Rose Perkins: Trials of Apollo (Outside Reading)

    One of my favorite series is the Percy Jackson series. This series is what got me into mythology in elementary school and is the reason why I am a classical studies major now. Being a modern Greek mythology story, the series is filled with many different hero's journeys and transformations. Each book has a hero's journey as well as the overarching series, all within the main character Percy Jackson. Percy has to handle many physical quests as well as handling his own placement and identity in the world. Rick Riordan, the author, then proceeded to publish sequel series including the Heroes of Olympus and the Trials of Apollo. The Heroes of Olympus series focuses on more characters and their own hero's journeys. However, I think the Trails of Apollo series focuses the most on the hero's journey, at least in the way we are discussing it in this class.

    In the Trials of Apollo, the Greek god Apollo is turned into a 16-year old mortal by Zeus as punishment. Apollo is forced to handle situations and complete quests as a mortal before he is allowed to become a god again. Throughout the series, while going on a physical hero's journey to encounter ancient Roman emperors that are trying to take over the world, Apollo has to handle his own inner demons and undergo an internal transformation. Being mortal has stripped him of his powers, so he has to manage situations in a powerless, human way. There is also a possibility of death, which he is not used to as a god. This point was brought up in class as well, whether the lack of a fear of death separates gods from humans. When Apollo realizes that he can die, he begins to not be as reckless and does not charge straight into tough situations. He actually has to think through the situations, which makes him smarter at the end and causes him to have a new outlook on life. He also has to deal with not being in charge. First, he becomes a servant to a 12 year old girl, and he is forced to obey commands made by her. He is also just a teenager in this new body, so he is commanded around by many people. Finally, he is not very experienced without his powers, so many other people give him instructions for this reason too. Previously being an all-powerful god that could smite people who did not follow his orders, this is a massive change for Apollo. It takes a few books of the series for him to adjust to these life-altering changes. 

    Despite all of this, Apollo reaches a point on his internal journey of transformation where he does not mind being human. He makes friends and gains newfound compassion for life. He is no longer the self-centered, arrogant god that he was before this experience. He has grown as a person. At the end of the series, he is turned back into a god. When this happens, he is so used to being human (as he has been for over 6 months) that he forgets that he has powers and that he is also larger than humans. His personality has completely transformed to the point that he misses being human and misses the friends he made. He even takes the human form when he goes to visit his friends. This internal transformation is permanent, and he will always retain the lessons he learned. This is why Apollo's transformation in the Trials of Apollo series follows along the most with what we have been discussing. Apollo underwent a complete internal journey while on a physical journey. 

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