The Lightning Thief

by

Rick Riordan

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Poseidon Character Analysis

Poseidon is the Greek god of the sea, and he’s Percy’s father. Poseidon can change his size, but he looks like a tanned fisherman in Bermuda shorts and a patterned shirt. One of the Big Three, Poseidon, along with his brothers Zeus and Hades, agrees to stop fathering demigod children after World War II. However, Poseidon broke this promise by falling in love with Mom and fathering Percy. Percy has mixed feelings about Poseidon for the entirety of the novel. Before Percy knows who his father is, he resents Poseidon for not claiming him; after Poseidon does claim him, Percy resents him for not doing so sooner and for not providing more support. When Percy does meet Poseidon, however, he decides that the god’s reaction is the best possible one: Poseidon seems unsure of how to engage with Percy, which seems to be an honest response. He does, however, say outright that he’s proud of Percy, which helps Percy start coming to terms with his parentage.

Poseidon Quotes in The Lightning Thief

The The Lightning Thief quotes below are all either spoken by Poseidon or refer to Poseidon. 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:
Identity, Heroism, and Normalcy Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3 Quotes

“I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud.”

I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Mom/Sally Jackson (speaker), Poseidon
Page Number: 38
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

“That’s the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens.”

“You mean sometimes it doesn’t?”

Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. “The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and don’t always...Well, sometimes they don’t care about us, Percy. They ignore us.”

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Annabeth Chase (speaker), Mom/Sally Jackson, Poseidon
Page Number: 96
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

Just when I’d started to feel accepted, to feel like I had a home in cabin eleven and I might be a normal kid—or as normal as you can be when you’re a half-blood—I’d been separated out as if I had some rare disease.

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Poseidon
Page Number: 127
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“Remind me again—why do you hate me so much?”

“I don’t hate you.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

[...] “Look...we’re just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals.”

“Why?”

She sighed. “How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena’s temple, which is hugely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron saint for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her.”

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Annabeth Chase (speaker), Grover, Poseidon, Athena
Page Number: 157
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

“Can’t we work together a little?” I pleaded. “I mean, didn’t Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?”

Annabeth had to think about it. “I guess...the chariot,” she said tentatively. “My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete.”

“Then we can cooperate, too. Right?”

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Annabeth Chase (speaker), Poseidon, Athena
Page Number: 202
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“So if the gods fight,” I said, “will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?”

She put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes. “I don’t know what my mom will do. I just know I’ll fight next to you.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?”

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Annabeth Chase (speaker), Ares, Poseidon, Athena
Page Number: 251
Explanation and Analysis:
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: Hades (speaker), Percy Jackson, Grover, Annabeth Chase, Zeus, Poseidon
Page Number: 311-12
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: Annabeth Chase (speaker), Ares (speaker), Percy Jackson, Grover, Hades, Zeus, Poseidon
Page Number: 322
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

I got the feeling Poseidon really didn’t know what to think of me. He didn’t know whether he was happy to have me as a son or not. In a strange way, I was glad that Poseidon was so distant. If he’d tried to apologize, or told me he loved me, or even smiled, it would’ve felt fake. Like a human dad, making some lame excuse for not being around. I could live with that. After all, I wasn’t sure about him yet, either.

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Poseidon
Page Number: 342
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

I moved back into cabin three, but it didn’t feel so lonely anymore. I had my friends to train with during the day. At night, I lay awake and listened to the sea, knowing my father was out there. Maybe he wasn’t quite sure about me yet, maybe he hadn’t even wanted me born, but he was watching. And so far, he was proud of what I’d done.

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Grover, Annabeth Chase, Poseidon
Page Number: 355
Explanation and Analysis:
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Poseidon Quotes in The Lightning Thief

The The Lightning Thief quotes below are all either spoken by Poseidon or refer to Poseidon. 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:
Identity, Heroism, and Normalcy Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3 Quotes

“I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud.”

I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Mom/Sally Jackson (speaker), Poseidon
Page Number: 38
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

“That’s the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens.”

“You mean sometimes it doesn’t?”

Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. “The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and don’t always...Well, sometimes they don’t care about us, Percy. They ignore us.”

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Annabeth Chase (speaker), Mom/Sally Jackson, Poseidon
Page Number: 96
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

Just when I’d started to feel accepted, to feel like I had a home in cabin eleven and I might be a normal kid—or as normal as you can be when you’re a half-blood—I’d been separated out as if I had some rare disease.

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Poseidon
Page Number: 127
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“Remind me again—why do you hate me so much?”

“I don’t hate you.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

[...] “Look...we’re just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals.”

“Why?”

She sighed. “How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena’s temple, which is hugely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron saint for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her.”

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Annabeth Chase (speaker), Grover, Poseidon, Athena
Page Number: 157
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

“Can’t we work together a little?” I pleaded. “I mean, didn’t Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?”

Annabeth had to think about it. “I guess...the chariot,” she said tentatively. “My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete.”

“Then we can cooperate, too. Right?”

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Annabeth Chase (speaker), Poseidon, Athena
Page Number: 202
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“So if the gods fight,” I said, “will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?”

She put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes. “I don’t know what my mom will do. I just know I’ll fight next to you.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?”

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Annabeth Chase (speaker), Ares, Poseidon, Athena
Page Number: 251
Explanation and Analysis:
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: Hades (speaker), Percy Jackson, Grover, Annabeth Chase, Zeus, Poseidon
Page Number: 311-12
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: Annabeth Chase (speaker), Ares (speaker), Percy Jackson, Grover, Hades, Zeus, Poseidon
Page Number: 322
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

I got the feeling Poseidon really didn’t know what to think of me. He didn’t know whether he was happy to have me as a son or not. In a strange way, I was glad that Poseidon was so distant. If he’d tried to apologize, or told me he loved me, or even smiled, it would’ve felt fake. Like a human dad, making some lame excuse for not being around. I could live with that. After all, I wasn’t sure about him yet, either.

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Poseidon
Page Number: 342
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

I moved back into cabin three, but it didn’t feel so lonely anymore. I had my friends to train with during the day. At night, I lay awake and listened to the sea, knowing my father was out there. Maybe he wasn’t quite sure about me yet, maybe he hadn’t even wanted me born, but he was watching. And so far, he was proud of what I’d done.

Related Characters: Percy Jackson (speaker), Grover, Annabeth Chase, Poseidon
Page Number: 355
Explanation and Analysis: