The Sea of Monsters

The characters in The Sea of Monsters are broken into many different groups, including demigods, gods, and monsters. Within these classifications, there are subcategories, such as children of the different gods within the demigod group. Even within these subcategories, there are smaller groups, and each member of even the smallest category is unique.

In Chapter 5, Poseidon claims Tyson as a son. Though Percy and Tyson are siblings, they are very different. On the surface, Percy is a demigod and Tyson is a monster (cyclops), but the differences extend much deeper than physical makeup. Percy is a warrior while Tyson’s gifts lie in creating and mechanics. As a cyclops, Polyphemus is also a son of Poseidon, and he is very different from Percy and Tyson. Polyphemus concerns himself only with what he wants and is greedy, keeping the Golden Fleece to attract satyrs for eating. Within the category of cyclops, Polyphemus and Tyson are opposites. Unlike Polyphemus, Tyson puts the wellbeing of others first and remains loyal to his friends.

Within the umbrella of demigods, there are subcategories based on godly parents, and each category has different strengths (Poseidon’s children have powers over water; Athena’s children are smart and possess a gift for strategy; Hermes’s children are crafty and sly). Though all demigods, the children of each god are similar and different, much like Percy and Tyson as children of Poseidon. In The Sea of Monsters, demigods are also divided by their overall opinion of the gods. Percy, Annabeth, and others at Camp Half Blood believe in the gods and their ability to lead. By contrast, Luke and his followers view the gods as flawed beyond redemption, and this difference between groups accounts for conflict both in The Sea of Monsters and the series as a whole.

Chiron represents an anomaly among multiple groups. In Chapter 18, Chiron and his fellow centaurs rescue Percy from Luke’s ship. While Chiron has a serious demeanor, many of his brethren are less stoic. They belong to the South Florida chapter of the Party Ponies, suggesting this is a subgroup amidst the centaur race. Even within the Party Ponies, there are differences with some being more outlandish than others. Chiron is also a child of Kronos, the titan father of the gods. Though he was fathered by the same entity, Chiron is not a god and is neither accepted nor favored by his half-siblings. In The Lightning Thief, the gods refuse to believe Kronos is waking, something carried forward into The Sea of Monsters. By contrast, Chiron fears Kronos’s growing strength, another thing that sets Chiron apart from his godly family.