The Great Prophecy was a prediction made by the Oracle of Delphi that foretold the rise or fall of Olympus by a demigod child of the Big Three.
Prophecy[]
The First Great Prophecy was a prophecy given by the Oracle over seventy years ago. After World War II, when the sons of Zeus (America), Poseidon (Great Britain and the Soviet Union), and Hades (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan) fought each other, the Oracle foretold of a future event that would end their affairs with mortal women for the next seventy years. The prophecy is revealed in The Last Olympian, and is written in iambic tetrameter:
1. A half-blood of the eldest gods
2. Shall reach sixteen against all odds
3. And see the world in endless sleep
4. The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap
5. A single choice shall end his days
6. Olympus to preserve or raze
Unraveling the Prophecy[]
- Percy was a half-blood child of Poseidon, one of the eldest gods (Poseidon, Zeus and Hades), otherwise known as the Big Three.
- Percy reached sixteen despite all of the numerous times he was almost killed by Luke, Kronos and his monsters.
- Percy found the whole city of Manhattan asleep from Olympus so the war could go on without any of the humans interfering.
- When Luke and Annabeth first met, he handed her a knife with the promise that they would always be a family and be there for each other. However, when Luke betrayed the camp and the Olympians, the broken promise cursed Annabeth's knife. The blade was then used by Luke to kill himself, effectively scattering Kronos.
- Percy had to choose between giving Annabeth's knife to Luke and allowing him to destroy himself, or trying to destroy Luke himself and failing, causing Kronos to burn away Luke's body as he took on his true form. Either choice would have caused Luke to die.
- Percy's choice to give Luke the cursed blade resulted in Olympus' preservation.
The Prophecy of Seven[]
After the completion of the first Great Prophecy, Rachel Elizabeth Dare took on the spirit of the Oracle of Delphi and spoke a new prophecy, which was declared by Apollo as the second Great Prophecy. This prophecy was predicted by Cumæan Sibyl, the author of the Sibylline Books in Latin which goes as.
1. Septem dimidia , sanquines eorum respondet
2. Nec ignibus corrupisset expugnare mundus pereat.
3. Juramentum linalem habere spiritum;
4. Portae mortis et arma adversariis.
This prophecy would later be known as the Prophecy of Seven as the Romans called it.
1. Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
2. To storm or fire the world must fall.
3. An oath to keep with a final breath,
4. And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.
Unraveling the Prophecy[]
- The first line refers to seven half-bloods that will try and save Olympus from Gaea and her powerful children, the Gigantes. The seven half-bloods are, Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Hazel Levesque, and Frank Zhang.
- The second line refers to either Leo or Jason as the one who was destined to defeat Gaea. Leo, with the help of Jason, Piper, and the recently rebuilt Festus, was able to defeat Gaea using his pyrokinesis, dying in the process (although he came back to life after using the Physician's Cure).
- Leo, who died after defeating Gaea, was brought back to life with the use of the Physician's Cure. The explosion sent Leo and Festus (with his body rebuilt) to Ogygia, where Leo reunited with Calypso and completed the oath he made to take her out of the island.
- This could also be Bob's brief promise in The House of Hades to keep Percy and Annabeth safe. He and Damasen most likely died in the end, making it his "final breath".
- Gaea opened the Doors of Death to allow the most evil beings of the Underworld to rise again and monsters to revive quicker. During The House of Hades, Percy, Annabeth, the Titan Iapetus, and the peaceful Gigantes Damasen (with the help of his eternal foe, the Maeonian Drakon) all meet at the Doors of Death. Gigantes, Titans, and Demigods are normally enemies, but they worked together to seal the Doors of Death, preventing Gaea from reviving her forces.
The Seven[]
The Seven Heroes of Olympus, as officially announced in The Demigod Diaries:
- Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon (Greek)
- Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena (Greek)
- Jason Grace, son of Jupiter (Roman)
- Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus(Greek)
- Frank Zhang, son of Mars and legacy of Poseidon (Roman)
- Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite (Greek)
- Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto (Roman)
Percy Jackson (film series)[]
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters[]
The Great Prophecy is told to Percy by the Oracle. She tells him that when a child of the eldest gods reaches 20 against all odds, the prophecy will come true. Throughout the movie, it is implied that the cursed blade is Riptide.
Trivia[]
- The Great Prophecy never says that a child of the Big Three would be the one mentioned in the prophecy, only that it would be a child of the eldest gods. Because 'gods' can be considered a gender neutral term in some cases, this could mean that any demigod child of the original Olympians could be the one mentioned in the prophecy, including children of Demeter.
- However the term 'gods' is usually attributed to the male gods, which is why only the children of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades are the focus of the prophecy.
- In the Fifth Line of the prophecy, it says a single choice shall end HIS days, meaning that a male would die because of the choice.