The Tower of Nero

When the powerful god Zeus sends his son Apollo to earth as a human teenager complete with acne and awkwardness, the act is supposed to be a punishment or a curse. However, as the Trials of Apollo series progresses, Apollo begins to consider that, unknown to Zeus, his punishment may have a silver lining. The Tower of Nero, the final book of the series, pushes this theme further by suggesting that the best gods are those who know what it is to be human. Being human is its own kind of divine power, and the limits of mortality can signify freedom and power.

When Apollo meets Sally Jackson after a gap of six months, she comments that the god seems more human. Apollo tells the reader that he would have considered the word human “a terrible insult” (45) not too long ago. Now the word human reminds him of his slain friend Jason Grace’s admonition: “Remember what it’s like to be human” (45). To be human means to have feelings that gods do not have, such as wanting to help one’s friends, being brave despite one’s physical limitations, and like Jason, even dying for the sake of others. Gods, too consumed by their own selves, and too bored by their infinite time, choose not to access any of these feelings. The text suggests gods are worse off by thinking human feelings are beneath them. The power of humans can also be seen in the way gods depend on demigods and mortals to achieve goals and carry out quests. It is Lester, Apollo’s human form, who fulfills the enormous task of defeating Python and saving the world. Rachel, Apollo’s Pythia, who is vital in the quest, is not even a demigod but fully mortal. Time and again, gods are shown as shying away from dangerous tasks, such as Dionysus at Camp Half-Blood. When Apollo tersely suggests his brother help him take down Nero, Dionysus replies, “You know as well as I do, Apollo, that quests like this are demigod business” (99).

Apollo’s unique experience as a god forced into human form enables him to compare the states of mortality and divinity. In most instances, gods appear worse-off in comparison. As Lester, Apollo can even look back at his own past as a god and see how arrogant and misguided he has been. For example, when he learns more about the Arrow of Dodona, Apollo rues not just the harm he may have caused the artifact, but also that which he has wreaked as a god “during [his] four thousand years of existence” (110). Apollo compares the sarcastic reception he gets from Dionysus, his brother, to the warm welcome he gets from the campers, most of whom are not even related to him. Gods are cold and calculating while humans are warm and hospitable. The starkest contrast between humanity and divinity occurs toward the end of the book, when Apollo faints after defeating Nero and visits Olympus in a dream-vision. While on earth, Apollo’s friends are risking their lives for him and each other, the Olympian gods are shown watching the holograph of the action as if it were a spectacle. Some are regretting the odds they have placed in favor of Apollo while others, like Aphrodite, goddess of beauty, quip that even if Apollo fails, “we could elect a new twelfth” (320) god.

While Apollo cannot remain Lester for the rest of his existence, by the end of the novel he understands that the best Apollo is the best Lester. He observes, “I had forged a more perfect Lester from the dregs of Apollo” (373). Restored to his divinity, Apollo does not want to go back to his old self; he wants to dwell in a place where Lester and Apollo are one. In a symbolic sequence, Apollo is shown feeling most comfortable in the heavens when caring for his horses, a mundane, human-like activity. He feeds the horses gilded straw and whispers loving words to them till the horses “stop kicking me in the groin, which I took as a sign that they forgave me” (370). His new-found humanity makes Apollo come into his own as a divine being.