16 April 2013 | |
iTZKooPA
SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
Lore: Aphrodite, by all accounts, is incredibly attractive. The Greek goddess of love, procreation, beauty and pleasure is so desirable that the rest of her pantheon feared that godly rivalries for her hand would result in war. This is despite her being born a full adult from the mutilated genitals of Uranus. Ehem. Origin aside, her beauty resulted in an arranged marriage to Hephaestus, the ugly and deformed equivalent of the Roman smith Vulcan.
Being a deity in the Greek pantheon means such a social chain as marriage wouldn’t stop her from messing around. Aphrodite had the pick of any man she desired, gods and mortals alike. The rotating consorts caused as much strife as Zeus and the other leaders likely feared. For instance, her union with the violent God of War Ares bore Phobos and Deimos, the personifications of Fear and Terror that road to battle with their father. Continue Reading
14 February 2013 | |
iTZKooPA
SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
Lore: Vulcan, God of Fire, is not the most revered god in the Roman pantheon. In fact, Vulcan, who was also said to control the fires of volcanoes, is considered a young god, thus little known. Only being mentioned in the most recent documents of the Roman pantheon.
The later Romans worshipped Vulcan for his control of fire, wielding the dual purpose of destruction and fertilization. In the fear that he may burn foodstuffs, Vulcan was celebrated by Volcanalia in the annual festival of Vulcanalia to placate the God of Fire during the summer heat. The consuming fires wielded by Vulcan were viewed in a beneficial light, as defensive technique against enemies. Continue Reading
27 November 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
Keep looking for that code!
SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
Lore: Unlike everyone’s favorite cherub, Bacchus is not the better known of the Greek versus Roman gods. The renaming of Dionysus by the Romans is so little known that Wikipedia, purveyor of topics important and mundane, doesn’t even have a unique page for the Roman incarnation. That’s not a knock on the importance of the God of the Grape Harvest, Wine, Ritual Madness and Ecstasy. After all, aside from military prowess and early democracy, we all know how important parties were to these cultures.
Bacchus was viewed as a liberator of those that followed him. Freeing them from social norms, stigmas and oppressive restraints through his bakkheia frenzy. Wielding his thyrsus, a staff tipped by a honey-dipped pine cone and wound in ivy, Bacchus used the staff for beneficial and combative purposes. Through his imbibed female followers, the maenads, Bacchus was viewed as a divine communicator between the living and the dead planes. Swarmed by his female followers and their male counterparts, the rotund and bald Sileni, Bacchus was a traveling party. Continue Reading
10 October 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
Lore: Ares is one of the most fearsome gods in the Greek pantheon. One of two legitimate sons of Zeus and Hera, Ares represented the worst parts of war, the physicality and sheer violence. His sister Athena represented the more humane acts of strategy, military intelligence and leadership. Gods large and small tended to stay away from Ares fearing his insatiable appetite for battle. Despite his fearsome reputation, Ares found himself on the losing end of many myths, most notably the Trojan War where military tactics won over violence.
Ares is well-known for his title as the Greek God of War, but has few mythical legends of his own. Instead many of his deeds, often humiliating defeats, are alluded to as part of other myths. One constant is his insatiable lust for being a part of the beast with two backs. He fathered dozens of children, many war gods in their own respect, with Aphrodite and numerous other consorts. The adulterous union with Aphrodite lead to Phobos and Deimos, the personifications of Fear and Terror that road to battle with their father. Continue Reading
10 July 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
Lore: Zeus is one of the most well-known gods of any pantheon. The founding member of Olympus with his siblings – including older brother Hades – the God of the Sky and Thunder wrestled control of the heavens from the previous generation of Titans, including his father Cronus. His founding status and control of thunder and the sky awarded Zeus extreme power when the realms were divided between himself, Hades and Poseidon. Even those gods not descended from him respectfully call Zeus “Father.”
Continue Reading
21 June 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
Flashbang!
SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a new column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
Lore: The sunny Egyptian landscape fostered a divine worship of the sun’s rays. Providing light, growth and warmth, the deity of the sun was credited with creation. A sun god for his entire reign, Ra was said to travel the sky on two boats, Mandjet, the morning boat, and Mesektet, the evening boat. Ra was often accompanied by other deities from the Ennead during his travels to combat those that would attempt to devour Ra on his journey to rebirth.
Continue Reading
