52 pages • 1 hour read
Jasmine MasBlood of Hercules (Villains of Lore, #1)
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Tattoos
Content Warning: This section includes descriptions of child abuse and forced marriage.
Tattoos are recurring symbols in the narrative and loosely support the theme of Mythology as Political Propaganda. Specifically, Patro and Achilles’s matching neck tattoos serve as a defiant symbol by challenging Spartan society’s prejudices against their romantic relationship. These tattoos are thus a defiant expression of their love in a world that refuses to acknowledge their sexuality. Likewise, Alexis’s tattoo, “C+A,” mirrors Charlie’s and represents their commitment to supporting one another. These tattoos also indicate that their bond is just as strong as the one that exists between siblings related by blood.
By contrast, Kharon’s Furia tattoo is the embodiment of his undescribed trauma. While Alexis’s, Charlie’s, Patro’s, and Achilles’s tattoos reflect their bonds to their loved ones, Kharon’s tattoo commemorates the hurt and rage of his childhood, as the word furia is Latin for “fury” and “rage”—emotions that also describe Kharon’s behavior toward Sparta and most people, save the Chthonics and Alexis. While Alexis alludes to a possible second meaning to the word, her musings remain unclarified. However, it is worth noting that the Spanish definition of the word is connected to the concept of passion. Thus, Kharon’s tattoo also foreshadows his eventual relationship with Alexis.
Alexis’s Heterochromia
Alexis’s mismatched eyes are a symbol that reflects her arduous journey. At first, Alexis’s abuse-induced heterochromia is symbolic of her childhood and the resilience of her younger self despite her foster parents’ many abuses. Her eyes therefore represent her courage to stand up to would-be child murderers. They also draw attention to the depth of her devotion to her foster brother, Charlie, and illustrate her ability to endure physical violence to achieve her goals. However, the change in her eye color also signals the changes that she will undergo in the future, as her eyes also change to red whenever she manifests her Chthonic powers. Because Alexis’s red, Chthonic eyes are a symbol of her Spartan heritage and her untapped power, Alexis’s belated discovery of this attribute emphasizes the long journey that she must undergo to realize and reclaim her true identity as Hades and Persephone’s lost daughter, Hercules.
Chains
Chains are a recurring symbol within the narrative that adds nuance to The Damaging Effects of Patriarchal Social Standards and draws attention to The Illusion of Agency that keeps Alexis trapped in impossible circumstances. Throughout the story, chains are often used to emphasize the three-way relationship between Kharon, Augustus, and Alexis—first through the sly wording of Fate’s prophecy and later through the symbol of their problematic and coercive marriage. In both instances, the chains represent the proprietary nature of their relationship, and this dynamic is visually symbolized by their wedding rings, which are bound in chain to a bracelet. By suggesting the image of a manacle, Mas uses these particular chains to indicate that the three are now linked by powerful and near-literal bonds. Thus, their marriage is tainted by the imagery of imprisonment. In this first installment of Mas’s series, Alexis’s frustrated sense of captivity is a direct result of Kharon and Augustus’s scheme to ensnare her, and their plot is only possible thanks to Sparta’s restrictive and patriarchal cultural practices, which rob women of freedom via an archaic and sexist honor code. The chains also indicate Alexis’s lack of agency. Unable to act of her own accord or to abstain from marrying both men, Alexis finds herself caught in a socially condoned prison from which no one can help her escape.
