Zeus
Cover of The Lightning Thief: boy in orange shirt in stormy water, NYC skyline and lightning overhead, title in gold, author Rick Riordan at bottom. Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief book cover, 1st ed., 2005, Disney Hyperion, New York, JPG.
Madhumitha Sridhar
“But I’ve never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!” (Riordan 132). Percy Jackson's exasperation in The Lightning Thief captures a young adult confronting a rigid patriarchal figure that demands obedience. Having observed the ways these hierarchies create resentment instead of respect, Percy's outburst felt familiar. While Zeus is the almighty of order and justice, his methods remain distant and obstinate. Rick Riordan's depiction exposes the uncomfortable truth that even well-intentioned authority can become oppressive when it values control over connection. In this essay, I'll explore how Riordan's Zeus highlights the nature of patriarchal authority, and how Percy's defiance represents a new generation's struggle to respect authority while challenging its more damaging expressions.
Zeus, known as the “father of gods and men,” wields patriarchal authority over everyone, similar to the role of the male head of a household in ancient Greece and Rome. Aeschylus writes, “Zeus has established that knowledge comes through suffering,” suggesting pain is a divine lesson. In Homer’s Iliad, Zeus controls human fate by dispensing blessings and misfortunes from two jars, showing his justice doesn’t always bring good outcomes (La Fond). In the patriarchal society of ancient Greece, Zeus’s absolute power was rarely questioned, as few would be audacious enough to call him “crazy.” Percy’s outburst, however, reveals his frustration with the expectation of unyielding compliance.
Similar to mythology, The Lightning Thief shows Zeus as an inflexible ruler who demands compliance. When Percy meets him for the first time, the god demands, “Should you not address the master of this house first, boy?” (Riordan 315). This insistence on formality over dialogue reveals his authoritarian mindset. Even after Percy returns the missing bolt, Zeus offers no gratitude. Instead, he says, “To show my thanks, I shall spare your life” (318), as if mercy were a gift rather than a duty. Zeus’s parting threat, “Do not presume to fly again... Otherwise you shall taste this bolt”, shows a preference for intimidation over communication. His final dismissal, “We will speak of this no more,” highlights his desire to control the narrative and silence uncomfortable truths. These moments reflect real-world experiences with authority figures who shut down honest dialogue to preserve their power.
Riordan's Zeus feels less mythic than and more modern. While ancient audiences accepted absolute authority since "succession effectively ends" once Zeus assumes power (La Fond), Percy represents modern questioning of unaccountable power. Scholar Yunita Putri notes that Riordan’s characters follow Joseph Campbell’s archetypes while staying true to their original mythological traits (Putri). This duality makes Zeus feel timeless yet uncomfortably familiar, embodying the archetype of the “father figure” who holds ultimate authority. However, rather than a nurturing protector, Riordan’s Zeus reveals a darker side of this archetype that aligns with patriarchal dominance, demanding obedience and suppressing dissent. As feminist scholar Sylvia Walby defines patriarchy, it is “a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress, and exploit” (Ferry). Riordan’s Zeus embodies this: not just over women, but over anyone who questions his rule, including Percy.
That portrayal felt personal. I grew up around authority figures like teachers, coaches, and relatives who demanded respect but rarely offered empathy. Percy’s cry reflects a frustration I’ve felt when facing adults who equated silence with respect and obedience with virtue. What I appreciate about Riordan’s storytelling is that it doesn’t just criticize authority; it demands better from it. The novel acknowledges the need for structure but insists it must come with understanding, not fear. Challenging authority, I learned, isn’t about chaos; it’s about expecting fairness, compassion, and accountability from those in power.
Riordan’s retelling effectively uses ancient mythology to examine today’s power dynamics. By showing Zeus through Percy’s eyes, Riordan critiques leadership that prioritizes hierarchy over humanity. Percy’s early dismissal of myths as “stories… to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff” (Riordan 69) reflects a modern tendency to overlook ancient narratives. Yet by the end of his journey, both Percy and the reader come to understand that these myths still reflect urgent realities. They remind us that the fight against unjust authority is not just timeless, but essential. Riordan shows that mythology endures not merely for entertainment, but because it challenges us to confront the systems that shape, and often limit our lives.
Works Cited
Ferry, Nicole. “Where Is the Patriarchy?: A Review and Research Agenda for the Concept of Patriarchy in Management and Organization Studies - Ferry - Gender, Work & Organization - Wiley Online Library.” Wiley Online Library, 25 May 2024, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gwao.13145?msockid=0996200dfada6a271619354ffb2a6b0f. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
La Fond, Marie. “Video #5 - Destination Olympus: Introduction to the Olympian Gods.” CLAS 430: Greek and Roman Mythology, 30 June 2025, University of Washington Seattle, Canvas, https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1810493/pages/lesson-2-video-lectures?module_item_id=23927933. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
Putri, Yunita. "Perseus 'Percy' Jackson: The Re-invention of Mythological Characters in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief." Academia.edu, 2014, www.academia.edu/9216795/Perseus_Percy_Jackson_The_Re_invention_of_Mythological_Characters_in_Rick_Riordan_s_Percy_Jackson_and_the_Lightning_Thief. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
Riordan, Rick, and John Rocco. Percy Jackson and the Olympians. 01: The Lightning Thief. Disney/Hyperion, 2018. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.