“And Why Shouldn't Piper Intimidate Them? Aphrodite Was The Most Ancient Olympian, Born Of The Sea

Ok, ok.

So. I've had this theory floating around in my head for years but i've never actually talked about it.

The First Great Prophecy of the original Percy Jackson books is worded like this:

1. A half-blood of the eldest gods

2. Shall reach sixteen against all odds

3. And see the world in endless sleep

4. The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap

5. A single choice shall end his days

6. Olympus to preserve or raze

Now, in Heroes of Olympus, Piper Mclean makes an interesting comment about the nature of the oldest olympian:

“And why shouldn't Piper intimidate them? Aphrodite was the most ancient Olympian, born of the sea and the blood of Ouranos. She was older than Poseidon or Athena or even Zeus. And Piper was her daughter.” ― Rick Riordan, The Blood of Olympus

Now, the reason for one of the Big Three's children being prophesized is simply, that "gods often refer to the male ones."

When you put this into context, this seems, odd, doesn't it? Prophecies are intentionally misleading, and according to the wiki, "Regardless of how a prophecy is received, they all have one thing in common: they are cryptic. A prophecy will never say exactly what will happen,"

So why are the Big Three assumed to be the eldest gods, and why does everyone just go along with this explanation, the easiest one to believe?

(Ok, so what am I yapping about? what does this mean?)

Aphrodite is the eldest Olympian. Her daughter, Silena (oh, no.)

could be the (my) hero of the Great prophecy.

Let me explain each line first, then go through the entire theory.

First of all,

2. "shall reach 16 against all odds."

Silena was around 16 at the time of her death. The "odds" she's faced, apparently to make her decision (which I'll talk about later) are most likely just one "odd": Beckendorf's death. Unlike Percy, who's (assumed to be) our hero in the original story, she does not go through multiple quests to try and stop Luke/Kronos. This might make someone feel this argument is less compelling. However, Beckendorf's death and Clarisse's support rock Silena's foundations to the core, because she operated with Luke only under the belief that he would keep Beckendorf safe.

So yes, Silena made it to her current age against all odds.

" 'Against all odds' is an idiom that means something was achieved despite the odds being stacked against it." So absolutely, Silena made it against all odds.

3. And see the world in endless sleep

This section is pretty self-explanatory. In the Last Olympian,

"Silena met with the campers... and she was astonished at how peaceful Manhattan was, and asked if they were dead, and Percy said they weren’t dead, Morpheus had just put them to sleep. " - Percy Jackson Wikia

So yes, as easily as this section applies to Percy, it easily applies to Silena. What's even more interesting is that in this specific scene, Silena is given a role.

Keep in mind up until this point Silena has basically been treated barely as a character, an accessory for Rick to use as an Aphrodite child Percy is semi-familiar with. Rick even regularly forgets the makeup of her physical features.

"In The Demigod Files, it said that her hair was black and her eyes chocolate brown. In The Last Olympian, she had brown hair and blue eyes and in The Ultimate Guide, her eyes were blue and her hair was blonde."

So yes, she does fit the third line of the prophecy.

Now you may think. "There's absolutely no way she can fit the last three lines of the prophecy into Silena's story. No. Absolute. Way."

But, dear reader, you misunderstand me. This is merely an alternate interpretation of the Great Prophecy that I honestly like better than the original one. Because it subverts expectations. Because it changes the way people see things, and prophecies seldom turn out exactly the way they are described. Percy at some point is just assumed to be the hero of the prophecy. I like this theory because it is exactly what a prophecy should be: it will never say exactly what will happen, in the way that you expect it to happen.

Let's move on to Line #4.

4. The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap

Silena is established as the spy for Kronos in Book 5, The Last Olympian, Kronos begins taunting Percy with a bracelet that has a scythe charm on it: the method of communication he and his spy use. This scythe charm could very well be the "cursed blade" as Silena gives up her soul to be reaped by Kronos' cursed blade. Silena sells her soul in the hope of saving Beckendorf, and she loses her soul/life in the process of losing that blade. The cursed blade reaps, or kills, her.

If not for her association with Kronos and her later guilt that leads her to die for Clarisse, Silena would never have died. She wouldn't have been reaped. It's not as literal of a connection but it's a poetic one that still works quite well, especially in the tone of this side-arc mirroring the poem of Achilles and Patroclus.

5. A single choice shall end his days

("WAIT!!", you're saying. "IT SAYS HIS DAYS, NOT HER DAYS!!1!!!1 THEORY DISPROVED, AND YOU'RE A LIAR!")

Do you hear people say "humankind" very often? In many older texts, and partially in the current day, "him" was just the singular, default version of "they". Femininity had to be specified. This is why Thalia was considered a viable candidate for the prophecy.

Now, Silena's single choice was obvious: going out with Clarisse's helmet on. She sacrificed her life to lead the Ares cabin, which by the way was a major problem as they had the majority of the weapons and heavy fighters but refused to be moved out UNTIL Silena decided to step up and lead them.

#6. and More Explanation will be out in a part #2 I will write soon!!!