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Monster
Mount Olympus is the palace where all the gods’ and goddesses’ powers converge. Though the palace first existed on the eponymous Mount Olympus in Greece, in the world of The Lightning Thief it has moved over the centuries as the epicenter of Western civilization has moved. In the novel, it’s on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building. The palace itself is surrounded by a bustling city of mythical beings.
Mount Olympus Quotes in The Lightning Thief
The The Lightning Thief quotes below are all either spoken by Mount Olympus or refer to Mount Olympus. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 5
Quotes
“Will Grover be okay?” I asked Chiron.
Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. “Old Dionysus isn’t really mad. He just hates his job. He’s been...ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can’t stand waiting another century before he’s allowed to go back to Olympus.”
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“You mean the Greek gods are here? Like...in America?”
“Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West.”
“The what?”
“Come now, Percy. What you call ‘Western civilization.’ Do you think it’s just an abstract concept? No, it’s a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are part of it.”
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Chapter 19
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“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!”
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“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 21
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I realize Hades must’ve built his palace to resemble this one. He wasn’t welcomed in Olympus except on the winter solstice, so he’d built his own Olympus underground. Despite my bad experience with him, I felt a little sorry for the guy. To be banished from this place seemed really unfair. It would make anybody bitter.
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Chapter 22
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“That’s not an easy quest,” I said. “Hercules did it.”
“Exactly,” Luke said. “Where’s the glory in repeating what others have done? [...] and when I came back, all I got was pity. I wanted to pull Olympus down stone by stone right then, but I bided my time. I began to dream of Kronos.”
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Mount Olympus Term Timeline in The Lightning Thief
The timeline below shows where the term Mount Olympus appears in The Lightning Thief. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5
...explains that Dionysus isn’t mad, he just hates his job and being effectively grounded from Olympus. Percy is shocked to hear that there’s really a palace on Mount Olympus.
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Chiron explains that Mount Olympus is really just a spot where the gods’ powers are strongest; it used to be...
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Chapter 7
...safe since he’s only half human. Annabeth says that Percy’s dad is one of the Olympians. It’s a common situation; the gods haven’t changed much in the last few thousand years....
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...knows something is wrong but she doesn’t know what. She took a field trip to Olympus during the winter solstice, and afterwards, the weather got weird like the gods were fighting....
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Chapter 9
...Percy must be gone by the time he gets back from the emergency meeting on Olympus. He disappears. Chiron invites Percy and Grover to sit, and then asks Percy what he...
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Chapter 11
...slip for the Hermes Overnight Express. He sends the head to the gods at Mount Olympus and ignores Grover’s warning that he’ll look impertinent. Annabeth says that they need a new...
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Chapter 15
...Cupids’ heads open to reveal cameras. A loudspeaker booms that they’ll be broadcast live to Olympus in one minute as wind-up spiders pour out of the mirrors. Annabeth screams in terror.
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Chapter 19
...Hades’s helm is missing. Hades snarls that he hasn’t said anything because no one on Olympus will help, and he knows that Percy has the helm, which he orders Percy to...
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Chapter 21
...lead to a mountaintop covered in snow, olive trees, and white palaces. Percy walks through Olympus in a daze. As Percy studies the palace, he realizes that Hades’s palace resembles it....
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On the walk back through Olympus, people stop and look at Percy with gratitude. Some kneel. Percy catches a taxi to...
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...her off. A package appears on his bed: it’s the box he shipped to Mount Olympus a week ago. Percy knows this is the decision Poseidon mentioned.
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Chapter 22
...train—and most importantly, decide whether he’s staying at camp or going home. Chiron leaves for Olympus to report what happened with Luke, and on his way out, he tells Annabeth that...
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