Gods and goddesses, heroes, and deities who play roles in countless stories of love, courage, and redemption has been part of the Greek mythologies from centuries. In Greek mythology gods were represented or personified by human characteristics and emotions or physical places such as the sky or the sea or the underworld.
One of them included Kratos and Bia who belonged to an odd class of minor gods who personify abstract nouns. Others include Nike (“victory”), Phobos (“fear”), and Deimos (“dread”).
Rather, they are attendants to more powerful gods such as Zeus and Ares. Kratos is a fictional character in the “God of War” video game series, he is not an actual deity from any mythologies. It is developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, He is called to be a Spartan warrior seeking revenge against the Greek gods of Olympus.
Although the games had drawn inspiration from Greek mythology where, Kratos himself is a modern creation for the video game narrative, which is characterized by his iconic appearance and a storyline revolving around revenge and redemption. But, the real question which is often unanswered or has created confusion thereof, is that whether Kratos is a real god in Greek mythology or not.
GOD OF STRENGTH AND POWER
Kratos is generally referred as the god of strength and power and due to which there are various conflicting stories regarding pretty much everything else about him. Some stories are conflicting regarding his parents of him being either the son of Titans or Zeus. Him being a son of Titans would make Kratos a relative of the Olympian gods. Kratos is also referred as the ‘Ghost of Sparta‘ and due to the name of the game , he also became the new ‘God of War.’
His personification indicates that as a deity he represents merciless, brutal strength in favor of oppression and fear. Kratos is named the ‘Ghost of Sparta‘ after being tricked into a frenzy of bloodlust by Ares which results in Kratos killing his wife and daughter. As the temple burns around Kratos in the game, he is turned white by the ashes, cursed to wear the mark of his terrible deed, earning him the name ‘Ghost of Sparta.’
Thus, Kratos in the ‘God of War‘ franchise is probably more likely based on a Herculean model seeking redemption for his crimes, rather than based on his mythological history.
However concluding all these statements, in the game, he is often called brutal, and merciless and acts in questionable ways throughout, often killing innocent people and allowing his rage to get the better of him. His strength in the game is legendary and perhaps does reference the god after which he was named. Overall as a character, he is very interesting.
SON OF TITANS AND ZEUS
Many myths are there regarding his parents of him being either the son of Titans or Zeus, as according to different theories and beliefs, Kratos is referred to as the son of the Titans Pallas and Styx. Due to which according to the relation it would make him related to Olympian Gods .
He is often referred to as the brother of several other figures that represent strength and battle which are, Nike, the goddess of victory, Bia, the goddess of force and violence, and Zelus, as the god of Zeal.
He is seen as a personality of strength and a god of sovereign rule.
Whereas in other myths, he is believed to be one of the sons of Zeus. Rather than being one of Zeus’ peers, he is a ‘DEMIGOD,’ the son of Zeus and an unnamed mortal woman. Although most of the theories consider him to be the son of the Titans, there are still a lot of contradictions for the same.
KRATOS AND PROMETHEUS
Despite kratos’s origin, he is considered to be a demigod in many Greek myths, he is not one of the gods with a major domain, he is usually seen as a servant of another god and called upon simuntaneously with one of his siblings. As Prometheus has stolen fire from the gods due to which he was given punishment to be bounded by a rock and being tortured for all of eternity.
Bia and Kratos use chains that are forged by the smith god Hephaestus to chain the captive Titan, acting as agents of Zeus’s vengeance. Prometheus was tortured as his punishment from the Olympian Zeus for providing fire to humans.
While Kratos’s role in Prometheus Bound is short, it is also his most important appearance in Greek myth. The myth helps to show Kratos’s brutality. He inflicted unnecessary wounds without mercy on his enemies throughout his time in the story.
In other stories as well Kratos doesn’t appear on his own instead, he is usually called upon by other gods in times of need, usually for a battle where he fights the battle alongside with his siblings Bia and Nike and sometimes with the God of justice, Dike too.