Leonidas by GENZOMAN on deviantart
There has been a lot of buzz about the names in the new series, and speculations about their meanings. Do the meanings and origins really have anything to do with the character and the story, or were they picked randomly? Well, as per my normal, I've researched the names, and come up with some really interesting information.
The first name on or list is Butch. Butch is a camper at Camp Half Blood and most likely a son of Iris. He shows up with Annabeth at the end of the second chapter. His name is more typically a nickname. It's longer form is Butcher...yes as in the guy who cuts up the meat in the deli. Now, there are some interesting little facts.
Butch used to be a derogitory term for a stranger. People would seriously fight back in the day if someone called them that! There is only one person I can think of that was famous and named Butch...well, actually, imfamous is more like it. Butch Cassidy. He was an outlaw in the time of saloons, spitoons, and Sasperilla. But, here's the catch, the Wild Wild West baddie's real name wasn't Butch it was Leroy, which means "The King"
The next name on my list is Jason, of course. I think we all know (thank you HecateA) that his name means "healer." But, did you know that it is the anglized form of Iason which comes from the greek word iasthai? Iasthai is "to heal" when translated. I don't think that this name's meaning is going to have any bearing on the story, though, because like with Percy (Perseus) I think that Mr. Riordan is using another hero as the namesake (Jason of the Argonauts.) The Jason from the Argonautica was an amazing hero, who went in search of the Golden Fleece, but that's a story for another article.
Name number three is Piper. It is of Scandinavian and Old English origins. It literally means "One who plays the pipes." So, will that be the meaning used in the story? I'm not so sure. There is a children's tale about a piper who comes to a town to rid them of rats. He plays his pipes, or his flute in some retellings, and lures the rats out of the village and into a river/lake. After effectively ridding the citizens' major pest problem, he then asks for his pay. The villagers refuse to pay him and send him away. Angry about the injustice, the piper went back to the town while everyone was asleep(or in church according to some people) and enticed the children out of the town and into the mountains. He then sealed the kids into a cave, and according to the more adult version of the story, only two of the kids survived.
Now, I know your thinking that that's a bit morbid, but when I hear Piper that is what I think of. Maybe Piper, assuming that the camp for some reason needs to move the inexperienced demigods away from camp, is the person chosen to lead the campers where they need to go. Or, on a morose note, maybe she trades sides and ends up being the Mistress' henchman, and the Mistress charges her with the task of enticing demigods to join them. Either way it goes, I think that somehow or another Piper is named for the Pied Piper and The Lost Hero or the series as a whole will somehow relate to or reflect the story of the Pied Piper.
The last name we are going to explore today is my favourite. Leo. Well, first off we know that there is a zodiac sign called Leo (mine, of course) and it is connected with fire, yet another indication of his father. I'm not going to state origins, because I'm not focusing on that. There are much more important matters that are involved in this name.
There have been plenty of famous Leos, but the one that is the most famous and respected is Leonardo Di Vinci. He, as everyone knows, was an inventor, scientist, artist,and mathmatician. He painted the Mona Lisa and he invented flying machines. I feel like, because of his innovations and inventions, that this is our Leo's namesake. There are also two other Leos that I've noted that are involved in the scientific community. Leo Baekeland was a Belgian chemist and inventor. He helped to bring about the Age of Plastic. The other scientist is Leo Szilard who is responsible for the conception of the Nuclear Chain Reaction, and worked on the Manhatten Project. The Manhatten Project was all about nuclear discoveries and the creation of nuclear weapons.
There is just one last thing I have to point out on the subject of the name Leo. Did you ever watch that movie, The 300? Well, the event they chronical in that film actually happened! According to history, the Persians had taken over Ionian Greece and decided that they wanted to take over Greece proper, so they planned to invade. The Greecians had already sent out most of their armies (remember that Greece was made of city-states and each one had their own army and government.) Well, when they failed to stop the advancing Persians, they called in the advanced warriors. The Spartans were to lead, and the head of the Spartans was Leonidas. He was commanding 300 Spartans and close to 7000 men total if my memory serves me correctly.
So, they march off to Thermopylae (hot spot)to meet the Persians in battle, and after the first of many came to a close, the Greecians still stood tall. The persian ruler, Xerxe,watched as the greeks took victory for four days and didn't like it so he sent in the Persian elites called the Immortals. Day after day they were overcome and it infuriated the Persians because the Greek army seemed ultimately impenatrable. Finally someone stepped up. Turns out this guy was a spy. The sneaky little weasel told Xerxe about a little path that could be used to overcome the Greeks. It seemed that all was lost for the greeks, but the slimy, turn coat, flip- flopping, traitorous tattle tail felt guilty and went back to Leonidas. Just in the nick of time, he told him that the Persians were going to attack using the mountain pass. It was at that time that Leonidas ordered the army to leave, but the 300 Spartan warriors stayed with him. As his army fled the Persians came down on him and the 300 soldiers battled valiantly to the end, destroying many of the enemies, including two of Xerxe's brothers, and earning eternal respect.
Now I know you think that Leonidas' name is where the connection stops, but not so! During WWII in the very same pass that the 300 fell, history repeated itself. Only this time, the Persians were the Germans and the Spartans were the British. So, the connections to WWII continue!
Well, there you have it, there are so many interesting things you can learn about one's name. Sometimes it changes the way you see the character, and sometimes it makes something you've always known seem even more obvious. What role will the details I have provided play in the series? Will they even appear? We will get our answer in October when Rick Riordan finally lets us have The Lost Hero.
I hope you liked the article. Please head over to the link thread in the forum and leave your pick for next week's article. Without your help my articles wouldn't exist. If you haven't already, become a fan of this spot. I'll see you next week for the sixth installment in my intriguing H of O article series.
Pied Piper.
The cover
