The Trials of Apollo - The Tower of Nero - Rick Riordan

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.