Annabeth Chase: My mother is just, always.
Medusa: The gods want you to believe that, that they are infallible. But they only want what all bullies want. They want us to blame ourselves for their own shortcomings.
Where does this quote come from? (Source)
This quote comes from a TV series ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’. The scene where this moment comes from is in Season 1 Episode 3, with the title of ‘We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium’ (1×03). Percy Jackson is based on a book series of the same name written by Rick Riordan. The series Percy Jackson and the Olympians is produced by Disney Branded Television and 20th Television (Disney+)
- TV Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023)
- Season: 1
- Episode: 3
- Episode Name: We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium
- Production: Disney Branded Television, 20th Television (Disney+)
Why we collected this quote
We picked this quote because it’s a sharp critique of the gods. It exposes the gaslighting that happens in the relationship between gods and their creations.
What does this quote mean? (Meaning & Context)
Medusa explains to Annabeth that her mother, Athena, isn’t perfect. She argues that the gods make mistakes and then punish mortals (or demigods) for those mistakes to protect their own egos. It sows a seed of doubt in Annabeth’s blind loyalty to her mother.
Book vs TV Series
In the book, Medusa warns Percy not to be a “pawn of the Olympians” as she plots revenge. The show takes her resentment and gives it a psychological angle. This quote introduces a modern concept, that the gods essentially gaslight the demigods (“blame ourselves for their own shortcomings”). This makes the world of Olympus feel less like ancient mythology and more like a deeply toxic family system, which we think is a very clever update.
