PJO Athena Long Rant (bear with me)
I’ve actually wanted to write this for a while, but I guess I needed to get angry enough first.
The mischaracterization of female characters is not uncommon in this fandom, just look at how Annabeth gets treated, who is literally a child by the way. But recently, I’ve seen a lot of hate directed at Athena, yet another female character. This isn’t new, but it has definitely increased.
I think PJO fans sometimes struggle with understanding characters, so let’s talk about the most common mischaracterizations I see online:
1. “Athena doesn’t care about Annabeth; she actually hates her.”
Athena is literally the deity who claims her children at birth. What does that mean? It means her children never have to sleep in the Hermes cabin wondering who their parent is, something that was a huge issue for demigods in the first series. She also openly gifts her children, which we see with Malcolm, Zane and Annabeth.
She had seen Annabeth before age twelve, unlike most gods who never bothered to visit their kids at all. She even broke the rules for Annabeth, something incredibly out of character for her, by helping Percy on his quest. Why? So he could save her daughter.
She openly disapproved of Percy and Annabeth’s relationship, not because Percy is Poseidon’s son, but because Percy himself is dangerous, especially with the prophecy and his fatal flaw. And even as the biggest Percabeth shipper, she was right. Annabeth had already been kidnapped and used as a pawn in Kronos’s game because of Percy. As a mother, she had every right to be angry.
And she later apologized, openly admitting to the council that she was wrong, huge for someone with her level of hubris. She was also the first god to accept Percy’s offer after the war. Not Poseidon, Athena. While others glared, she accepted because she knew Percy was right.
There is not a single scene implying that she doesn’t care about Annabeth.
And why does everyone forget that she made Annabeth the architect of Olympus? Annabeth’s literal biggest dream. Athena didn’t have to do that, she even says they could’ve fixed everything with magic.
Moving on to Heroes of Olympus: in The Lost Hero, Athena doesn’t answer prayers, not because she doesn’t care, but because the gods had split personalities and Zeus banned them from interfering. That was Zeus’s fault, not Athena’s.
In Mark of Athena, we don’t actually see Athena, we see Minerva. People completely misunderstand this scene and think Athena is “disowning” Annabeth, but Minerva doesn’t recognize her at all. She doesn’t even know who Annabeth is.
Annabeth later realizes this because she knows her mother would recognize her. She knows Athena isn’t full of hate and fury. Minerva was. Was Minerva right to feel that way? That’s another discussion, but Minerva gave her the coin and said those words, not Athena.
It genuinely baffles me that people understand the difference between Mars and Ares, but not Minerva and Athena. Even worse, people will excuse Ares, who we’ve literally seen abuse Clarisse, but refuse to give Athena the same grace, even though Athena never once raised a hand.
Later, Athena and Annabeth fight Enceladus together, and we see them on good terms again. Athena even helps Percy for Annabeth’s sake. She could have told Zeus where Percy was and caused his death, but she didn’t. She knew her daughter loved him, and she loves her daughter, so she helped.
All of this proves she loves her child, her children, and does not despise them.
2. “Athena only had children to get her statue back.”
This take is honestly hilarious.
Athena had children long before the statue existed. Her first child, Erichthonius, was born as the result of an attempted assault by Hephaestus. Yes, Athena was almost raped. Yet she never despised the child. She loved him and raised him. This exists in both mythology and PJO.
That experience is actually what made her want children in the first place. She remained a virgin, found a loophole, and had kids, not for a statue.
3. “Athena has no emotions; she’s just cruel.”
Athena literally explains to Percy that logical decisions are often perceived as cruel, even when they aren’t meant to be.
And how can anyone say she has no emotions?
She sobbed over Pallas, the friend she accidentally killed because of Zeus. She was so grief-stricken that she made a handmade statue in her honor. She was devastated.
In the Heroes books, she teases the heroes, laughs with them, and acts friendly. She isn’t cold or demanding, she’s engaged. Saying she has no emotions just isn’t true.
4. “Athena is the worst parent in PJO.”
This take is honestly awful.
Zeus showed no emotion over his son’s death. Ares abused his children. Demeter left her daughter with an abuser. Hades told his twelve-year-old son he wished Bianca had lived instead. Poseidon apologized to Percy for his existence.
The list goes on.
I would never say Athena is an amazing parent, because none of the gods are. She’s distant, yes. But she openly protects her children. No god in PJO is a good, healthy parent, but if you genuinely think Athena is worse than the rest, then that’s a serious misunderstanding.
5. “Athena isn’t a girl’s girl.”
This mostly comes from mythology, but PJO fans repeat it too.
Most people don’t even know who Ovid is. Rick used Ovid’s Roman version of Medusa’s story, which was already flawed. And even then, people still refuse to blame Poseidon, especially in PJO. He deliberately used Medusa in Athena’s temple to provoke Athena, knowing she’d be punished. Yet Athena gets all the blame, not the man who did it.
That says a lot.
Athena destroyed Ajax’s fleet for violating Cassandra. She made sure only women could see and pray to the Palladium, men who even glimpsed it would die. The reason Athena seems to help men more is because most heroes were male, not because she despises women.
She chose to remain a virgin for a reason. She did not like male gods being close to her and was likely traumatized after Hephaestus. But sure, she “loves men and hates women.”
6. “Athena is the only god rude to Percy.”
I was rereading The Titan’s Curse during the council vote on Percy and Thalia, and here’s what I noticed:
Dionysus openly says he dislikes them and doesn’t vote for their safety, yet no one calls him cruel.
Ares wants Percy and Thalia dead out of pure pettiness.
Hephaestus is rude to both Percy and Annabeth, who were fourteen at the time, using harsh language, but he’s a “chill guy.”
Demeter and Aphrodite hesitate to vote for demigod survival at all.
And Athena?
She doesn’t vote for their safety, but she’s never rude. She doesn’t yell, doesn’t insult Percy, and doesn’t even get angry when Annabeth yells at her in front of the other gods. She calls them “my child” and “my hero.”
Yet she’s the one who gets all the hate.
Moving on from these horrible takes, I see a lot of people confusing show canon with book canon. Rick has made it clear that the show is not book-accurate, it’s an adaptation. Not only scenes, but entire character arcs and backstories are different.
I am not defending show Athena. I don’t like how they chose to portray her at all. But mixing show canon with book canon to call Athena a bad mother is just wrong.
“She left Annabeth in the temple and tried to kill her.”
Book Athena never did that. She never would. She never had a reason to. She never hurt Annabeth in the books, ever. I genuinely don’t understand why they chose to portray her as a bad mother while simultaneously showing Poseidon as a better dad. That choice is questionable.
Male gods like Dionysus, Hephaestus, Hermes and Poseidon are framed as better parents, but Athena, a goddess, is portrayed as worse? That’s misogyny, nothing more. I’m sorry, but that sends a completely wrong message.
If they wanted Annabeth angst, she already has plenty. Annabeth is a character who has suffered a lot. She does not need extra mommy issues added on top.
I understand that the show created a lot of hate toward Athena. I don’t have a problem if that stays within show canon, I have no interest in watching it anyway. But when it comes to book Athena, that’s where I get angry, because people start spreading absolutely ridiculous takes.
As a fandom, we love angst. We already have tons of it in the books. We have countless innocent camper deaths on our hands. We do not need to invent new trauma out of nowhere.
And please, stop calling other gods “good parents” while calling Athena a bad one.
People call Apollo a good parent, even though his entire cabin died and he was later singing poetry to the other gods.
I have nothing against the other gods, by the way, except Zeus. All of the gods have pros and cons, and none of them are good parents. That’s literally the point of the story.
So leave Athena alone. And PJO fandom, please read the books and understand the characters for yourselves, instead of parroting online takes and treating them like canon.
