Play Exalted, ripoff Exalted. Simple as.
The evolution of Greek Mythology is long and complicated! Especially since historians have a long period of time with no evidence to build off of. But I would say that at least part of an adaptations interpretation should come from the Ancient Greek era, as those are the versions most of us are familiar with.
For example, Posioden was the God of the Underworld at one point in time, but Iād recommend making Hades the God of the Underworld. Unless youāre purposefully going for something subversive
Yes, Aphrodite very much seems to have her origins in Astarte/Ishtar/Inanna of the near east and the comingled associations of war and love (along with civilization and various other things).
I suppose if one wanted to, one could articulate a reason why Ares loved flowers. I was more suggesting that the limits, such as they might exist, are pretty generous.
Superb post, by the way. Thank you for bringing your inner geek. ![]()
Agreed entirely about Mars, and I actually find the indigenous Italic version of Mars so interesting because it impacts so much of how the Romans see him and how different he is from the more bloodthirsty Ares. But the gods of mythology and ritual are not necessarily the same, and I take your point that itās possible that somewhere in the archaeological record we find an agricultural Ares. Or even a pacifist Ares. Who knows. I love your point about the transition of society and how that changes how gods of the land might have been viewed.
If you can articulate it well enough for your story, go for it. My point was mostly that the limits are pretty wide and generous and ācanonā shouldnāt be a restraint to creativity, especially if youāre drawing from both mythological and archaeological sources. ![]()
The only cannon Ares likes is the one he fires at whoever is on the other side of the battle lines. ![]()
ā¦
And also the one where he routinely bangs Aphrodite, heās pretty fond of that one, too.
The problem people forget is yes the more famous mythological stories are complete but whats stopping people from being creative like the journey of the greek gods as the old world dies or playong as a minor god and on the road of ambition.
I would love to write a story, I run a DnD campaign set in the age of heroes, we took far from historically accurate, just being accurate with the most widespread head canon of certain elements, my biggest stop is the thought not even the certainty of how difficult it would be to learn to work the code, I never tried nor have an idea whatsoever on how techinical or difficult is.
Itās easier coming with an original idea because Greek mythos gives a lot of room for imagination, you have a rich background of interesting deities that are much more human than gods a rich world full of diversity with monarchies, republics, tribes, mighty empires in the far east, the possibility of incorporating real historical events and/or characters, the protagonists Iām my writings are fixed if I want to stay close to what I and my friends end up with, so I have ideas and little to none interest in doing the work xP hopefully someone much more reliable and serious could work out something.
I donāt have any suggestions for how to make a story about Greek Mythology, but I do always love seeing new IFās based on it. Thereās just so much that can be used. I even have some ideas for a Greek Mythology based IF for after I finish my current WIP.
I am terrible with computers, and technology in general, but I still found choicesrcipt to be relatively easy to learn, especially with a guide.
This is a pretty lazy approach, but why not just take the start of any myth and branch it out as the story goes on where one of the endings is how the myth ends.
Basically, treat the myth as a guideline.
Thatās not lazy! Thatās actually how Iād recommend doing it. Instead of coming up with a new story with X Greek god, take an existing myth and try to expand it
Yes itās a plug for my own game, but have you read Oedipus? Iāve taken some liberties with the storyline because obviously it needs to be a choice game, added some extra scenes in, and mixed a few myths together to change up some of the alternative endings (thereās some strong influences from Orestes and Egyptian mythology in there) but I tried very hard to keep the essential core of the game a retelling of the original myth (even down to some of the alternative tellings/artwork like the Sphinx not actively wanting to keep killing and trying to make Oedipus fall in love with her- thatās actually why I agreed to make her a RO). That was actually one of my major goals in writing that piece. I wanted to write a game that showed a very misunderstood (thanks Freud /s) and interesting myth as a semi-accurate retelling.
I recommend doing your research, there are some gaps that can show up in translation over the years that need additional explanation or changing. For example guest right and the severe consequences of breaking that as an insult up to and including Zeus can feel foreign to modern audiences, as can why it would be āokā to leave a baby out to die of cold/starvation, but killing one directly would potentially invoke the wrath of the gods. You can also use background information to fill out your game with more accurate feeling events. (Like I added a āside questā where you can visit a temple and have your humor balance assessed.
Endings can be hard due to as you say, closed endings, however you can do it either by making up some viable alternatives using information from the myth itself, knowledge of how ancient greece and their pantheon works, or finding alternative retellings in the ancient mythology literature (not all myths necessarily agree completely between books.) Alternatively you can go my route which was to adapt other myths to fit into the one youāre telling. Anything in the public domain is fair game to adapt. (BUT be very careful not to step on copyright by adapting modern interpretations. For example using the myth of Hades/Percephone is fine. Using Lore Olympus as your story base is not.)
Write what you want to write. Romance is ever popular. However fixed protagonists tend to be VERY unpopular. If you want to write myth accurate IF however, then having a more fixed MC will allow you to stick to that goal more easily.
Edit: As an alternative, you can make original stories based on mythology. For example you could take one or more characters or creatures from Greek mythology, and use everything you know about them to have an original MC interact with them. As an example I wrote a game involving a water horse (Scottish folklore rather than Greek, but the same principle applies) interacting with the playerās character. I used information on the folklore to build the scene, but the story was original so you lose any of the benefits and troubles of trying to stay to a known storyline with a single ending Each-uisge by Jacic
Iāve heard from folklorists that a lot of mythology is probably exactly this, practically fanfiction. So you might actually be doing it right if you did that.
The Oresteia has been reported to be in part a way of promoting/explaining Greeceās cool new legal system, and I believe Oedipus Rex is probably adapted from some events written in Homerās Odyessy (possibly making it fan fiction?) so even the mythology of the time seemed to take liberties in what they were writing down in books and plays so I think we can too ![]()
Right, thatās exactly what I meant. They practically wrote fanfiction of their own deities. I mean, at least the Norse did, and Iād imagine others did the same.
(And I find it deeply satisfying when my writing instincts align with what my ancestral folk storytellers did, without me even realizing so⦠thatās not Greek of course, but anyway.)
Iāve been plucking away at the idea of you being pals with Odysseus and joining him in the Trojan War when Agamemnon comes and makes him honor the vow to save Helen that he technically came up with to score with Penelope.
If youāre a woman he helps you pull a Deidamia and disguise yourself to join the war, from there you can potentially throw the story of the The Iliad off-kilter, or barring that, the story of The Odyssey.
Thereās a lot of accounts of the Trojan War to work with, with tons of classic writers basically making their own fanfic of events surrounding the story. That and I think itās more fun to be a metaphorical āwrenchā in the plot that can divert the story off course more than being the central character of the entire narrative.
Prime example is Diomedes and Odysseus doing their sneaking mission into the Trojans camp and you go and join them. You could do what some of the stories remark on, wiping out the Thracian reinforcements or heisting the Palladium. Or suggest going deeper into the city and outright rescuing Helen or assassinating Hector to deal an even more decisive blow.
Itās always fun seeing what your actions can reap on a story you might already be familiar with, in my opinion. Only aided by the Greek Gods responding to your actions in turn, depending on who you do or donāt worship and thus throwing the story even more off-course.
Man salted his own fields for nothing, smh.
Does this mean Patroclus doesnāt die and Achilles doesnāt go off the deep end?
How to make a Greek Mythology game? There is but one real answer.
Fighting.
Lots and lots of fighting and combat, as well as cool/hype moments with badassery.
Wellā¦mostly that, but lots of romance and āGreek Dramaā would probably also do a lot of good to make it popular.
Well, as a Greek person, I should throw my hat in the ring. And, to keep it short, two words. Vibes, and drama. Because what is Greek mythology without that drama, that tragedy? And the vibes help with it
This is such a perfect answer, lmao.
Just literally combine Exalted + Anime Tropes and you have a winning recipe. Anything else added to it will just be like extra seasonings to an already hearty meal. Combat and Stat mechanics are definitely going to be focused on heavily if the game is set on something like the āTrojan Warā where itās basically 20 years of warfare and conflict with that in mind.
And the hypothetical Trojan War setting is also rife with lots of potential drams and romance if you want to add that.
I would say that it is far more important to convey the mentality and spirit than picture-perfect details. Greeks and ancient people in general behaved differently and lived in a far more different world than we currently do. If you want to have a story that takes part in this mythology, that is set in those times, it is very important to ensure it feels period-accurate and doesnāt, well, outright clash with the themes and characters you take.
And, most importantly, remember that mythology was not a funny detail you could simply ignore. People have believed these things to be real, peopleās mythology deeply reflects both their society and mindset - it was real to them, and it explained much in their world. Nothing breaks the proper feeling more than people mostly not, well, believing in a society with ritialised magical thinking. Someone may not hold much respect for the gods, but he still believes in them. Even in our time there are plently of people who commit to the same magical thinking.
