Greek mythology has long been a source of inspiration for popular culture. From animation like Hercules (1997) to the stylized splatter-gore and steroids of 300 (2006), Greek gods and heroes continue to fascinate us. Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney Plus Hotstar is the latest child in a long line of Greek-inspired shows to grace our screens.
The show is based on Rick Riordan’s popular YA series which tells of Percy, a young boy who discovers he is a demigod; his mother is mortal, but his dad is from Olympus. The trouble is that demigod children are hunted by monsters. When a minotaur wearing Fruit of the Loom attacks, Percy’s mother sacrifices herself so Percy and his best friend (and satyr guide), Grover, can escape.
In the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood, Percy meets other demigod kids and spends an episode making friends, getting hazed, and learning to fight. When some seniors try to flush his head down a toilet bowl, Percy discovers his power to control water. Through this, he finally learns that his estranged father is Poseidon, the God of the sea.
Percy is told that Zeus’s lightning bolt has been stolen and if it isn’t returned to Olympus in one week, the gods will wage war. Percy and his friends Grover and Annabeth, daughter of Athena, embark on a quest to find the stolen lightning bolt and save the world. Percy’s motives are less altruistic, though. He hopes to use the quest to rescue his mother from Hades.
Like all Greek legends, this hero’s journey includes epic fights, bizarre bodily transformations, painful betrayals, and difficult sacrifices. The trio make a road trip across America on trains, buses, and a moving truck. (No airplanes because Zeus might blast them from the sky). The episodes are, unfortunately, uneven in running time, pacing and action.
We get two thrilling back-to-back episodes where the trio faces and fights two formidable ladies: Medusa and then Echidna, mother of monsters. After that, Percy gets held hostage in a golden chair by Hephaestus, and then the kids spend the next episode being held hostage at a casino by Hermes. Frankly, compared to the women, neither male God packs the same punch.
Ares, the God of war, does a hilarious job introducing Percy (and, by proxy, the audience) to the Olympians as a big, complicated, and completely dysfunctional family. Ares says, “Olympians fight. We betray. We backstab… and that’s why I love my family so much!” Turns out Gods make lousy relations and worse parents.
I really enjoyed how the show plumbs the emotional depths of parental abandonment. Although they’re demigods with superpowers, Percy and Annabeth struggle with feelings of inadequacy. Percy gets angry that they must risk their lives to earn their parents’ attention. “People who are close to you aren’t supposed to treat you that way.” The friends learn that found family can be more precious than blood family.
Hermes, another God with failed relationships with his children, tells Percy that, like any parent, the Gods are also figuring it out. “It is very hard for a God to feel powerless. I guess we’re all just doing the best we can.” Realising that their parents aren’t godlike but all too fallible can be startling for kids, demigod or not.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians also has plenty of deep conversations, which is impressive for a series with middle-school characters. When Annabeth sees three old ladies cutting yarn, she frets that someone is fated to die. This opens an interesting debate about fate versus free will. Percy insists they have autonomy, saying, “What I choose to do changes what’s gonna happen, and I can choose.”
It’s obvious that Percy Jackson and the Olympians tries hard to pivot from the mistakes of the movie adaptations. In the movies, Percy was 16, and that made everything angstier. In the TV show, Percy is 12, the same age as in the books. This helps capture the books’ charming childlike innocence.
I enjoy the mixing of ancient mythology with modern Americana, from the funny titles like, “A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers,” to Ares starting a Twitter war, to Annabeth’s side quest involving choosing which candy to buy at a gas store.
Hardcore history buffs may feel the TV show offers a sanitized and incomplete version of Greek mythology. Still, the show has good moral values, and is an entertaining introduction for young viewers to explore the weird and wonderful world of the Greek Gods and mythology.
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