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I earned it, believe me. My friends call me Lit, but my enemies call me Death!

–Lityerses to Apollo in The Dark Prophecy.

Lityerses (also known as Lit) was the son of Midas and the Greek demigod son of Demeter,  as well as the brother of Zoe. In ancient times, he challenged people to harvesting contests and beheaded those he beat and is known as the "Reaper of Men.", "Death" and "Lit". He was finally killed by Hercules, but he was resurrected by Gaea through the Doors of Death along with his father and sister. He later served Commodus before experiencing a change of heart and settling at the Waystation.

History[]

In Greek Mythology, Lityerses was the son of Midas and the goddess Demeter. He used to reap corn and had an enormous appetite. Whenever strangers passed his field, he gave them plenty to eat and drink and then challenged them to a harvesting contest and beheaded those he beat. During one of these routines, Hercules won the contest and killed him.

According to Iliad (v.860), Midas's son was indeed Lityerses. However, in some variations of the myth, Midas had only a daughter, Zoe, instead.

The Phrygian reapers used to celebrate his memory in a harvest-song which bore the name of Lityerses. The song for Lityerses was, according to one tradition, a comic version of the lament sung by the Black Sea people, the Mariandyni for Bormos, a son of wealthy man.

Theocritus in his tenth Idyll gives a specimen of a Greek harvest-song addressed to Demeter, which is called 'the Song of the Divine Lityerses'. In this song, there is no mention of the legend; it is indeed only an ordinary reaping-song.

After Gaea opens the Doors of Death, Lit and Midas return through them to the mortal world and are resurrected.

The Heroes of Olympus[]

The Lost Hero[]

Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, Gleeson Hedge, and Jason Grace meet Lit and Midas after Festus crash lands and the group sneak into a house to rest. Midas and Lit walk into the room and Hedge tries to beat them up, something that Jason sends him out of the room for doing because he thought that they might be good. Jason is shown to be a little jealous of him when Piper gives him a smile and when Lit keeps trying to get her attention. Soon after Hedge leaves, Midas turns Leo and Piper to gold and Jason says he wants to fight Lit instead of getting turned to gold. Lit agrees and begins to fight Jason, however Jason's fighting style is so different that Lit is beaten by Jason. Midas goes to help his son up, but unintentionally turns him to gold. Jason then calls down a bolt of lightning that destroys the roof. Rain water falls into the room and turns the statues of gold back to flesh. Jason, however, tosses a rug over the golden statue of Lit, hopefully preventing him from returning to flesh until after Midas' captives were done with him. 

Between the Series[]

At some point following the defeat of Gaea, Lit is found by Commodus and his forces, still trapped in the form of a golden statute. Recognizing the worth of Lityerses, Reaper of Men, Commodus frees Lit and employs the resurrected demigod amongst his forces.

The Trials of Apollo[]

The Dark Prophecy[]

Lit replaces the former Prefect after killing him and places tracking devices on the griffins after Apollo and Calypso free them. Lit catches up with them but is defeated by Meg who creates a distraction, however, Commodus later plans on killing him since he grew bored of him as prefect after almost a day.

During his naming ceremony, he has him ready for execution, but the arrival of the Hunters occupies his attention and Lityerses is deeply annoyed. He stabbed Commodus in the neck but misses his jugular and is brought back to the Waystation after being wounded by an arrow.

At the Waystation, he is described as sitting in a recliner in the corner, his leg properly bandaged and his back to the crowd, 'as if intentionally inviting a knife in the back'.

He later gains the trust of the Waystation residents through Apollo, Josephine, and Emmie. Josephine manages to calm him down and gain information about Commodus' planned attack.

He later fights against Commodus, becomes friends with Leo because he led Commodus to smash through an open window and sail out, and saves the day alongside Apollo.

It is said he is going to try to watch over Georgina, Emmie, and Josephine, and try to redeem himself.

The Tower of Nero[]

When Apollo, now a god once again, visits the Waystation, Lit appears to be adjusting well. Lit is now heading up an "elephant visitation program" with Waystation resident Livia and Hannibal from Camp Jupiter.

Appearance[]

Lit has muscular arms that are covered in scars. He has dark curly hair with a face that would have been handsome if it wasn't so sliced up according to Piper. He was dressed in pajama pants with a sleeveless T-shirt that said "Cornhuskers" in The Lost Hero.

In The Trials of Apollo, Lit is described to be wearing jeans, his red and white Cornhuskers shirt, and a bandana around his curly hair. It also states that his scars crosshatched on his face.

Personality[]

Lityerses is a clever person. He is able to set up and execute plans for capturing Apollo and locating the elusive Waystation. It is also said he is quite a good swordsman, as Apollo said in three quick flashes of his sword he decapitated Marcus , Vortigern and Cleander .

Lit is initially shown to be cold and ruthless. He shows no qualms about killing or injuring others. He also wants to prove himself to the world. He doesn't want to be known just as 'Midas's son' or 'Commodus's lieutenant'.

Lit becomes a better person after Apollo saves Lit and gives him a second chance. He is touched by Josephine's offer to accept him in the Waystation. He shows his gratitude by fighting for the Waystation against Commodus. Lit is later shown to have embraced his chance at a new life at the Waystation, setting up an elephant visitation program with Camp Jupiter.

Abilities[]

Midas

Midas, his father.

As the son of Demeter it is likely he possesses all of the basic powers her bloodline is famous for though none have been shown so far.

  • Chlorokinesis: As the son of Demeter, he has absolute control over plants, though this has yet to be seen.
  • Swordsmanship: Lit is an expert swordsman holding his own against Jason and survived the battle at the Waystation. Lit also fought fought Meg McCaffrey, a skilled combatant, and would have probably won. Lit is famed for his swordsmanship skills which earned him the title Reaper of Men. However, his style is all offense, making him vulnerable to the Roman style which includes defense.

Trivia[]

  • In The Lost Hero, Lityerses is first seen wearing pajama pants with a sleeveless shirt that said Cornhuskers and held a sword that looked "like it could husk a lot of things besides corn.".
  • Midas said that Lityerses' mother insisted on his name, despite that Midas thought that it was a horrible name.
  • Jason described his fighting style as all offense, no defense.
  • He was turned into gold when Jason tricked Midas into touching Lityerses, by asking Midas to help his son stand up.
  • When Lityerses says his friends call him Lit, Apollo tells him that he will call him Lit. This foreshadows him defecting from Commodus and joining the Waystation.
  • He confesses to Apollo when he says he trusts Lit, that he "can't see why".
  • In Greek Mythology, Lityerses was not the son of Demeter and was simply referred to being the natural (illegitimate) son of Midas or Comis. He was however, associated as the personification of an Hellenistic reapers' song dedicated to Demeter. In this song however, there is no mention of the legend and it is simply only a reaping-song.
  • Lityerses is the only named demigod son of Demeter to appear in the series.
  • Lityeres is one of only three people resurrected through the Doors of Death to be confirmed to be still alive, the other two being Hazel Levesque and Gwendolyn.
The Heroes of Olympus
Core Series: The Lost Hero | The Son of Neptune | The Mark of Athena | The House of Hades | The Blood of Olympus
Main Characters: Jason Grace | Piper McLean | Leo Valdez | Percy Jackson | Frank Zhang | Hazel Levesque | Annabeth Chase | Iapetus/Bob | Reyna Ramírez-Arellano | Nico di Angelo | Gleeson Hedge
Secondary Characters: Hylla Ramírez-Arellano | Dakota | Tyson | Ella | Octavian | Halcyon Green | Dr. Howard Claymore | Alabaster C. Torrington | Lamia
Minor Characters: Rachel Elizabeth Dare | Grover Underwood | Thalia Grace | Clarisse La Rue | Fleecy | Mrs. O'Leary | Kinzie | Arion | Calypso | Lou Ellen Blackstone | Chiron | Will Solace | Tristan McLean | Don | Julia | Jacob | Michael Varus | Burly Black | Medea | Midas | Lityerses | Phineas | Otrera | Echo | Narcissus | Sciron | Pasiphaë | Lycaon
Olympian Gods: Zeus | Hera | Poseidon | Hades | Ares | Demeter | Athena | Apollo | Artemis | Hephaestus | Aphrodite | Hermes | Dionysus
Minor Gods: Achelous | Aeolus | Asclepius | Boreas | Eurus | Hecate | Iris | Hypnos | Keto | Khione | Kymopoleia | Mithras | Nemesis | Nike | Notus | Phorcys | Serapis | Thanatos | Triptolemus | Zephyros
Roman Gods: Jupiter | Juno | Neptune | Pluto | Mars | Minerva | Ceres | Lupa | Bellona | Fortuna | Janus | Terminus | Vulcan | Mercury | Apollo (Roman) | Diana | Venus | Bacchus | Pomona | Aquilon | Hercules | Cupid | Auster | Favonius | Letus | Victoria
Giants: Enceladus | Porphyrion | Alcyoneus | Polybotes | Ephialtes | Otis | Damasen | Clytius | Mimas | Orion | Hippolytos | Thoon | Periboia
Undead: Gray | Zombie
Primordial Gods: Gaea | Tartarus | Ourae | Nyx | Chaos | Ouranos | Akhlys | Hemera | Elpis | Spes
Monsters and Magical Creatures: Cynocephali | Gorgon | Gryphon | Harpy | Basilisk | Lycanthrope | Gegeines | Cyclops | Katobleps | Unicorn | Giant Eagle | Ichthyocentaur | Satyr/Faun | Storm Spirit | Laistrygonian Giant | Lares
Related Content: Rick Riordan | Haley Riordan | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide | The Demigod Files | The Demigod Diaries | The Son of Sobek | The Singer of Apollo | The Staff of Serapis | Percy Jackson's Greek Gods | Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes | The Crown of Ptolemy | Demigods & Magicians | Demigods of Olympus | Percy Jackson Demigod Collection
The Trials of Apollo
Core Series: The Hidden Oracle | The Dark Prophecy | The Burning Maze | The Tyrant's Tomb | The Tower of Nero
Main Characters: Apollo/Lester Papadopolous | Meg McCaffrey | Percy Jackson | Peaches | Leo Valdez | Calypso | Grover Underwood | Piper McLean | Jason Grace | Reyna Ramírez-Arellano | Frank Zhang | Hazel Levesque | Lavinia Asimov | Nico di Angelo | Will Solace | Rachel Elizabeth Dare
Secondary Characters: Chiron | Austin Lake | Kayla Knowles | Hemithea | Josephine | Georgina | Lityerses | Trophonius | Gleeson Hedge | Mellie | Chuck Hedge | Medea | Herophile | Crest | Don | Tyson | Ella | Tarquin | Luguselwa | Claudia | Janice | Blaise
Minor Characters: Sally Jackson | Thalia Grace | Mrs. O'Leary | Festus | Cade | Mikey | Harley | Connor Stoll | Miranda Gardiner | Cecil Markowitz | Ellis Wakefield | Sherman Yang | Damien White | Malcolm Pace | Paolo Montes | Valentina Diaz | Germani | Agamethus | Olujime | Phillip McCaffrey | Hunter Kowalski | Sssssarah | Prickly Pear | Aloe Vera | Joshua | Naevius Sutorius Macro | Incitatus | Tristan McLean | Bombilo | Aurum | Argentum | Julia | Jacob | Dakota | Poison Oak | Screech-Bling | Annabeth Chase | Elon | Mamurius Veturius | Mimi
Olympian Gods (Greek & Roman): Zeus/Jupiter | Hera/Juno | Poseidon/Neptune | Demeter/Ceres | Ares/Mars | Athena/Minerva | Apollo/Apollo (Roman) | Artemis/Diana | Hephaestus/Vulcan | Aphrodite/Venus | Hermes/Mercury | Dionysus/Bacchus | Hades/Pluto
Minor Gods: Nero | Commodus | Caligula | Iris | Britomartis | Styx | Terminus | Lupa | Terpsichore | Harpocrates | Cardea
Titans: Rhea | Leto | Mnemosyne | Helios
Monsters and Magical Creatures: Python | Nosoi | Karpos | Palikos | Myrmekes | Colossus Neronis | Blemmyae | Gryphon | Carthaginian Serpent | Scythian Dracaena | Cynocephali | Centaur | Cyclops | Yale | Satyr/Faun | Strix | Dryad | Dragon | Pandai | Eurynomos | Skeleton Warriors | Vrykolakai | Khromandae | Amphisbaena | Troglodyte | Tauri Sylvestres
Related Content: Rick Riordan | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | The Heroes of Olympus | Demigods & Magicians | Camp Half-Blood Confidential | Camp Jupiter Classified: A Probatio's Journal | Percy Jackson Demigod Collection | Un Natale Mezzosangue | The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure
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