#potamoi

[theogonyofbeauty]

Achilles contending with the Rivers. By John Flaxman.

[rebeccasreveries]

oceanus aesthetic [titan of the earth encircling river]

the titans

“swim with me. i think i could see the beach. i know what's underneath. i need you here with me but we're out in the open” the neighbourhood, the beach

[ponzonyera]

Just visiting the local river and praying to its spirits, nymphs and god.

[jabutipiranga]

Which regions from Greek mythology could be levels in Hades? (01)

As of now, Hades 2 has 4 levels for each path. But are there any other areas from the world of Greco-Roman stories that could be explored? I thought of this:

Wilderness of Thessaly:

Melinoë ventures through Greece's rugged hills and mountainside on her journey to Mount Olympus, as she crosses forests, rivers, grottos, and abandoned temples.

This is inspired by the myths centered around the rustic countryside of Thessaly and Arcadia, just like the Rift of Thessaly is a homage to the Odyssey and other sea-faring Greek myths. The first god to be met would always be Artemis and her nymph huntresses, in their main camp. Each "chamber" is a clearing in the woodland, and the trees are opened to the next section.

New Enemies:

Centaurs: A tribe of half-horse wildmen. They have taken a liking to the chaos brought by Chronos' army and will battle the player with boulders and tree-branches.

Golden Sheep: Voracious golden-fleeced sheep with sharp horns and poisonous bites. Inspired by the sheep whose wool Psyche is commanded to fetch in the tale of Eros and Psyche.

Spartoi: Vicious warriors sprung from sown dragon teeth. They would keep spawning from the ground until all of them are defeated.

Carpi: Nature spirits of fruits and grains, who attack the player with whirlwinds of seeds.

Ideas for Friendly Encounters:

Rhea (Title: Titaness of Motherhood): The mother of the gods and Melinoë's grandma meets the player on her lion-drawn chariot as she wanders the mountain wilds. This character could help to flesh out Chronos as she tells her story of how she saved Zeus from sharing his siblings' fate.

Chiron (Title: Mentor of Heroes): The friendly centaur who once mentored Heracles and Achilles could improve Melinoë fighting skills or teach her new abilities for the rest of the run. Being a son of Chronos, he could also flesh out his character.

Pan (Title: God of Shepherds) or Silenus (Title: God of Wine-Making): Both of these rustic gods are associated with satyrs, and could offer knowlegde on why have they allied themselves with Chronos.

Gaia (Title: Earth Incarnate): The personification of Earth itself and Melinoë's great-grandmother could give several special nature-related boons and bring up Chronos' motivations.

Wardens (sub-bosses):

Calydonian Boar: The loathsome giant boar once sent by Artemis to ravage Calydon now stands against Melinoë after being ressurected as part of Chronos' undead army.

Eurytion the Centaur: One of the Centaurs from the Centauromachy, he is much stronger and more durable than the average centaur enemies.

Ideas for Guardians (Main Boss):

Achelous (Title: Largest of Rivers): The river-god of the river of same name, defeated by Heracles for Deianira's hand in marriage. His moves would revolve around controlling water and shapeshifting, going from snake form to his man-headed bull form. His prize would be a Cornucopia, fashioned from his lost horn in myth.

A Titan allied with Chronos: Like Prometheus in Olympus, one of Chronos' allies from Tartarus would command his troops in the countriside. The options could be either Hyperion, Crius, Iapetus, or Coeus.

[fleurbleedinghearts]

I have a question because I’m curious and don’t know Hera that well, but when pairing her with someone else I usually see Iris which I can give a thumbs up to but then it left me wondering.. in your opinion:

If Hera and Zeus divorced, who would Hera marry (if she did)?

Versus, who do you think she’d marry if Zeus never married her in the first place?

Although I do think Hera x Iris is the best Hera ship besides Zeus, I can't bring myself to say I like it. Despite betraying Hera that one time, Iris does a lot more for Hera than the other way around and I think the bare minimum in a relationship is that both parties put effort into the relationship.

If Hera and Zeus divorced, I'm not sure if she'd marry again. Despite the hell Zeus put her though, there is no one equal to or close in status to him, and I can't see her remarrying to someone below her.

And I can't see Zeus remarrying if Hera divorced him either. He's definitely not going to stop sleeping around, but I don't think he viewed any of his mistresses as worthy of being his Queen.

After all, he had the opportunity to replace her when she left him in the wooden bride myth yet didn't. Can you even see hubristic bratty Semele being a Queen? Or shy reclusive Maia? And there isn't anything Leto can do that someone else can't do better.

In the case they divorced, I think they'd both just spend eternity pining for each other, but overall everything would be more peaceful because Hera wouldn't be chasing down his baby mamas and bastards.

If Hera never married him in the first place...

Poseidon is a BIG NO. He sleeps around as much as Zeus and his temper is worse in certain ways. The only way in which he's a better husband than Zeus is that he loves the children he has with his wife and favors his legitimate son. Terrible choice of a husband for Hera though since unlike Zeus, I don't think he would be willing to forgive her for trying to kill his bastards.

I can't see Hera willingly marrying Hades. I know he's a good husband and all as far as gods go, but I can't see her being happy in the Underworld. But let's say he kidnapped her when she was still single, I think she'd accept it eventually, but Rhea would NOT fight for Hera the way Demeter did for Persephone, so without even getting to spend half her time outside the Underworld, I see her being eternally unhappy.

Maybe one of her foster brothers the Potamoi? It's hard to say because they're all far lower in power and status than her, and I think both those things do matter to Hera.

Helios is the closest in power to Hera's brothers out of all her male cousins, and he feels similar enough to Zeus that I could see Hera liking him without being exactly like Zeus. He does sleep around a lot though, which I can't see Hera being happy about that, but if he treats his legitimate kids well I can see Hera having a slightly better relationship with him than she does with Zeus.

Now... minor unhinged possibility:

If she was NEVER married to Zeus, who's to say none of his sons would be interested in her? She's very beautiful and powerful, and she wouldn't be their bitter step-mother in this AU.

Apollo wanted to marry Hestia, Iasion was Demeter's lover, so Hera would've been just another hot aunt (who wasn't taken by their father) in this universe

[katerinaaqu]

Do river Gods have a leader among them?

I'm interested in river Gods but most of their myths are related to origin of the river names or heroes journey like how in the Iliad we have Scamander for example who Achilles battle or another one where we have lines saying they all attends the Gods gathering when Zeus called for them except for Oceanus (lol). And that's the thing too, usually when in referring to Oceanus the Titan, his daughters the Oceanids plays more role than the river Gods, and they all also have prominent figures like Metis and Styx to named a few. It's just that we have Amphitrite who is the queen of the sea and Thetis who is kind of unofficial leader of the Nereids so I was wondering if the river Gods at least have some equivalent to that?

Oh my gosh this is such a great question! Forgive me dear Anon for being so late to take it I had like a bunch of stuff going on! Hahaha

Now as you brilliantly stated it is not always clear from the sources what is going on with river gods since their parentage is mostly the one that is mentioned (coming from Oceanus and Tethys usually or in some version they are named as "children of Zeus" but I think these are mostly just to show how Zeus is the "father of all" by title rather than by parentage)

Now we do see that since Zeus is the king of gods and heavens he is the general leader of all, including the river gods. In the Iliad we even hear that in terms of power Zeus is stronger than the River Gods so he and his line are stronger than the lines of the River Gods.

and since Zeus is stronger than the rivers that reach the sea, therefore the lineage of Zeus is stronger than the one of the rivers!

(Translation by me)

So Zeus is the king of kings, including the River Gods. However given that Poseidon is the king of the earth and everything on it, he is the god of waters of all kind, AND one of his epithets is Φυταλμιος (phytalmios)= plant-nurturer, I think is safe to assume that he is also a river god-related deity hahaha

But a rather interesting leader that seems to command at least some of the river gods is Apollo. Apollo and Poseidon are oftentimes associated with each other. Apollo in particular as the protector of youth he is often associated with the offspring of gods or kings etc but in this case he appears also to command some river god (for example Hesiod mentions such a thing in "The Shield of Heracles" and Apollo is in it because of Cycnus. Apollo has also been linked with bodies of water before for instance the famous Castallia is the source of water that purifies his sacred lands, Delphi which he released from the grasp of the snake/dragon. Of course Poseidon, god king and protector of all kinds of water in various sources, he appears to command river gods do his bidding. That latter makes sense if one thinks also the cycle of water and how rivers eventually reach the sea or how water from the sea that evaporates finds itself through the sky into rivers and lakes.

So I would say Apollo is also one of the leaders of certain river gods especially when youth is associated but the actual leader god of rivers and bodies of water in general is Poseidon and consequently Zeus as the king of all gods is also a leader of all creation, including the river gods

[dreamconsumer]

Achilles Pursued by the River God Xanthus. By Henri-Frédéric Schopin.

[theoihalioistuff]

The Rivers all came together in order to make a complaint against the Sea. They told her: "Why is it that we come to you with waters sweet and fit to drink, but you change them into something briny and undrinkable?". In response to the Rivers' criticism, the Sea replied: "Don't come, and you won't get salty" – Aesop, 412 Perry Index

Thalassa [Θάλασσα], the Sea. — Church of the Apostles. Madaba, Jordan.