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Who is Echinda? Exploring the history and origins of the Percy Jackson's villain in Greek mythology
Percy Jackson & the Olympians features a formidable foe, who goes by the name of Echidna. But who is she in Greek mythology?
Disney+'s Percy Jackson and the Olympians has adapted a popular sequence from the original Percy Jackson books, featuring Echidna in the iconic St. Louis Arch scenes. This sequence has been highly anticipated, both by fans and those working on the show. The series is based on Rick Riordan's set of books, which modernized Greek myths for a new audience, featuring Medusa, the Chimera, and Echidna.
The synopsis of the series follows: “12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson, is coming to terms with his newfound divine powers when the sky god, Zeus, accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt; with his friend’s help, Percy must restore order to Olympus.”
ALSO READ: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Where is Athena and will she make an appearance in future episodes? EXPLAINED
Who is Echidna?
In Greek mythology, Echidna is referred to as the Mother of all Monsters, and she is the mother of the Chimera, an infamous Greek beast. She is also a dracaena, meaning that she has the face and torso of a human woman but the body of a serpent. According to Hesiod’s Theogony, her parents were either the sea deities Phorcys and Ceto or Tartarus and Gaia in the account of the mythographer Apollodorus. In Hesiod, Tartarus and Gaia are the parents of Echidna’s husband, Typhon.
Greek Mythology states that Echidna and Typhon attacked the Olympians, but Zeus was able to defeat them. The god punished her husband by sealing him under Mount Etna but allowed Echidna and her children to live as a challenge to future heroes. While Echidna was considered immortal, she was later killed by Argus, the hundred-eyed giant while she was sleeping.
Ignoring her death, Echidna’s lore is followed somewhat closely in the books, as Echidna states to Percy while battling him, “Be honored, Percy Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!” However, she takes on more of a human form, only showing her true serpent nature later on in her battle against the demigod.
Echidna differs in the show from the books
The Mother of Monsters, Echidna was a different version in Percy Jackson and the Olympians than the one in the books. The books and the show differ greatly in where Echidna and the Chimera are first introduced. In The Lightning Thief, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover first meet Echidna and her dog on the ride to the top of the St. Louis Arch.
The trio was not there in the book to seek refuge, as the Arch was not an Athenian temple like it is in the show. Rather, their train simply stopped in St. Louis, and Annabeth was desperate to visit the arch and go to the top.
Echidna's appearance is fairly different in the show from what they were in the books. In The Lightning Thief, Percy describes Echidna as a big fat lady with distinctively ugly features and the appearance of a blue-jean blimp. "We got shoehorned into the car with this big fat lady ... She had beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged so much, she looked like a blue-jean blimp," Percy describes Echidna in the book.
Additionally, Echidna in the books takes on a different form from her human look, which does not happen in the show. Percy describes her monster look as having a forked tongue, with fangs and other monster-like features. He says, "I smiled uneasily at the fat lady. She smiled back, her forked tongue flickering between her teeth ... She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, I saw that her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were sideways slits, like a reptile's."
ALSO READ: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Cast, and everything about Disney+ series
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