The Mark Of Athena

In Greek antiquity, weaving, poetry, and cunning were associated with each other via shared language and imagery. Poets were described as metaphorically weaving stories, and cunning was also conceptualized as a woven quality. The connection between weaving and cunning comes together in the figure of Athena, whose domains include weaving (among other crafts) and strategy. In the Greek text, Homer’s Odysseus asks the goddess to “weave” him a plan to defeat the suitors besieging his household. Riordan draws on this interconnection throughout The Mark of Athena in several ways.

Riordan himself weaves together characters and narratives from across Greek and Roman mythologies, combining them to tell a unique story intended to appeal to modern readers. His versions of myths incorporate Greek ones recounted in Homer and Athenian tragedies as well as Roman retellings from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and more. Further, he incorporates narrative threads from his previous books in the Percy Jackson universe, continually expanding the world. His frequent use of foreshadowing can also be understood in terms of weaving since it entails a form of narrative patterning.

Weaving is also a central plot within The Mark of Athena’s narrative via Annabeth’s solo quest to recover the Mark of Athena.