Greek myths in games and cinema: from “Wonder Woman” to God of War

A few days before the loud premiere "Miracle women" , And it will take place on June 1, we decided to recall the most ambiguous and vivid interpretations of Greek mythology in popular culture. From the animated "Hercules" And bloody God of War to the Cohen brothers and French science fiction.

And also do not miss special stream23.05.2017 at 17:00 Moscow time in honor of the release of the film "Wonder Woman": we will play in Injustice 2 with girls-residents and play steep prizes. The main prize is Ultrawide Monitor LG 34UM59. In addition, all viewers will have a chance to win portable speakers Bluetooth LG PH1.

"Wonder Woman" (1941)

And we will begin with the already mentioned "miracle-woman". In the forty -first year, a newcomer of comic book DC Diana Prince attracted not only men with her frank outfit, but also women – an indomitable character and professional views.

The miraculous woman lived in a closed society of Amazons from the city of Temskira on an island where civilization did not reach the civilization, which was stuck out, from clay and endowed with the gifts of the gods and goddesses Olympus. The strongest, dexterous, wise and fair. It is not surprising that it was her, when the need arose that the Amazons were sent by ambassador to the big world, to the United States, a couple of with the pilot who accidentally found herself in their lands by Stephen Trevor.

But do not believe that the strongest of the Amazons got its popularity just like that. In fact, the early comics about the Wonder Woman were subtly calculated by the American psychologist and one of the inventors of the lie detector William Marston. It was the image invented by him that became not only cult, but also culturally significant for an entire era. By the way, the idea of ​​creating superheroini, not only with great force, but also with a sensitive heart Marston was prompted by his wife Elizabeth. It was in the image and likeness of his wife that the screenwriter wrote to Diana.

Further changes and rebooting the character turned the unique, albeit a little naive Amazon into a more modern, but, alas, a more typical superheroin.

Ulysses-31 (1980)

The unique combination of Homer's "Odyssey" and "Star Wars". Odysseus along the way from Troy is faced with the cult of fanatics of Polyphemus – Cyclops created by Poseidon. The cultists steal the son of a hero, telemach, right from the ship, going to sacrifice him to his patron. The wanderer is forced to interrupt the ritual of the sacrifice and kill the polyfem in order to save his child and other captives, but the consequences do not force themselves to wait.

The gods of Olympus – Poseidon and Zeus – cannot forgive Odysseus of such impudence and send it, together with the whole team, to another world, hiding the path backwards behind a series of deadly trials. And nothing, it would seem special, only the action takes place in the thirty -first century AD, Odyssey, in the Latin manner, cry Ulysses, its ship is a huge star cruiser, and instead of Gladius the hero fights a light sword.

The animated series, created by the Union of Japanese and French multipliers, has twenty -six episodes and serves the viewer of familiar heroes, gods and monsters of ancient Greek mythology in a very peculiar way. And it also has a damn one resembles the "Secret of the Third Planet".

Athena (1986)

On the cover, the heroine clearly prefers that her movement is not constrained by useless armor.

And at the underwater level, Athena grows the mermaid tail.

The main character of the Japanese platformer Athena , First declared on arcade machines, and then migrated to NES and other popular prefixes of his time, there was the Greek goddess of military strategy, wisdom, patroness of arts and crafts of Athena.

And, in fact, this is exhausted by the whole connection of the game and ancient Greek mythology.

The goddess who is bored with idleness decides to arrange a small adventure and arbitrarily goes to another world to defeat the local villain – Faust. Along the way, she collects interesting trophies, is armed with bows, then blasters and destroys the servants of an insidious villain.

It may seem to someone that Athena is atrocious and arranges genocide in an https://sister-site.org/bovegas/ unfamiliar dimension of the joke for the sake of, but this is not so. More likely. Maybe.

"Hercules" (1997)

Probably the most famous appearance of Hercules, he is Hercules, on the big screen. Infinitely childhood, five years and to obscenely vulgar, if we reviewed, the cartoon raised a quarter of a billion dollars at the box office and was forever eaten in memory of the obsessive songs “I will find my way” and “become a hero”.

The cartoon gives us its interpretation of the myths about Hercules, ignoring the trivial twelve feats. A lot of bright and memorable characters, excellent animation and drawing, stylized as ancient Greek painting, a rather original plot – here it is, good old Disney!

James Woods presented his voice to Aida.

It was thanks to this cartoon for Aida, the god of the kingdom of the dead, in modern culture, the status of a villain was fixed. Although in myths he was rather a neutral deity and is not famous for any meanings.

“Oh, where are you, brother?"(2000)

Director Joel Cohen, producer Ethan Cohen, script authors – Joel and Ethan Coena. If you know this couple, then you know what to expect from her. Or vice versa – I never know, because the brothers throws from the police drama to Neonuar, from Neonuar to Thriller, from the thriller to the spy farce, and from there to Western and musical tragicomedia.

Did not deprive the cult duo with attention and ancient literature. What can become the legendary "Odyssey", if not "Road Cinema"? Black comedy "Oh, where are you, brother?"Shows us the adventures of the trinity of runaway convicts under the leadership of Ulysses, Hero George Clooney. This is a story about the long way home, and along the way we will meet as a kind of cyclops – a one -eyed merchant, and Homer himself, set here not in the best light.

God of War (2005)

And since we mentioned a little -known platformer, it will simply be unscrupulous to skip the cult series of God of War, where we finally learned how to kill the gods. And a new part, with a bearded kratos, already on the way.

In this mythological slasher, which first appeared on the PlayStation 2, we, on behalf of the mighty Spartan, declared war on their own patron – the god of war Ares to overthrow him from Olympus and take his place. Obsessed with a thirst for revenge Kratos to get to the enemy, met with Medusa Gorgon, and with the Minotaur, and with the other legion of mythical creatures. Of course, the meetings did not pass peacefully.

For six games, the ghost of Sparta cut out almost the entire pantheon of ancient Greece, including even little -known characters. It is not surprising that in the new part he will apparently get for the inhabitants of Asgard. There is no one left on Olympus.

Titan Quest (2006)

“The ancient Greek Diagalid!" – you say, and we will have nothing to answer you. Yes, Titan Quest gathered a lot with Diablo II, the undeniable hit of the ARPG genre. But still, the game from Iron Lore went apart. In its original, she, among other things, is obliged to choose the selected setting.

Our hero, as often happens, should save the world from the unbelted henchmen Poseidon – Telkhinov. The path to the monsters is not short, and the nameless protagonist will have to visit the Cretan Labyrinth, on the Parnassian Highlands, in the tomb under the Great Sphinx, in Babylon and even at Olympus. The game introduced us not only the ancient Greek, but also with ancient Egyptian and ancient Eastern mythology, pushing with legendary monsters, heroes and gods.

"Games of the gods" (2007)

The cast in the film adaptation is strong. Look at the Christopher Walked in the role of eccentric Zeus and already middle -aged Aphrodite performed by Sharon Stone very much.

As for the literature, one of the most curious examples of interpretation of the ancient Greek myth can be called the novel “The Games of the Gods” (“Gods do badly”) British Mary Phillips.

The years of reveling in power and the hope of the people have passed, and now, in the gray and prudent of the twenty -first century, the group of Olympic gods has to huddle in a provincial apartment on the outskirts of London, to work to accumulate accounts, and just get used to everyday life. Aphrodite settled in sex on the phone, Dionysus spends nights in the skeletons, earned as a DJ, Artemis walks the dogs, and Apollo fools to the people of the head, pretending to be a psychic on television. The main plot unfolds around a completely ordinary human couple, which very inappropriately turned out to be next to the gods at the time of a serious dispute.

The novel has a film adaptation, but alas, it will not work to see it. The film was once shown at the Film Festival in Rome, but it did not appear at the box office or at the media. Sunk into oblivion, like his heroes.

“The War of the Gods: Immortal” (2011)

King Hyperion loses his family by the will of fate and accuses Olympus of the misfortune. To turn revenge on the demiurges, he intends to find an epir onion – a gun capable of defeating the shackles of Tartar Titanov languishing in the bowels of Mountain. But he managed to make him during his crusade on Zeus such an enemy as Tesya (by the way, he was played by the main superman of the 21st century – Henry Cavill).

“Immortals” do not follow any specific myth, but combine a lot of mythological elements, ranging from the gods of all sizes and stripes to the famous Minotaur. But this cinema is not rich in myths, but by its amazing visual part. Tarsmas Singh firmly proved that the best directors, still on his last “Outbreak” tape, and even with an impressive budget of $ 75 million and completely stared at all and completely parted.

Antique myth Singh introduced the viewer in the style of the Renaissance. This is a movie of contrasts. Divine indifference and desperate cruelty. Blood and gold.

Kamigami No asobi: Ludere Deorum (2013)

If the “American gods” Neil Gaiman seemed to you too heavy and gloomy, then the Japanese visual novel, coupled with the anime Kamigami No Asobi: Ludere Deorum, translated as “The Fun of the Gods” or “The Games of the Gods,” is an excellent alternative.

The main character, Yui Kusanagi, loves to wave a sword, and her hobby brings her not somewhere, but in the educational institution founded by Zeus himself. The sword accidentally found in the temple of her father provides the girl with an unforgettable impressions, because now the young schoolgirl has to become a teacher herself, to teach the manners that unbelted gods and instill respect for the human race. For some reason, Chernoboga was bypassed here, but Loki, Apollo, Anubis and a lot of anyone else were put on the desk.

Wildable for the European viewer a project on "Hurray!»Divided in Japan, and later received the sequel to Kamigami No Asobi: Ludere Deorum Infinite on PSP and PS Vita.

"Wonder Woman" (2017)

But where did we start, to that in the end we came. A little more, and you and I can again plunge into the world of a popular comic book, seasoned with good old mythology.

The years have not spared the “miracle-woman”-since the forties it has changed a lot, like many comic characters of that time. In the new cinematic universe from DC to get acquainted with Diana, we were given us in the Batman against Superman: at the dawn of justice, "but in the solo, the heroine will begin to command only in June.

And we hope that this will be only the beginning. After all, it is really curious to see what modern filmmakers, who stuffed their hands in the superheroica, show the ancient gods, playing a significant role in stories about Wonderland.

Stories about gods, titans and heroes served as the basis for the millennial development of literature, sculpture, painting and drama. Many ancient Greek characters became abstract images, symbols, such as Prometheus, giving fire and education, or Hercules, overcoming any trials, no matter what intrigues to build him.

Arounded in time immemorial, these stories are alive and relevant so far, and this cannot but rejoice. The popularization of mythology can open a colossal cultural layer for many people, laid down at the dawn of centuries.

We are sure that Thor inspired many to get acquainted with the Scandinavian legends, and now the line is for the miracle-woman. After all, she is not just a feminist and superheroine. Not only a cunning and thoughtful development of an American psychologist. She is a hero of antiquity invented in the middle of the twentieth century.