than the ones he made for himself and his son to escape Minos in the original myths. The wings are clear evidence that Daedalus in the series is the same one from the myths. Another way Daedalus is characterized as a genius is in how he survived from the times of ancient Greece up to the modern era with the use of human like automaton bodies which he moved his soul from his original body into them.

In The Battle of the Labyrinth Riordan also uses the details of original myths that have Daedalus in them by incorporating them as visions that Percy sees when he sleeps. These myths include his murder of his nephew Perdix, his escape from Minos, and the manner in which he dies. In the case of the last myth Riordan alters it to show Daedalus escaping after killing Minos.

For settings the reason it is convenient to reuse them from previous works of literature in new ones is because it eliminates the need for the author to come up with them by themselves.

An example of this is Olympus. In the original myths Olympus is from where the gods rule over the world. As result of that when being described in the series it is made to look otherworldly and like an ancient Greek city.

Another example of this is the underworld. In the myths the entrance to it is guarded by Cerberus and contains places such as Tartarus and Elysium. Riordan takes this and adds additional details such as describing the entrance to it on page 291 of The Lightning Thief as follows:

I’m not sure what I was expecting – Pearly Gates, or a big black portcullis, or something. But the entrance to the Underworld looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike.

There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said: YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector mounted with security cameras. Beyond this were tollbooths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon.

This shows how he blended the original myths with his own ideas to make it work for his story. He does the same for Tartarus and Elysium.

For plot points the reason it is convenient to reuse them from previous works of literature in new ones is because it provides a basic idea of how a fight is going to happen and from there it’s just changing it to fit the new circumstances it is occurring under.

For example, in The Titan’s Curse, Percy and his companions fight the Nemean lion. In the original myths it was defeated by Hercules by being strangled after his arrows failed to hurt it. Riordan takes this story and reuses and changes it in his story by having Percy’s companions’ shoot arrows at the lion, failing until Percy chucks astronaut food into its mouth causing it to gag and its eyes to bulge open enough for the archers to hit and pierce them killing it that way.

As shown convenience is the biggest cause of the reuse of characters, settings, and plot points from previous works of literature in new works of literature because without the reuse of them of them, it would take longer to come up with the foundation and world building.

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

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