Diaries). Heracles/Hercules – A famous Greek Hero, and the son of Zeus and Alcmene. Following his death, Zeus brought him up to Mount Olympus to live with him and he is engaged to Hebe. Heracles was mentioned but did not appear in the first book series, usually when monsters that he had fought show up to trouble Percy. In The Titan's Curse, it is revealed that Zoë Nightshade helped Heracles steal the Apples of the Hesperides and gave him a magical sword Riptide which he had forgotten to return, leaving her to be disowned by her sisters and him giving her no credit for her help. Hercules appears in The Mark of Athena where he was tasked by Zeus to guard the Pillars of Hercules and issues Piper and Jason a quest for permission to enter the Mediterranean Sea, having them steal Achelous' other horn for him although Piper chooses to keep it for herself. In The House of Hades, the giant Clytius reveals that Hercules and Dionysus, both then very powerful demigods well on their way to becoming gods, had helped Hecate to defeat him the first time. Hyacinthus – Hyacinthus was a beloved lover of Apollo. The right for him was contested between Apollo and Zephyrus, and when the former refused to share, Zephyrus caused an accident that led to Apollo's accidental killing over Hyacinthus. His death is regarded by Apollo as one of his two greatest losses of his life, together with Daphne's petrification. Upon his death, Hyacinthus was reincarnated as a hyacinth. To this day, Apollo is still haunted by visions of him. Irus – A beggar who ran afoul of Odysseus upon his return to Ithaca. In The Blood of Olympus, Jason posed as Irus to get close to the ghosts of the Suitors of Penelope. King Midas – A king who possessed the golden touch which turned anything he touched to gold. He is among the people brought back to life by Gaea in The Lost Hero where his Golden Touch was restored upon him and his son Lityerses emerging from the Doors of Death. It has been mentioned that Midas has occasionally turned Lityerses to gold by mistake causing him to use the nearby lake to wash the gold off of him. Jason, Piper, and Leo come to Midas's mansion in Omaha, Nebraska. He was initially polite before revealing his allegiance and turning