Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4524210-20170401021538

Years ago when the Percy Jackson books started coming out the implication was the gods were older than humanity, did not  need mankind to survive though there is some unknown connection, and that their myths were pretty much true. Over the different books this has changed. In The Blood of Olympus it was stated gods get stronger the more are worshipped. The Hammer of Thor made the claim gods live in human memory. In The Hidden Oracle is has been mentioned the Roman Empeors have survived due to being worshipped and remembered which apparently makes them some sort of quasi-gods.

Has Riordan said anything in interviews or have I left something out? Are the gods supposed to predate humanity or are they now creations of mankind? If they live in human memory what about other mortal races like the Light Elves and Dwarfs or are they stuck in human memory as well? Can the Frost giants truly invade Earth or Apophis revert creation back to the Sea of Chaos without ceasing to exist thanks to humanity being gone? For that matter, if say Nero is worshipped by sufficient numbers of people would that make him more powerful than Zeus? The only explanation I recall so far is Bast's comment that conflicting stories can sometimes be true.

Thoughts? Which of the ideas do you prefer? Gods creating or at least predating mankind or mankind creating the gods? 