The Battle of the Labyrinth

These chapters introduce the half-bloods’ fatal flaws. A fatal flaw is a literary device that creates a specific, inescapable weakness in a character that causes their downfall. Nico’s fatal flaw is holding grudges, which “is dangerous for a child of Hades” (167): Nico’s grudge against Percy’s supposed involvement in Bianca’s death leads him to work with King Minos, who can manipulate Nico’s desire for revenge for his own personal agenda. Annabeth’s fatal flaw is hubris, or amplified feelings of pride that can lead to an overestimation of one’s abilities: Annabeth’s arrogance about her intellect stops her from answering the Sphynx’s “dumb, random facts” (184), forcing the group to fight the Sphynx. Percy’s fatal flaw is excessive loyalty—he sacrifices his safety for friends and strangers without second thought, which places him in the middle of dangerous situations, and even creates dangerous situations that otherwise wouldn’t have occurred.

Riordan uses the story of Hephaestus’s rejection from Olympus to explain the god’s isolation and to cast suspicion on Hera’s motives, since she lied about her involvement in his expulsion, exemplifying her duplicity. Hephaestus now believes all people are similarly deceitful and urges Tyson, his admirer, to only “trust the work of your own hands” (191). Tyson, however, does not want to end up alone and unhappy like Hephaestus; instead, Tyson breaks away from Hephaestus’s philosophy when he chooses to follow Grover down the dirt tunnel because he “trusts friends” (195). This decision allows Tyson and Grover to become closer despite their earlier friction.

The theme of determinism and the binding will of the Fates, first introduced through the Great Prophecy that haunts Percy, now recurs through the story of  Calypso. Doomed by the Fates to fall in love with the heroes who find her and who never choose to stay, Calypso’s punishment is to be in a perpetual state of heartbreak. In Homer’s version of the myth, Calypso imprisons Odysseus on her island and only lets him leave when the gods directly command her. Riordan chooses a more sympathetic image of Calypso to contrast her with the evil island sorceress, Circe, whom Percy met in a previous novel. Though Percy contemplates staying with Calypso to escape the Great Prophecy, he, like the other heroes before, chooses to leave her behind. Though it is Percy’s choice, the outcome continues Calypso’s punishment.