THE STUDENTS

• Rebecca Moore: overachieving, bookish archaeology student whose second major is art history. She is in Greece as part of a summer program with her professor, Gail Walker; fellow student, Brent; and her sister, Sarah. Sarah says she should let loose and have more fun, this trip to Europe has been so “boring.” Rebecca doesn’t think the trip has been boring at all. She thinks Professor Walker is a good teacher, she’s enjoying all she’s learning, and her sister didn’t have to come on this trip. She likes it so much that after learning the archaeology program may be shut down, she tells Professor Walker she’ll follow her to another school to study what she wants with who she wants. After their boat crashes ashore, Rebecca, with her knowledge of history and mythology is able to put the pieces together that they have somehow been shipwrecked on Mount Olympus, the home of the Greek gods. They need to follow the pictographs on the urn they found on their expedition (revealed to be Pandora’s Box) and return it to the summit of Mount Olympus.
• Sarah Moore: Rebecca’s sister. She’s aimless in life and just there for fun. She complains a lot and blames where she is on external circumstances. She came along with the archaeology program as she didn’t want to spend her summer lifeguarding in Lansing again. She thinks the program is a real drag, that’s why everyone else left early. She thought Europe was going to be fun, not touring museums, listening to lectures, going to ruin after ruin. She doesn’t like archaeology, but she does like lying out in the sun. Rebecca says she should apply herself and maybe she could pass a class for once. She should find something she likes to major in instead of just following Rebecca around and asking their parents for money. Sarah reminds Rebecca of their deal that she should just worry about herself. Through the journey on Mount Olympus, a bit of a flirtation grows between Sarah and Brent. Sarah is good with fixing up the group’s wounds with the first aid kit from her experience as a lifeguard. While at first she seems like just a pretty face, she will finally start to apply herself when she solves the sphinx’s riddle, allowing the whole group to continue on their journey.
• Professor Gail Walker: Black, professor of the archaeology group in Greece. Optimistic but also a realist. She is worried her department is going to be shut down by the Dean because they aren’t bringing in enough money. They need to find something big. She’s excited when they finally find an ancient container in an uncharted reef, particularly as she hasn’t thought through what she will do if the department is shut down, transfer schools? On Mount Olympus she is very protective of her students and tries to negotiate with the mercenaries’ leader, York to let them go. Eventually York and Gail will have to trust each other and work together if they’re going to make it out alive.
• Brent Marks: archaeology student on the trip to Greece, the biggest risk taker of the group. He’s protective but also has a bit of a temper. He’s someone who doesn’t know when to walk away. Brent’s research led them to a sunken galley where they found the container. He convinces Professor Gail Walker to let them open the container as they need something to convince the Dean to not shut their department down. His mom is pressuring him to forget school, forget our past, but he can’t do that, he can’t forget where he came from. That’s what his dad did – his dad was a control freak before he went to prison. On Mount Olympus, Brent is very aggressive and tries to regain control from the mercenaries, but is very much out armed.

THE MERCENARIES

• York: the unflinching leader of the mercenaries. Has long blond hair and a calm demeanor. Doesn’t want to let the students go until he decides they don’t need them. Some of his men wonder if it wouldn’t be better to ditch them. York doesn’t like being told what to do. The mercenaries were looking for a competitor who was smuggling in a crate of uncut South African diamonds on a fishing boat. The job belonged to them before they were underbid. Another thing York doesn’t like: competition. He grows increasingly annoyed by Deems during the journey up the mountain as Deems tries to undermine the group to save his own skin. Brent asks York if he ever went to prison as he reminds him of his father, but he doesn’t answer. York and Gail somewhat bond over protecting the students and ultimately he will have to trust the students in order to make it out alive. He plans to buy a ranch and go into business with Sebastian once they get their payday. He’ll go from being a hardened mercenary to having a new chance on life.
• Deems: one of the mercenaries, menacing, wears sunglasses, he’s still on a trial period with the crew. The rival boat they were trying to find is his score, his information. Once they get to Mount Olympus, Deems hides during the cyclops attack saying his weapon jammed. Shore checks his gun to confirm that was a lie – he left them high and dry. He will continue to double cross his team throughout the story, proving that he is really only out for himself. Deems doesn’t listen to anyone including their leader, York. After many betrayals, finally, he is turned to stone by Medusa and her gorgons.
• Sebastian: one of the mercenaries, Black, wears a black cap, physically imposing but has a sense of humor. He’s York’s right hand man, follows the rules but isn’t above messing with Brent a bit. We’re led to believe he’s killed by the Stymphalian birds but he has a triumphant return, riding on the back of a Pegasus to save the group when they are in dire need. He grew up on a farm and knows a lot about horses. He and York are planning to buy a farm and go into business together.
• Shore: one of the mercenaries, short hair with a widow’s peak. The pragmatic one of the group, he takes inventory of all of their weapons and supplies after the boat crashes on shore. No nonsense, gets the job done. One of the last to survive, until he’s axed in the head by the Minotaur.
• Tomasi: one of the mercenaries, long brown hair. He loses his gun after the group jumps off a cliff into a lake in order to escape a sea creature. Shore tosses him a gun which goes off in Tomasi’s hand, killing him instantly.
• Ben: one of the mercenaries, sports a horseshoe moustache. Agrees with Deems’ idea to throw the students overboard to lighten the load during the storm but York doesn’t give the order. He is the first to die on the island, eaten by the Cyclops. He was carrying Brent’s backpack (since he forcefully took it from Brent). Brent goes back for the backpack which holds Pandora’s Box and is nearly killed by the cyclops as well.  

OLYMPUS kicks off in present day Greece when a group of brash archaeology students are on a diving expedition in the Aegean Sea. Sisters Rebecca and Sarah bicker about the trip so far. Free spirit Sarah thinks bookish Rebecca should let loose a bit more, this trip has been so boring. Rebecca has found the trip fascinating and likes Professor Walker’s teaching. Rebecca says that Sarah should find something she loves and apply herself in life. Professor Gail Walker and fellow student Brent emerge from the water. They’ve just found a container in a sunken galley that Brent’s research had led them to. Gail thinks they should alert the Greek government of their discovery, but Brent says this could be just the ammo they need to keep the archaeology department afloat. Plus they can tell the government the container was already open when they found it. Gail relents, they open the container, and find an urn within. Rebecca is able to figure out what era the urn is from based on the art. Gail then is able to read the inscription on the urn – this is Pandora’s Box.

Almost instantly, their luck changes—they’re hit by a huge storm out of nowhere and their ship is boarded by a team of ruthless mercenaries. The mercenaries realize their GPS led them to the wrong boat, everything has been thrown off by the storm. As they consider throwing the students overboard to keep the boat from sinking, the ship crashes onto a beach.

As the group takes inventory, they don’t yet realize where they are. Obviously the students are terrified of the mercenaries—but not nearly as frightened as when they’re all attacked by a giant cyclops right out of myth. The mercenaries’ guns seem to have little effect on the cyclops and they’re only able to escape when one of the mercenaries, Ben is captured and eaten by the cyclops which distracts him long enough for the others to get away. Rebecca puts the pieces together – she realizes that somehow, some way, they’ve ended up on an abandoned Mount Olympus and the root of their problem is Pandora’s Box.

Now they’re all easy prey on an island full of monsters and beasts, so both groups are going to have to work together to follow the pictographs on the Box, because the only way out is to return it to Olympus’s summit, where it belongs. There’s infighting among the mercenaries. Their leader, York tries to keep a cool head as his team all make their own suggestions on what they should do, particularly that they should ditch the students. Deems had gotten the tip about the rival boat they were really after before they crashed – a competitor who was smuggling in a crate of uncut South African diamonds on a fishing boat. Deems has a chip on his shoulder about it and betrays the team time and again to try to save his own skin. Like when he hid while they were being attacked by the cyclops saying his gun jammed (but Shore confirms this is a lie).

There isn’t too much time for fighting as the group is attacked by a sea creature! They run away, find themselves at a cliff and jump off into the lake below. Tomasi loses his gun in the process. Shore tosses him a new gun, but it goes off in Tomasi’s hand, killing him instantly. That’s when they’re attacked by man-eating Stymphalian birds. Sebastian tries to help Deems get behind a waterfall with the rest of the group. Deems shoots Sebastian in the leg and leaves him behind for the birds in order to make his own escape. Deems then tells York that Sebastian didn’t survive.

Now in a cave behind the waterfall, Sarah patches the group up using the first aid kit. York realizes the students outnumber the mercenaries now. He gives Gail a gun to help them. Brent asks if he’ll get one too. York says he will once he trusts him. Not much time passes before they’re attacked by the Minotaur! Deems runs away with Pandora’s Box which he’s stolen. Shore’s head is cut off by the Minotaur’s ax. Deems runs into a new obstacle – the Minotaur’s labyrinth. He takes Gail hostage in order to make the students get him across. They tell him how Theseus used a string to mark his path through the labyrinth – the rope Deems is holding is probably that path. Now that Deems has what he wants it looks like he’s going to kill Gail but Rebecca and Sarah attack him, stabbing him in the leg. Deems gets away but he’s leaving a trail of blood behind him which the group is able to follow.

York joins the students, seeing them as more trustworthy partners as his team is picked off and Deems continues to double cross everyone. The group is able to outwit Medusa and her gorgons, and Deems is turned to stone in the process. Next up – solving the riddle of the Sphynx of Greece. It’s Sarah who is able to solve the riddle, finally taking her sister’s advice and applying herself.

The group is chased up the mountain by a group of cyclopes. Just as all seems lost, a fleet of Pegasus arrive. Sebastian triumphantly returns on the back of one of the Pegasus. He survived the Stymphalian birds! And he’s brought help.

Through all of their quests they finally make it to the top of the mountain to find it completely abandoned – where are the Greek gods? Since Zeus gave Pandora the Box, the students think they must place the Box back on Zeus’ pedestal. But nothing happens. Now all the creatures of Greek mythology are coming after them and there’s not a moment to lose. Gail remembers that Hephaestus created the box. She runs to his pedestal and finds a lid. She puts the lid on the urn and places it on Hephaestus’ pedestal. The urn starts to glow and emits a blinding white light.

York, Sebastian, Gail, Rebecca, Sarah and Brent wake up on a beach. It looks like they’re back in Thessaly. They wonder how they got back there and hypothesize that maybe by closing Pandora’s Box they closed a doorway that opened to the mythological Olympus.

Gail is concerned they have nothing to show for their journey and the department will be shut down. York reveals he brought the Gorgons’ gold medallion back with him. How about starting their own school? He’s planning on using the medallion to buy a ranch for him and Sebastian but he’s sure there will be plenty to spare if they need it. Gail says she thinks it’s time for them to make their own history.     

• Nonstop action filled quest to the top of Mount Olympus with both infighting amongst the group and deadly creatures threatening to foil them
• Theme of finding what you love and making your own history
• A plethora of monsters and obstacles pulled from Greek mythology
• While full of high stakes this survival tale is escapist, light and fun
• From author Geoff Johns, an award-winning comic book and television writer (The Flash, Stargirl, Arrow)
• The opportunity to build in even more from Greek mythology in sequels or subsequent seasons