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Hades
Zeus is the all-powerful god of the sky. After killing and imprisoning his father, the Titan Kronos, many millennia ago, Zeus assumed his role as king of the gods. His magical object is a giant thunderbolt. Zeus appears only briefly in the novel, and when he does, he takes the form of a giant, handsome man with dark hair, a salt and pepper beard, and a pinstripe suit. He treats Percy coldly and with little regard; Percy’s “reward” for returning the stolen thunderbolt is simply to walk away unscathed from his audience with Zeus. Zeus also appears symbolically in one of Percy’s dreams as an eagle. Like Poseidon, Zeus took a vow to have no more children after World War II, but he still has an honorary cabin at Camp Half-Blood. Percy’s quest to retrieve Zeus’s thunderbolt is a mission to prevent a potential World War III, which would be fought between Zeus and his brothers, Poseidon and Hades. Zeus’s humanity and fallibility begins to show through when Percy discovers that Zeus wrongfully suspected Hades and was willing to go to war on unfounded suspicions.
Zeus Quotes in The Lightning Thief
The The Lightning Thief quotes below are all either spoken by Zeus or refer to Zeus. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 19
Quotes
“More security ghouls,” he moaned. “Traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!”
[...]
“Problems everywhere, and I’ve got to handle all of them personally. The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving.”
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Chapter 20
Quotes
“Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon, because he doesn’t know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three-way slugfest going on.”
“But they’re your family!” Annabeth protested.
Ares shrugged. “Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say.”
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Zeus Quotes in The Lightning Thief
The The Lightning Thief quotes below are all either spoken by Zeus or refer to Zeus. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 19
Quotes
“More security ghouls,” he moaned. “Traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!”
[...]
“Problems everywhere, and I’ve got to handle all of them personally. The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20
Quotes
“Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon, because he doesn’t know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three-way slugfest going on.”
“But they’re your family!” Annabeth protested.
Ares shrugged. “Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
