Which countries does Hecate say she visited on Halloween? Pick one and research that culture’s way of recognizing the relationship between the living and the dead. Discuss how it intersects with and diverges from what Hecate represents in the novel and Greek mythology.

Rick Riordan incorporates foreshadowing across the novel to invite readers to predict the direction the story is taking. How does he both fulfill and subvert genre conventions with regard to the plot development?

What makes ancient Greek heroes tragic is that they participate in their own destruction, which in the modern world has been called having a “fatal flaw.” What is each main character’s fatal flaw? How do their strengths compensate for one another’s limitations?