The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, Book Three) Read online

  Nessus a crafty centaur who tricked Deianira into killing Heracles

  New Rome a community near Camp Jupiter where demigods can live together in peace, without interference from mortals or monsters

  Nike the Greek goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Roman form: Victoria

  nymph a female nature deity who animates nature

  nymphaeum a shrine to nymphs

  Pantheon a building in Rome, Italy, commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 CE

  pater Latin for father; also the name of an ancient Roman god of the Underworld, later subsumed by Pluto

  pauldron a piece of plate armor for the shoulder and the upper part of the arm

  Pegasus In Greek mythology, a winged divine horse; sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa; the brother of Chrysaor

  Persephone the Greek queen of the Underworld; wife of Hades; daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Roman form: Proserpine

  Phorcys In Greek mythology, a primordial god of the dangers of the sea; son of Gaea; brother-husband of Keto

  Piazza Navona a city square in Rome, built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, where Ancient Romans watched competitive games

  Pluto the Roman god of death and riches. Greek form: Hades

  Polybotes the giant son of Gaea, the Earth Mother

  Pomerian Line the boundary around New Rome, and in ancient times, the city limits of Rome

  Porphyrion the king of the Giants in Greek and Roman mythology

  Poseidon the Greek god of the sea; son of the Titans Kronos and Rhea, and brother of Zeus and Hades. Roman form: Neptune

  praetor an elected Roman magistrate and commander of the army

  Proserpine Roman queen of the Underworld. Greek form: Persephone

  Rhea Silvia a priestess and mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, who founded Rome

  Riptide the name of Percy Jackson’s sword (Anaklusmos in Greek)

  Romulus and Remus the twin sons of Mars and the priestess Rhea Silvia. They were thrown into the River Tiber by their human father, Amulius, and rescued and raised by a she-wolf. Upon reaching adulthood, they founded Rome.

  Saturn the Roman god of agriculture; the son of Uranus and Gaea, and the father of Jupiter. Greek form: Kronos

  satyr a Greek forest god, part goat and part man. Roman equivalent: faun

  Scorpion ballista a Roman missile siege weapon that launched a large projectile at a distant target

  Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR) meaning “The Senate and People of Rome,” refers to the government of the Roman Republic and is used as an official emblem of Rome

  skolopendra a gargantuan Greek sea monster with hairy nostrils, a flat crayfish-like tail, and rows of webbed feet lining its flanks

  Stymphalian birds in Greek mythology, man-eating birds with bronze beaks and sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims; sacred to Ares, the god of war

  Sybilline Books a collection of prophecies in rhyme written in Greek. Tarquinius Superbus, a king of Rome, bought them from a prophetess named Sibyl and consulted them in times of great danger.

  Tartarus husband of Gaea; spirit of the abyss; father of the giants

  telkhines mysterious sea demons and smiths native to the islands of Kaos and Rhodes; children of Thalassa and Pontus; they had flippers instead of hands and dogs’ heads and were known as fish children

  Terminus the Roman god of boundaries and landmarks

  Terra the Roman goddess of the Earth. Greek form: Gaea

  Thanatos the Greek god of death. Roman form: Letus

  thyrsus Bacchus’s weapon, a staff topped by a pinecone and twined with ivy

  Tiber River the third-longest river in Italy. Rome was founded on its banks. In Ancient Rome, executed criminals were thrown into the river.

  Tiberius was Roman Emperor from 14 CE to 37 CE. He was one of Rome’s greatest generals, but he came to be remembered as a reclusive and somber ruler who never really wanted to be emperor.

  Titans a race of powerful Greek deities, descendants of Gaia and Uranus, who ruled during the Golden Age and were overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Olympians

  Trevi Fountain a fountain in the Trevi district in Rome. Standing more than eighty-five feet high and sixty-five feet wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world.

  trireme an Ancient Greek or Roman warship, having three tiers of oars on each side

  Tyche the Greek goddess of good luck; daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite. Roman form: Fortuna

  Venus the Roman goddess of love and beauty. She was married to Vulcan, but she loved Mars, the god of war. Greek form: Aphrodite

  Vestal Virgins Roman priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The Vestals were free of the usual social obligations to marry and bear children and took a vow of chastity in order to devote themselves to the study and observance of ritual.

  Via Labicana an ancient road of Italy, leading east-southeast from Rome

  Via Principalis the main street in a Roman camp or fort

  Victoria the Roman goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Greek form: Nike

  Vulcan the Roman god of fire and crafts and of blacksmiths; the son of Jupiter and Juno, and married to Venus. Greek form: Hephaestus

  Wolf House a ruined mansion, originally commissioned by Jack London near Sonoma, California, where Percy Jackson was trained as a Roman demigod by Lupa

  Zeus Greek god of the sky and king of the gods. Roman form: Jupiter

  Coming Fall 2013

  The Heroes of Olympus, Book Four

  THE HOUSE OF HADES

  Praise for Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan:

  The Lightning Thief

  “Perfectly paced, with electrifying moments chasing each other like heartbeats.”

  —The New York Times Book Review

  The Sea of Monsters

  “In a feat worthy of his heroic subjects, Riordan crafts a sequel stronger than his compelling debut.”

  —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  The Titan’s Curse

  “All in all, a winner of Olympic proportions.”

  —School Library Journal

  The Battle of the Labyrinth

  “Look no further for the next Harry Potter; meet Percy Jackson, as legions of fans already have.”

  —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

  The Last Olympian

  “The hordes of young readers who have devoured Rick Riordan’s books...will no doubt gulp down this concluding volume as greedily as they would a plateful of ambrosia, or maybe pizza.”

  —The Wall Street Journal

  Praise for The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan:

  The Red Pyramid

  “The first volume in the Kane Chronicles, this fantasy adventure delivers what fans loved about the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series: young protagonists with previously unsuspected magical powers, a riveting story marked by headlong adventure, a complex background rooted in ancient mythology, and wry, witty twenty-first-century narration.”

  —Booklist (starred review)

  “A truly original take on Egyptian mythology... A must-have book.”

  —School Library Journal (starred review)

  “Riordan fans young and old will eat this new book up.”

  —The New York Times Book Review

  The Throne of Fire

  “...Riordan kickstarts the action, never lets up on the gas, balances laughs and losses with a sure hand, and expertly sets up the coming climactic struggle without (thankfully) ending on a cliff-hanger. It’s a grand ride so far, showing nary a sign of slowing down.”

  —School Library Journal (starred review)

  “Riordan combines hard-hitting action scenes, powerful magic, and comic relief with the internal waves of love, jealousy, and self-doubt that make his young heroes so very human.”

 
—Booklist

  The Serpent’s Shadow

  “[The] epic battle and the quiet concluding chapters glow, alternating heroism and humanity, with any trace of bombast erased by the wry wit of the alternating narrators, Sadie and Carter . . . powered by Riordan’s talent for creating vividly written action scenes and his ability to keep a complicated story moving, this volume brings the Kane Chronicles series to a rousing conclusion.”

  —Booklist

  “Beyond the explosive action and fireworks, Riordan deftly develops the theme of the duality of the universe—order versus chaos, living a normal life versus risking the extraordinary, being protected by parents versus growing up and stepping out of their shadows. A rousing adventure with plenty of magic and food for thought.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  Praise for The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan:

  Book One: The Lost Hero

  “Percy Jackson fans can rest easy: this first book in Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus spin-off series is a fast-paced adventure with enough familiar elements to immediately hook those eager to revisit his modern world of mythological mayhem. Rotating among his three protagonists, Riordan’s storytelling is as polished as ever, brimming with wit, action, and heart—his devotees won’t be disappointed.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Riordan [maximizes] the elements that made the first series so popular: irreverent heroes, plenty of tension-filled moments fighting monsters, and authentic classical mythology mixed in with modern life. Completely in control of pacing and tone, he balances a faultless comic banter against deeper notes that reveal the characters’ vulnerabilities. With Percy Jackson slated to make an appearance in later volumes, fans nostalgic for the old books should find in this new series everything they’ve been pining for.”

  —Horn Book

  Book Two: The Son of Neptune

  “Riordan’s seamless weaving of various cultural mythologies into a modern landscape continues to shine in [The] Son of Neptune. As in previous books, the plot is engrossing, the characters robust and compelling. Percy, Frank, and Hazel alternate as narrators without missing a beat of pace, suspense, or humor. Readers will find themselves automatically consumed by the story without having read the first book, though some knowledge of Percy’s previous adventures will help fill in minor gaps of background information. [The] Son of Neptune is yet another absorbing and exciting addition to Riordan’s chronicles.”

  —VOYA(starred review)

  “Should pacing and wit continue unabated into the third volume, whose foretold European setting promises further freshness, fans will eagerly await numbers four and five.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  About the Author

  Rick Riordan is the author of the New York Times #1 best-selling The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune, the first two books in his Heroes of Olympus series. He also penned the New York Times #1 best-selling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series: Book One: The Lightning Thief; Book Two: The Sea of Monsters; Book Three: The Titan’s Curse; Book Four: The Battle of the Labyrinth; and Book Five: The Last Olympian. His three books in the Kane Chronicles, based on Egyptian mythology, The Red Pyramid, The Throne of Fire, and The Serpent’s Shadow, were New York Times best sellers as well. Rick lives in San Antonio, Texas, with his wife and two sons. To learn more about him, visit his Web site at www.rickriordan.com.