[The Bear's Lair] Kratos, the first God of War and Greek mythology

Let's start this 2018 2019 with the appointment number sixteen of the Bear's Lair, the section dedicated to investigators of the occult and to fans of mythology: in this article we will undertake the arduous (?) search for the numerous connections between God of War and Greek mythology, focusing on the first chapter, published in 2005.

La trama di God of War (2005)

In GoW: Ascension our Kratos he left as a Spartan general, was taken into the service of Ares, the war god of violence in battle, killed his family by mistake, got understandably pissed off and then rebelled against his divine patron; along the way, it must be said, Kratos has exterminated much of the greek mythological bestiary.

In the next chapter, Chains of Olympus, the most famous bald of Brazzers Sparta does the dirty work for the Olympus gods, until he runs into one conspiracy of Persephone, Namely the Queen of the Underworld, and foils it by releasing Elio, thus reporting the Sun in the place that belongs to him.

At the end Kratos is so exhausted, exhausted and probably depressed that he finds himself plunging to the ground like 'na catapultah, only to be grabbed on the fly by Athena and from the same Elio.

The start of the game

This is exactly where this starts God of War, third chapter of the story but the first video game from a chronological point of view (it was published in 2005, in fact).

Gaia / Gea, mother and wife of the primeval Titan Uranus, as well as the parent of all Titans, Cyclops and to the Hecatonchiri (the centimani, including the Briareo of Ascension), narrates the (mis) adventures of the Spartan entangled in divine plots.

After the bailout by Athena and Elio, Our Kratos has returned to the service of Olympus gods. While he calmly sailed in the placid waters of the Mar Egeo, Kratos was attacked by the giant Hydra.

Unfortunately for the latter, however, not even a regenerating factor that would be the envy of Wolverine manages to get the better of the Spartan's fury, and therefore theHydra of Lerna does the same end that, in the Greek myth, would have touched her in the clash with Hercules.

Ares, il Lich King

At that point, Radio Olimpo broadcasts an alert: a 'horde of undead, under the command of Ares, is devastating Athens. New quest for Kratos: if he manages to stop the Scourge from Ares' undead army, his past will be forgiven, and the terrible visions that haunt him will also cease.

A series of flashbacks explains the background that led Kratos to become the Scourge of Ares, quite literally.

Let's go back to the present: the Spartan lands ad Athens, exterminate waves of zombies and stand out from the gorgon's neck Medusa, as a Perseus in full 'roid rage.

At that point the goal changes: we must save theOracle of Athena. Along the way we will meet an extremely interesting figure, the gravedigger, who is digging a grave… just for Kratos.

Despite the rather creepy entry into the scene, however, the gravedigger he reveals that he is doing it for us, and calls Kratos "Son".

Hmm OK.

The ancient (Pandora's) Vase had to be brought to safety

Having saved the Oracle of what is essentially our tutelary goddess, we learn that the next step is in Desert of Wandering Souls, and it is nothing less than the proverbial Pandora's box.

Here things get even more interesting: Pandora's Box is the only artifact capable of defeating the mighty Ares, and to recover it we will have to deal with the Fallen Titan par excellence: Crono, son of Uranus e father of Zeus, Hades, Poseidon and the other original Olympic gods.

Crono, in fact, he was sentenced to carry the Pandora's Temple, which houses the famous Vase; overcome the three challenges of the temple, i.e. that of Atlas, that of Poseidon and that of Hades, Kratos finally manages to get his paws on Pandora's box.

The spider senses of Ares, however, immediately perceive the act of his servant, which in essence constitutes a betrayal, and he decides to beat the galactic record of throwing the javelin: he throws a fragment of column from Athens to the Temple of Pandora, and hits Kratos hard which, of course, dies.

Our hero briefly ends up inAde, but in Greek myth - just like in Supernatural - often death is just a momentary setback.

The return of the Undertaker!

We thus discover that the tomb excavated for Kratos from gravedigger is the way back to realm of mortals; we also learn that the gravedigger it's not quite what it seems, and it might even be a deity. Hmmm, the plot thickens.

Finally our steps lead us to face Ares, the crazed god who gave rise to story of Kratos. An epic fight serves as a prelude to the most anticipated scene: the death of Ares, which is coupled - rather brutally - by Kratos, which in the meantime has become a giant thanks to the Pandora's box.

The Spartan receives divine forgiveness, but his visions will continue as punishment for his sins and terrible deeds committed under Ares' command.

Kratos at that point he doesn't do it anymore, understandably: ragequitta, climbs the highest mountain and throws himself into the void. Again.

Athena doesn't mind her own business this time either, and saves us again. But not only that: she gives us the Swords of Athena, and offers us the throne of Ares.

Kratos ascends to Olympus and becomes the new god of war: the new God of Warin fact.

Greek mythology in God of War (2005)

Many of the mythological elements we encountered are quite self-explanatory.
Let's see some of them, choosing between the main or less obvious ones, and discarding most of the themes that we have already treated in previous articles on God of War.

Hail, Hydra

In the myth, the monster infested the marshy area near the charming town of lerna, in Greece; as everyone knows by now, this extremely poisonous creature had one main head and then a certain number of secondary heads which, once cut, grew back in double number.

Heracles / Hercules, a bit like the dear old man would do Geralt of Rivia, held his breath to avoid the poisonous fumes and then, with the help of his sword and the Igni sign of a torch wielded by the faithful Iolao, cut off the heads and cauterized the wounds, to prevent them from growing back.

In God of War l’Hydra it is basically the same: a sea serpent with a central head and various secondary heads.

Unlike Heracles, however, Kratos opts for ignorance: the Spartan pierces the central head of the Hydra with the mast of a ship, by order of Poseidon.

It seems to me only right to point out, en passant, the marginal similarity between the company of Heracles against the Hydra and the final confrontation between Thor e Jormungandr, the serpent of Midgard.

Medusa, the Gorgon

In the myth she is one of the three sisters Gorgons, the monstrous granddaughters of grandmother Gea / Gaia: Steno, which represents moral perversion, Euriale, symbolizing sexual perversion, e Medusa, intellectual perversion. Medusa is the queen of the Gorgons, as well as the only one of the three to be deadly, and has been named keeper of the Underworld da Persephone, the queen of the underworld.

In literary sources the hero Perseus use one mirror polished shield to avoid the petrifying gaze of the gorgon, and then take off her head and donate it to the of Athens, who will mount it on his own shield (the Egida) to terrify and petrify opponents.

Also in the game Medusa is the Queen of three Gorgon sisters, but it is under the command of Ares and hates Athena (maybe you know the Greek myth?).

In God of War è Kratos to behead her, following the command not of Athena but of Afrodite, who will then receive the creature's head and in return will give its power to the Spartan.

A curiosity: we have already met Stenoin God of War: Ascension, and I anticipate that we will see Euriale in one of the following chapters (God of War II).

The Guardian of Pandora

Who will ever stand guard in the Pandora's Temple?
Nothing but a minotaur; rather, the original Minotaur, That of the myth of Theseus and Ariadne. Ah, the memories of the classical high school.

Kratos shoots flaming logs at him to destroy his armor and thus have a way to pierce his rotten body. Yes, because this is an undead Minotaur.

He probably ended up guarding Pandora's temple, and being part of the Proof of Hades, after being defeated and killed by Theseus inside the Minos labyrinth, King of Crete, built by the legendary Dedalo.

Ah, we will only hear about this labyrinth in God of War III, so let's go on, come on!

The Titan Cronus

In the previous articles of this column on the saga of God of War we have already spoken in abundance of Crono, of the ... visceral relationship with his Olympic children, of the patricide perpetrated against Uranus and the events that concern him.

In this God of War chapter we see him holding up the Pandora's Temple, a bit like the Titan Atlas, a former ally of Cronus himself during the Titanomachy.

Atlas, Hades and Poseidon

It really is one Atlas statue, inside the temple itself, to open the way for us to continue our path of devastation and revenge, then subjecting us to challenge of Poseidon in which we take possession of his legendary Trident.

Three o'clock evidence of the Temple of Pandora revolve around three entities / deities: Atlas, Hades and Poseidon.
This divine trio, however, is not the traditional one it includes Zeus, Hades and Poseidon: missing from the appeal Zeus, replaced for the time being by the titan Atlas.

But something tells me it won't always be like this.

Pandora's box

How many times have we referred to chaos and a probable storm of ... manure, barely kept under the carpet, using this very name?

Kratos get this back Vase from the Temple namesake, and in the finale he uses its power to fight more or less on equal terms with Ares.

In the myth, however, the Vase (o Casket) of Pandora is a little more sinister and intricate. The Greek myth here it is tinged with strokes of misogyny quite similar to the biblical story of Adam and Eve.

The titan Prometheus he had stolen Fire from the gods and given it to mortals, but Zeus is not there, and decides to take revenge in a diabolical way; he devises a plan with his colleagues, and prepares another gift for mortals: Pandora, to whom Athena gives life.

Other gods, in turn, bestow their gifts on Pandora: Afrodite beauty, Era the manual arts, Apollo the music, Hermes curiosity e Zeusfinally, he entrusts her with this magical Vase, recommending her not to open it for any reason.

La curiosity, however, has the upper hand: arrived among the mortals, who until then lived quite free and carefree, Pandora opens the box and, from that issue the evils of the world, taking root among human beings.

Old age, Sickness, Madness, Jealousy, Vice and other nice things come out of this container, afflicting men, but the Hope he doesn't have time to escape before the lid is put back in place, and stays inside.

Il Greek myth, in short, he blames female curiosity for much of the evils that afflict humanity. The Pandora bracelet takes on a whole other meaning in this light, doesn't it?

ares finally

THEmain antagonist of the series, until now. She so longs for the throne of Zeus and, in general, the fall of Olympus, to be allied with the Furies / Erinyes and to conceive a child with them, with the hope that this will become the perfect warrior.

Unfortunately for him, Orks it turns out to be below its impossible expectations, and therefore decides to pay Kratos the perfect fighter, the Marked Warrior of the prophecy that we will see in depth in a future article on the sequel Ghost of sparta.

In essence he is the Bad Wolf of the series, the BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy), The nemesis of the protagonist.
In the finale of this God of War del 2005 we see him as a giant with fiery hair and beard, with ashy skin and appendages far too spidery for my taste.

Between illusions, psychological warfare, mutations and blows of mind, Ares faces Kratos with cruel efficiency, until the Spartan strikes him to death with ... a bridge.

Which is actually the Sword of the Gods, put there right by Athena, and used as a bridge to connect a statue of the same goddess to the cliff from which Kratos tried to commit suicide at the end of God of War: Chains of Olympus.

And also this time it is from that promontory that Kratos, after hearing that his terrible visions they will stay with him notwithstanding the forgiveness of the gods, jump to certain death.

Again, however, he is saved by Athena, than for foiling the plans of Ares rewards him with Swords of Athena and the status again god of war.

Kratos' path continues

We will see that cliff again, Kratos, gravedigger, Athena and the Greek mythology in the next chapter of the Ghost of Sparta, which is called - precisely - God of War: Ghost of Sparta.

In that chapter, we will also discover a lot more information about the past of Kratos, on his troubled family history, and above all we will look more deeply into it prophecy of the Marked Warrior, that is, the only one capable of overthrowing Olympus.

In the meantime, if you haven't already read them, I refer you to the articles in this column about the first prequel God of War: Ascension, released in 2013, and the second prequel God of War: Chains of Olympus, released in 2008.

All that remains is to give you an appointment at the next release of the Bear's Lair which, as always, awaits you next Wednesday.