When I departed to the cinema to watch the new release of Immortals (Tarsem Singh: 2011) I did not intend to come out with so many conflicting views on the portrayal of the deities that had been created. In the year 2000 there was a resurgence of re-worked Epic film (deriving from Ancient Greek Epic poetry); the narratives are set in historical or mythological content but displaying a ‘Hollywood’ representation with new media enhanced computer graphics, for example; 300 and Troy. The films are portrayed with little historical accuracy as the films are aimed towards the main audience who will want to see a film with narrative and characters which fits to their own pre conceptions. The directors and producers play to these pre conceptions for Box office takings; lucrative if you give the audience what it wants. Immortals is a tale of Theseus a mortal man who has been chosen by Zeus to lead the Greeks to fight against the ruthless King Hyperion; who is plundering Greece trying to obtain the Epirus Bow to unleash the Titans form Mount Tartaros.[ii] First thoughts on watching Immortals I was quite angry about how the Greek gods were portrayed, but then I could not help thinking of how Athena and Zeus’ relationship was represented. It opened my eyes to a new way of viewing their relationship in Greek religion.
In the first scene introducing Zeus (Luke Evans) and his daughter Athena (Isabel Lucas) the first thing that I noticed was Athena’s beauty; dressed oozing femininity, not the matriarchal deity that I have come to appreciate. If Zeus had not stated her name I would have assumed it was Aphrodite. But the relationship that is portrayed is full of love and affection Athena compliments Zeus’ anthropomorphic disguise as an old man; ‘when you walked over here just now, you actually looked like a father or even a Grandfather.’ The image to the right depicts this scene.[iii] It started me to decipher why they were being portrayed in such a close father daughter relationship?
In Greek Religion Athena is a god because she has two divine parents (depending on which source; in Homers Iliad Zeus is Athena’s sole parent[iv]); Zeus and Metis. Or one can also see her as solely the offspring of Zeus because of the nature of her birth. Athena is conceived in the normal way between male and female but then she is born from the head of her father; Zeus. Her pregnant mother Metis is swallowed (according to Hesiod compared to various other sources) by Zeus before Athena is born, but then Athena grows inside the body of Zeus finally protruding from his head, which is a vaginal substitute, as the head splits open she emerges fully grown; already with her attributes intact.[v] Their relationship is portrayed as the ideal single parent relationship, full of love and admiration; in the scene below Athena has intervened in the mortal Theseus’ quest against her fathers will and she receives no punishment compared to her brother Aries god of war who gets killed for his intervention.
Athena and Ares intervene with the mortal’s quest and Zeus kills Ares;[vi]
This is very interesting when referring to the god Aries in Homer’s Iliad book 5 being depicted; the war deity - whose name is synonymous with war. Aries is displaying jealousy; a key human emotion.[vii] He is jealous of his fellow deity and sister Athena. Aries complains about the favouritism that Zeus (their father) has been showing to Athena on the grounds that Zeus had given birth to the goddess. In Immortals this relationship of Zeus favouring Athena’s relationship to the other gods (especially above Ares; because he has just killed him) is clearly depicted.
[ii] Immortals,(2011), Storyline, Accessed at; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1253864/
[iii] Image of Zeus (Luke Evans) and Athena (Isabel Lucas), Accessed on; http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/Immortals-Zeus-and-Athena--570x380.jpg
[iv] Homer, (2008), The Iliad, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press) 4.514.
[v] Hesiod, (2008), Theogony and Works and Days, Trans Intro and Notes by M. L. West, 3rd ed. (Oxford: OUP) Theogony: 924.
[vi] Athena and Ares intervention. Accessed on; http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=NXtHRPAvvDc
[vii] Homer, (2008), The Iliad, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press) Book 5.
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