Wrath of the Triple Goddess

Riordan provides an elaborate description of Hecate’s town house in Chapter 4. An optical illusion hidden by the Mist (the magical haze that prevents mortals from seeing otherworldly objects and events), the mansion is reached via a walkway crafted of human skulls. The building itself is “a five-story patchwork of weather granite slabs” that are “literal tombstones” (31). Gargoyles grace the gabled roof, and “[b]lack cast-iron filigree” is draped around the windows and main entrance “like a mourning shawl made of metal lace” (31). When Hecate first introduces herself to Percy in his principal’s office, she describes herself as “[g]oddess of magic, crossroads, necromancy” (11), and the mansion as Riordan describes it symbolizes these powers, with even those elements that do not directly relate to her domain (e.g., the filigree) being described in macabre imagery and similes.

Riordan establishes Grover’s weakness for strawberry-flavored treats in Chapter 2, setting the scene for his fateful encounter with Hecate’s magical strawberry milkshake in Chapter 5. Hecate emphasizes the “dire consequences” that will ensue if anyone drinks it but then invites the pet sitters to transfer it from its canister to her freezer, ramping up the temptation for Grover. Left to his own devices when the demigods are at school, he cannot resist tasting it. Percy later wonders at the coincidence of Grover’s very favorite food being left out in the open to tempt him, suspecting that Hecate was trying to tempt him into an error by making it available to him. Hecate, Percy further observes, is a goddess of crossroads, so inviting Grover and the demigods to a place where they have to make a choice, especially a choice that has significant consequences, fits her function. In this sense, the strawberry milkshake symbolizes choice itself.

In Chapter 36, after the demigods, Grover, and their friends have successfully dispelled the ghosts, Annabeth isolates herself, reflecting on the mistakes she made. To comfort her, Percy reminds her that having a fatal flaw is not something to feel guilty about because everyone has one, adding, “Grover’s fatal flaw is apparently strawberry milkshakes” (259). The strawberry milkshake is Grover’s specific fatal flaw, but it also symbolizes the fatal flaw more generally, a reminder that everyone will eventually make mistakes. However, where this idea furnishes the basis for much of ancient Greek tragedy, Riordan instead uses it as an opportunity to showcase The Importance of Friendship and Teamwork. Percy follows up by telling Annabeth that the existence of fatal flaws is why “you gotta count on your friends to look out for you” (269). When a person makes a mistake, the novel suggests, their community will be there to support them.