With the arrival of the second season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians we look at how Olympus has been depicted in video games in three iconic titles.
Touchy, irascible and resentful. No, we are not talking about relatives during the Christmas holidays (or rather, we hope so for you!), but about the Olympic deities, even if the theme of family unites both scenarios. Greek myths have spanned millennia of history, influencing people and cultures everywhere and still today they have a privileged place in our lives. Straddling the historiographical sphere and pop culture, we like Olympus, and there are numerous minds who have provided their own interpretation of it.
Among these is that of Rick Riordan, creator of the literary series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which received a television adaptation by Disney. On the Disney+ streaming platform, starting from December 10th, it is possible to catch up on the second season entitled The Sea of Monsters. On these pages, however, we talk about video games and, taking advantage of the release of Percy’s new adventure, we felt like rediscovering three much-loved video games dedicated to Greek godsanalyzing the role that the gods have in these stories and finding some common ground with the television series because we know: all the ancestral stories of man sooner or later return.
God of War: Revenge Makes Us Human
There are several players who know Kratos only as an exterminator of Norse gods, completely ignoring his Greek past. For those who were already playing video games in 2005, it is impossible to forget the release of the first chapter of God of War, the perfect union between action and a plot based on the narrative topoi of the Greek myths. Back in the day a strong point of discussion was the omnipresent violencean element that supported both the gameplay and the narrative. The Greek myths, it must be said, are not exactly bedtime tales, but they contain an abundant dose of cruelty, perfectly transposed by the visual choices of Santa Monica Studios.
The violence in the game’s narrative is really present, especially in the relationship between the protagonist and the gods, in the way the deities address him, how they lie to him, manipulate him, insult him and how, for this reason, all of Olympus succumbs to the hands of Kratos. The idea of being able to face a God and kill himto dismember him, restoring the suffering caused, creates a sense of omnipotence in the player that few other titles have been able to convey with so much brutality. The intuition, as correct as it is simple, is that revenge is a terribly negative feeling, but instinctively understandable. There’s no need to be do-gooders: after a life of intrigue, lies and exploitation that led Kratos to kill even his family, seeing the Ghost of Sparta decimate Olympus creates a thrill of enjoyment. Wrong, but it still creeps into the player.
And although Percy Jackson is a product aimed at teenagers and families, this concept also returns in the TV series: seeing young boys disrespect the deities and challenge them has something satisfying. In the second season, the more hatred towards Olympus grows, the more violent the protagonists’ grievances become. What the Greek myths and the stories related to them remind us is that arrogance, suffering and revenge are unfortunately part of human nature, and that even the best heroes are affected by them.
Obviously, too much hybrid it is always a reason for punishment in ancient stories, and God of War works precisely by reversing this pattern: the more the anger and punishments of Olympus grow, the more the protagonist relaunches. However, everything corresponds to a just punishment. Kratos’s? Finding that talkative Atreus as a son again. What a terrible torture, poor Ghost of Sparta.
Hades: the struggle of a misunderstood son
Finding out that your parents aren’t who you always thought they were, that for years they lied to you and hid essential truths about your family, your home, and your very birth is quite a burden to bear. If Hades protagonist Zagreus and Percy Jackson met to talk about their familiessurely before saying goodbye one of the two would exclaim: “My analyst always tells me that too!”.
For their penultimate effort, Supergiant Games took some narrative liberties, embracing the myths that Zagreus was the son of Hades and Persephone. In the most accredited version supported by stories linked to Orphism, Zagreo represents the myth of “resurrection of the slain God“, which perfectly explains the cyclical nature of his escapes from Hades. These escapes are designed precisely to escape from the world of the dead, reach the surface and discover what Father Hades has kept hidden from Zag.
Hades stages a family drama that focuses on the relationship between parents and childrenwhere the Greek pantheon becomes a perfect expedient to build the game’s roguelite engine. Here the deities become fond of Zag’s rebellion, helping him with gifts and favors; sometimes because they are really involved in the relative’s cause, other times just to annoy Hades.
However, what is important in the adventures of Zag and Percy is the breaking of the mold: if we strip their adventures of the mythical meaning and translate the respect for traditions towards the gods into the most common rules that exist between parents and children, their rebellion represents the desire to cut ties with toxic patterns who live in their respective families. No more lies, no more bans, no more”I’m in charge at my house“. The rebellion of children is very often a way to ask for respect from adults, to see the maturity of those who are no longer children recognized and to not accept the weight of previous family traumas, but free themselves from them once and for all. In this, probably, we players too could join in the chat about our parents, exclaiming: “My analyst always tells me that too!” together with Zag and Percy.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: Gods Walk Among Us
We finally arrive at a game that has built its own personal mythology over almost twenty years of history. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey follows in the footsteps of its predecessor Origins and sets the adventures of Kassandra/Alexios during the Peloponnesian War. The Assassin’s Creed series highlights two very important elements parallel to Percy Jackson: His protagonists of the past have a semi-divine genetic line, while those of the present day have direct contact with the gods and their artifacts.
The protagonists of Odyssey are in all respects demigods, as they are descendants of the Isu, the precursors of humanity who for millennia have been venerated throughout the world as divinities. The idea that each civilization created its own pantheon to justify the presence on Earth of beings who were supernatural in their eyes is incredibly fascinating and brings the Isu very close to the Greek divinities. These omniscient creatures walk among the people in secret, bonding with humans and shaping their destiny. And, even eons later, they manage to have an influence through their legacy. Those of Percy Jackson’s gods are pure divine powers, those of the Isu are sophisticated and avant-garde technology, but the gist remains: the gods, and their progeny, walk among us. A discovery that both in Odyssey and in Percy Jackson dismantles the traditional religious vision.
Another point of contact, as mentioned, is a direct genetic thread with the divinities, which has a strong impact on the story and characterization of the protagonists. Initially, Kassandra/Alexios uses her powers without understanding their origin, considering them an anomaly. Discovering the Isu lineage provides a logical framework for their strength and unique abilities, especially those amplified by the Spear of Leonidas. This knowledge forces them to accept that their destiny goes beyond being a simple mercenary. They understand that they are a vital piece in the age-old struggle between order (the Cult/Templars) and free will (Assassins).
The offspring places the price of heroism on the shoulders of the Assassins and Percybut above all it makes them extremely dangerous for the preconceived order of things. The Cult of Cosmos recognizes and fears the Isu ancestry of the protagonists; they see Alexios/Kassandra not only as the only real threat to their power, but at the same time as a potential tool for their purposes, just like Percy and his Mudblood friends.
