Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan & John Rocco

Author:Rick Riordan & John Rocco [Riordan, Rick & Rocco, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Children's Books, Classics, Fairy Tales; Folk Tales & Myths, Anthologies, Greek & Roman, Children's eBooks, Literature & Fiction
Amazon: B00OCB700Q
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Published: 2015-08-18T05:00:00+00:00

THE ANCIENT GREEKS called this guy Bellerophon the Blameless, which is funny, since he was always in trouble.

His real name wasn’t even Bellerophon. He got that name after his first murder…but maybe I should back up.

In the old days, every Greek city wanted its own hero. Athens had Theseus. Argos had Perseus.

The city of Corinth didn’t have jack. Their most famous native son was Sisyphus, who’d once tied up Death and gotten himself condemned to eternal punishment. That didn’t make him a very good poster boy for the city.

After Sisyphus got dragged to the Underworld, his son Glaucus became the king of the city. He did his best to improve its reputation. He built a new palace. He sponsored a pro soccer team. He hung colorful banners along Main Street that read CORINTH: YOUR GATEWAY TO FUN!

Glaucus also married a beautiful princess named Eurynome. He hoped to have noble sons who would someday become great heroes and put Corinth on the map.

Only problem: the gods were still angry about Sisyphus. Zeus decreed that Sisyphus’s children would never have sons of their own to carry on the family name. Zeus didn’t want any more little Sisyphuses (Sisyphi?) running around Greece trying to cheat Death.

Because of that, Glaucus was unable to sire male children. Eurynome and he tried for years with no luck. The king was always fretting about it.

One night he paced the royal bedroom, wringing his hands. “What can we do?” he asked his wife. “How can I have an heir to the throne?”

“Well, we could have a daughter,” his wife suggested. “Let her become queen.”

“Oh, please,” Glaucus said. “I’m in no mood for jokes.”

Eurynome rolled her eyes. “All right, then. What if we adopted a son?”

“The people would never accept an adopted king!”

“Hmm.” She gazed out the bedroom window at the moonlit sea. “In that case, perhaps I should seek divine help.”

“What do you mean?”

Eurynome smiled. “Leave it to me, dear.”

The queen had always been a fan of the sea god, Poseidon. Clearly, she had good taste. The next evening, she went down to the beach and prayed. “O great Poseidon! I have a problem! My husband cannot sire sons, but he really wants an heir. I could use your help, if you catch my meaning.…”

Poseidon heard the beautiful queen asking for his assistance. He rose from the waves in all his glory, wearing only his swim trunks.

“Greetings, Eurynome,” said the lord of the sea. “You want to have a son? Sure. I can help you out.”

That’s my dad. Always thinking of the greater good.

Nine months later, Eurynome gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She named him Hipponous, because we don’t already have enough people named Hippo in this book.

King Glaucus was delighted! He was sure the boy was his. The queen had prayed for a miracle. The gods had answered. Glaucus wasn’t going to question his good fortune. The fact that his new son looked exactly like the mosaic portraits of Poseidon in the local temple was simply a coincidence.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.