Mount Etna or Mount Othrys?
The Lightning Thief, Chapter 9
“Zeus’s master bolt,” Chiron said, getting worked up now. “The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the Titans, the bolt that sheered the top off Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers.”
Isn’t it Mount Othrys that Zeus’ master bolt had sheared* the top off?
The Lightning Thief, Chapter 21
Poseidon gripped his trident. “In the First War, Percy, Zeus cut our father Kronos into a thousand pieces, just as Kronos had done to his own father, Ouranos. Zeus cast Kronos’s remains into the darkest pit of Tartarus. The Titan army was scattered, their mountain fortress on Etna destroyed, their monstrous allies driven to the farthest corners of the earth.
Mount Othrys is their mountain fortress or base, not Etna.
The Lightning Thief, Chapter 9
“The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe.
Mount Etna is one of the places where celestial bronze is forged.
Also, I’m a bit confused by the term Rick used: sheered the top off. Isn’t it supposed to be sheared* the top off? To sheer off means to change direction suddenly. While to shear off means to remove something with great force. I think shear off’s definition is closer to what Rick was supposed to mean. Correct me if I’m wrong, please.
@rickriordanmistakes comment: You are absolutely correct! In Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods it says that Kronos built his palace on Mount Othrys:
They had spent all their time in the abyss learning how to forge metal and build with stone (I guess that’s pretty much all there was to do), so in gratitude for their freedom, they constructed a massive palace for Kronos on top of Mount Othrys, which back then was the tallest mountain in Greece.
Mount Etna is the mountain that Zeus threw on top of Typhon. This excerpt is also from Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods:
“EAT ETNA!” Zeus bellowed. (Because that was the name of the mountain.) He smashed Typhoeus under the weight of Mount Etna, and the storm giant has been trapped there ever since, rumbling beneath megatons of rock and occasionally causing volcanic explosions.
Maybe there’s a conflict in the myths?
As for the word usage, it’s possible that was an error. Even I didn’t know the difference! :)