The following version of this novel was used in the creation of this study guide: Riordan, Rick. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Chalice of the Gods. Disney-Hyperion. 2023. First Edition. Hardcover.

The story starts with the narrator, Percy Jackson, attending his new high school for the first day of his senior year. After multiple, world-saving quests, Percy hopes to graduate and enroll at New Rome College with his girlfriend, Annabeth. However, when he meets a Nereid named Eudora, he discovers that- because he is the son of Poseidon (one of Big Three, as Percy calls them)- Zeus is demanding three divine letters of recommendation, all of which must be granted by quests from other gods.

Very quickly after learning this, Percy is approached by Ganymede, the divine cupbearer who is responsible for the immortality granting Chalice of the Gods. He reveals that the chalice has been stolen, and agrees to give Percy a letter of recommendation if he gets it back. Annabeth and Percy’s best friend - a satyr named Grover- agree to help.

The first place they investigate is an entertainment building known as Hebe Jeebies run by the goddess of youth, Hebe. While exploring, the group realizes that it is using people’s nostalgia to keep them there for as long as possible, and that many of the children are actually adults that have been transformed into their younger selves. When they try to ask Hebe about the chalice, she angrily turns all three of them into eight-year-olds where they are attacked by murderous chickens. Annabeth uses a baby chick to trick Hebe into turning herself into a baby, as she always has to be the youngest person in the room. Hebe quickly relents and tells the group that she is not responsible for stealing the chalice. Instead, they need to meet the second former cupbearer Iris at a local farmers’ market.

A week later, the group convinces Iris’s daughter Blanche to introduce them and the goddess agrees to help. However, while she investigates a potential lead, she asks them to wash her kerykeion, or a staff she once used as the gods’ herald. She explains that it has to be washed in the River Elisson and demands that they do not harm any of the creatures that bathe there. Grover reveals that the River has been missing for decades and Percy agrees to ask Eudora where they could find it.

However, Eudora is not willing to risk the river god’s anger. So, she flushes Percy out through the sewer instead, putting him close enough to the river that he, Annabeth, and Grover can find it. As Grover distracts the hundreds of snakes in their way, Percy and Annabeth travel to the cleaner bastion of water up river where Annabeth shoves Percy in. There, he meets the sarcastic river god Elisson who tries to drown Percy for dirtying his water. However, Percy’s rage and fear causes him to lose control over his water powers, and he inadvertently cleans the river while saving his own life. After cleaning Iris’s staff, Percy uses it to save Grover from the snakes and return to his friends.

Once they return the staff, Iris tells them that she believes a god named Gary stole the chalice and is hiding in a place called Greenwich Village, but is very hesitant to tell them any more information. WIth Eudora’s reluctant help and research, the group learns of some strange energy spikes in the nearby Washington Square Park. When the three go there, they find the god of old age, Gary (or Geras). Percy deduced that the god stole the chalice because he believes that immortality is a curse that disrupts life’s natural order. When Percy asks for it back, Gary challenges him to a wrestling match and Percy accepts, even though no one has ever beaten the god. As Gary comes dangerously close to killing Percy, he imagines a future in which he grows old with Annabeth and Grover and decides to stop fighting and hug Gery instead. This surprises the god who realizes he does not want to kill Percy at such a young age and willingly returns the Chalice.

Unfortunately, Zeus calls for an early brunch, forcing Percy, Annabeth, and Grover to rush to Mount Olympus. With the help of some of the gods’ servants, Percy is able to sneak into the party and return the chalice to Ganymede without incident. Thrilled, Ganymede gives Percy a blank paper for the recommendation letter and promises his signature will appear at the bottom once Percy is done writing it. With that, Percy returns home where his family and friends help him write the recommendation letter and Annabeth promises they will finish the other two quests in time to go to college together.