The Tower of Nero (The Trials of Apollo #5) - Rick Riordan Page 0,122
convinced several of his brothers to aid him in the murder of their father, Ouranos. He was also Percy Jackson’s primary opponent. Roman form: Saturn
Labyrinth an underground maze originally built on the island of Crete by the craftsman Daedalus to hold the Minotaur
Lar (Lares, pl.) Roman house gods
leontocephaline a being with the head of a lion and the body of a man entwined with a snake without a head or tail; created by Mithras, a Persian god, to protect his immortality
Leto mother of Artemis and Apollo with Zeus; goddess of motherhood
Lugus one of the major gods in ancient Celtic religion
Lupa the wolf goddess, guardian spirit of Rome
Mars the Roman god of war. Greek form: Ares
Marsyas a satyr who lost to Apollo after challenging him in a musical contest, which led to Marsyas being flayed alive
Meliai Greek nymphs of the ash tree, born of Gaea; they nurtured and raised Zeus in Crete
Mercury Roman god of travelers; guide to spirits of the dead; god of communication. Greek form: Hermes.
Minerva the Roman goddess of wisdom. Greek form: Athena
Minoans a Bronze Age civilization of Crete that flourished from c. 3000 to 1100 BCE; their name comes from King Minos
Minotaur the half-man, half-bull son of King Minos of Crete; the Minotaur was kept in the Labyrinth, where he killed people who were sent in; he was finally defeated by Theseus
Mist a magical force that prevents mortals from seeing gods, mythical creatures, and supernatural occurrences by replacing them with things the human mind can comprehend
Mithras a Persian god who was adopted by the Romans and became the god of warriors; he created the leontocephaline
Morpheus the Titan who put all the mortals in New York to sleep during the Battle of Manhattan
Mount Olympus home of the Twelve Olympians
naiad a female water spirit
nectar a drink of the gods that can heal demigods
Nero ruled as Roman Emperor from 54 to 58 CE; he had his mother and his first wife put to death; many believe he was responsible for setting a fire that gutted Rome, but he blamed the Christians, whom he burned on crosses; he built an extravagant new palace on the cleared land and lost support when construction expenses forced him to raise taxes; he committed suicide
New Rome both the valley in which Camp Jupiter is located and a city—a smaller, modern version of the imperial city—where Roman demigods can go to live in peace, study, and retire
Nine Muses goddesses who grant inspiration for and protect artistic creation and expression; daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne; as children, they were taught by Apollo. Their names are: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Ourania, and Calliope.
nymph a female deity who animates nature
omphalos Greek for navel of the world; the nickname for Delphi, a spring that whispered the future to those who would listen
Oracle of Delphi a speaker of the prophecies of Apollo
pandos (pandai, pl.) a man with gigantic ears, eight fingers and toes, and a body covered with hair that starts out white and turns black with age
pegasus (pegasi, pl.) a winged divine horse; sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god
Peleus father of Achilles; his wedding to the sea nymph Thetis was well attended by the gods, and a disagreement between them at the event eventually led to the Trojan War; the guardian dragon at Camp Half-Blood is named after him
Persephone the Greek goddess of springtime and vegetation; daughter of Zeus and Demeter; Hades fell in love with her and abducted her to the Underworld to become his wife and queen of the Underworld
Phaethon the demigod son of Helios, Titan of the Sun; he accidentally scorched the Earth when he drove Helios’s sun chariot, and Zeus killed him with lightning as a result
Pluto the Roman god of death and ruler of the Underworld. Greek form: Hades
Poseidon the Greek god of the sea; son of the Titans Kronos and Rhea, and the brother of Zeus and Hades. Roman form: Neptune
praetor an elected Roman magistrate and commander of the army
Primordial Chaos the first thing ever to exist; a void from which the first gods were produced
princeps Latin for first citizen or first in line; the early Roman emperors adopted this title for themselves, and it came to mean prince of Rome
Pythia the priestess of Apollo’s prophecies; the name given to every Oracle of Delphi
Python a monstrous serpent that Gaea appointed to guard the Oracle at Delphi
River Styx the river that forms the boundary between Earth and the Underworld
roc an enormous bird of prey
Sassanid gas a chemical weapon the Persians used against the Romans in wartime
Saturnalia an ancient Roman festival held in December in honor of the god Saturn, the Roman equivalent of Kronos
satyr a Greek forest god, part goat and part man
scusatemi Italian for excuse me
shadow-travel a form of transportation that allows creatures of the Underworld and children of Hades to use shadows to leap to any desired place on Earth or in the Underworld, although it makes the user extremely fatigued
Sibyl a prophetess
sica (siccae, pl.) a short, curved sword
Socrates a Greek philosopher (c. 470–399 BCE) who had a profound influence on Western thought
Stygian iron a magical metal forged in the River Styx, capable of absorbing the very essence of monsters and injuring mortals, gods, Titans, and giants; has a significant effect on ghosts and creatures from the Underworld
Styx a powerful water nymph; the eldest daughter of the sea Titan, Oceanus; goddess of the Underworld’s most important river; goddess of hatred; the River Styx is named after her
Sutro Tower a massive red-and-white transmission antenna in the San Francisco Bay Area where Harpocrates, the god of silence, was imprisoned by Commodus and Caligula
Tarquin Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was the seventh and final king of Rome, reigning from 534 to 509 BCE, when, after a popular uprising, the Roman Republic was established
Tartarus husband of Gaea; spirit of the abyss; father of the giants; the darkest pit in the Underworld, where monsters go when they are slain
taurus silvestre (tauri silvestres, pl.) a forest bull with an impenetrable hide; ancestral enemy of the troglodytes
Terpsichore Greek goddess of dance; one of the Nine Muses
terza rima a form of verse consisting of three-line stanzas in which the first and third lines rhyme and the middle line rhymes with the first and third lines of the following stanza
testudo a tortoise battle formation in which legionnaires put their shields together to form a barrier
Teumessian Fox a gigantic fox sent by the Olympians to prey upon the children of Thebes; it is destined never to be caught
Thalia the Muse of comedy
Three Graces the three charities: Beauty, Mirth, and Elegance; daughters of Zeus
Titans a race of powerful Greek deities, descendants of Gaea and Ouranos, that ruled during the Golden Age and were overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Olympians
triumvirate a political alliance formed by three parties
troglodytes a race of subterranean humanoids who eat lizards and fight bulls
Trojan War According to legend, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband, Menelaus, king of Sparta
Trophonius demigod son of Apollo, designer of Apollo’s temple at Delphi, and spirit of the dark Oracle; he decapitated his half brother Agamethus to avoid discovery after their raid on King Hyrieus’s treasury
Troy a pre-Roman city situated in modern-day Turkey; site of the Trojan War
Underworld the kingdom of the dead, where souls go for eternity; ruled by Hades
ventus (venti, pl.) storm spirits
Venus the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Greek form: Aphrodite
Vnicornes Imperant Latin for Unicorns Rule
Vulcan the Roman god of fire, including volcanic, and of crafts and blacksmithing. Greek form: Hephaestus
Waystation a place of refuge for demigods, peaceful monsters, and Hunters of Artemis located above Union Station in Indianapolis, Indiana
Zeus the Greek god of the sky and the king of the gods. Roman form: Jupiter
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RICK RIORDAN, dubbed “storyteller of the gods” by Publishers Weekly, is the author of five New York Times #1 best-selling series. He is best known for his Percy Jackson and the Olympians books, which bring Greek mythology to life for contemporary readers. He expanded on that series with two more: the Heroes of Olympus and the Trials of Apollo, which cleverly combine Greek and Roman gods and heroes with his beloved modern characters. Rick tackled the ancient Egyptian gods in the magic-filled Kane Chronicles trilogy, and Norse mythology in Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. Millions of fans across the globe have enjoyed his fast-paced and funny quest adventures as well as his two #1 best-selling myth collections, Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods and Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes. Rick is also the publisher of an imprint at Disney Hyperion, Rick Riordan Presents, dedicated to finding other authors of highly entertaining fiction based on world cultures and mythologies. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with his wife and two sons. For more information, go to RickRiordan.com, or follow him on Twitter @RickRiordan.