The Hidden Oracle

Rhea’s lion licks Apollo’s wounds and revives him. Apollo notes that the titan queen is leaning against a Volkswagen Safari van painted with a black fern, which is one of her symbols. She is dressed like a Bohemian, wearing tinted glasses. Having left Kronos, Zeus’s cruel father with a penchant for eating his own children, Rhea has been in Upstate New York for centuries, operating a pottery studio and living a free, empowered life. Some of Rhea’s memories are mixed up since she has been alive for so long. According to Rhea, the reason all communication lines to the gods and demigods are not working is because of the interference of “The Man, man. Big Brothers. The suits. The imperators” (242), referring to the trio of ancient Romans who run Triumvirate Holdings. Believed to be long dead, the trio have been on earth all along. Wishing to turn into gods, the ancient rulers have ended up in a twilight zone, neither living nor dead.

When an incredulous Apollo questions how the gods could have missed such an important detail, Rhea wryly reminds him that gods are not always very smart. Further, not all the emperors of Rome are immortal, except for the “worst” and “most notorious” of them. He lives because, like the Gods, he is alive in human memory and “tied to the course of Western civilization” (243). Under the leadership of the immortal emperor, the imperators have been building their empire for centuries and biding their time. Apollo’s fall gave them the perfect opportunity to try to seize the vulnerable Oracles. Apollo can now identify the leader of the imperators, who is the same as the bearded man of his dreams, and the Beast: Roman Emperor Nero.

Rhea outlines Apollo’s task clearly: He has to find and protect the Grove of Dodona, the most ancient and free source of prophecy, before tracking down the other Oracles. He has to find the Oracle of Delphi, controlled by Python, last. After he defeats Python and rescues Delphi, Zeus will restore his godly stature. Though the Beast has already found the grove, he will never be able to enter it without Apollo and Meg. Rhea hands Apollo a set of wind chimes engraved with ancient Greek and Cretan symbols and asks him to hang it in the largest oak in Dodona. The chimes will help focus the voices of the trees so Apollo can understand their prophecies. She also tells him the Beast and his cronies are planning an enormous attack on Camp Half-Blood. Wishing Apollo good luck, the titan queen disappears, and Apollo finds himself standing in the central green of Camp Half-Blood in the early morning sun. He faints.

Hyacinthus visits Apollo in a dream. Apollo awakens in the Apollo Cabin at noon, with Will and Nico in attendance. Though Will is worried about Apollo’s health, Apollo refuses to wait any longer to return to the woods and rescue Meg. Apollo informs Will about the return of the Roman emperors and the Beast or Nero’s planned attack on the camp. Nero was named “The Beast” by the early Christians because the emperor would burn them alive in ancient Rome. Grabbing arrows and a bow from the armory, Apollo heads into the woods, aware that using a bow will break his second oath to the River Styx, damning him further. The forest seems to guide Apollo to the myrmeke nest, which is at least a hundred feet tall and bigger than a “Roman hippodrome.” Soldier ants are busy at work all around the lair. Deciding to disarm the ants with confidence, Apollo simply steps into the lair and begins to sing, having left his ukulele behind in the camp. The tunnels of the anthill amplify Apollo’s voice, transfixing the ants, who bow as he passes them.

As Apollo goes deeper into the hill, he spots geraniums on the floor, sprouting from the seeds Meg must have dropped to mark a trail for him. He follows the tunnel with the geraniums and is immediately confronted by giant, attacking ants, who seem lesser affected by his song. Apollo is forced to shoot the ants as he follows the geranium flowers. His song becomes more and more haunting, filled with his guilt about Daphne and Hyacinthus’s fates and his many failures. The pitch of Apollo’s grief causes even the giant attacking ants to collapse and faint. Apollo finally spots Meg in the middle of a food larder, surrounding by the rotting carcasses of animals. The geranium seeds she has dropped are sprouting into plants and trying to free her. As Apollo goes to a weeping Meg, she warns him that there are ants behind him.

Four large ants advance upon Apollo and Meg. Apollo shoots an arrow at the ceiling above the ants, hoping to bring it down. When the arrow simply sticks in the ceiling, Apollo waves Paolo’s bandana at the ants, hoping to distract them, yelling “Brasil!” The ceiling cracks, and earth and stone fall on the ants. Against all odds, Paolo’s bandana does turn out to have magical powers. As another myrmeke approaches them, Meg bursts out of her cage, and Apollo tosses her the crescent rings. An emotional Meg wants to apologize to Apollo, but Apollo cuts her off with his own apology. Meanwhile, the queen ant’s enraged shriek echoes through the chamber. Apollo decides to leave the nest immediately. However, the exit is in the same direction from which the scream came.

Apollo and Meg follow the screams to the queen’s chamber at the center of the nest. The queen is three times the size of her largest soldiers, and her translucent abdomen is filled with glowing eggs. Much as Meg hates insects, she does not want to attack a mother giving birth. Instead, Meg suggests they move into the tunnel directly behind the queen’s clutch of eggs. The tunnel is sure to lead to the Grove of Dodona, since it emanates the sound of growing trees. To distract the queen, Apollo breaks out into the rap “Dance” by NAS, changing some of its lyrics to appeal to the queen. As eggs extrude from the queen’s stomach, she seems to listen to a curtsying Apollo. Instead of pouncing on him, the appeased queen nudges Apollo in the direction of the tunnel that leads to the grove. Christening the queen “Mama,” Apollo thanks her and heads off with Meg into the tunnel.