[The Bear's Lair] Kaos, Netflix and Greek and Roman mythology

We are now into our fifth week together, and this grumpy, gruff and dark encounter in the lair of the bear will be veiled by tones of black humor. Yes, because we will talk about the arrival of Chaos on Netflix: a TV series which will reinterpret the Greek mythology in a modern way, with tons of gallows humor: gallows humor, gallows humor.

If you are not going from worried to mouth watering, you are a bad person. Or nice people, depending on your point of view.
But let's get to us!

Ah, I almost forgot: at the cost of being petulant, I must emphasize that, in Greek, the logo chosen by Netflix would read KLTHS and not KAOS, but the result is aesthetically appreciable and therefore the grumbling will be limited to the minimum wage.

Kaos on Netflix: what we know

In reality so far we know very little: the motherhood of the series is up to Charlie Covell, screenwriter of The End of the F *** ing World, another show signed - or better, co-signed, together with Channel Four - by Netflix.

XNUMX-year-old London-based Covell, an Oxford-educated, is also an actress and producer, who was launched into the streaming platform cosmos with outstanding work on The End of the F *** ing World, adaptation of the graphic novel namesake, designed by Charles Forsman.

 

We also know that the executive production was entrusted to Nina Lederman, of All3Media, along with Tanya Seghatchian and John Woodward, both of the Brightstar. Many of these names won't say much, but know that, for example, Seghatchian worked as a co-producer and executive producer on the first four films of the company. Harry Potter saga.

When will Kaos arrive on Netflix?

You don't have one yet release date, but it will probably be an auspicious (or perhaps ominous?) day of 2019. There is no news about the cast, characters or plot yet. In short, so far the Netflix strategy revolves around the unspoken, more than anything else.

According to the official announcement of Netflix, the first season will consist of ten episodes of sixty minutes each; we can already see the card of the TV series Kaos on Netflix, and the official synopsis reads like this:

This one-of-a-kind series gives a modern twist to Greek and Roman mythology, exploring themes such as gender politics, power and slum life.

Chaos on Netflix: hypotheses and speculation

This series could be either among the most beautiful things we will see over the next few years, or - at the other end of the spectrum - yet another minestrone alla Percy Jackson and the Olympians: a saga that I frankly enjoyed, but we really need to see more Hermes / Mercury in the shoes of a courier, or, just to give an example, Zeus / Jupiter in the expensive haute couture suit of a multinational CEO, e Athena / Minerva with the stern hairstyle of a librarian with a fervent sex life?

At that point, while we're at it, all mythological creatures and the terrible beasts of legends suddenly become human, because you know, the budget ...

 

Alternatively you could opt for a low cost remake of the very valuable XNUMXs series on Hercules e Xena.

In the time of the Olympian gods, warlords and kings who ruled over a turbulent land, mankind called for the help of a hero to regain freedom.

Let's stop the flashback for a moment, and briefly frame the historical and social context of theAncient Greece. Yes, the TV series will likely be set in our days, but it is important to know what will be reinterpreted in a modern way, in order to better enjoy the transposition.

Civil rights in Ancient Greece

First we must remember that when we talk about Ancient Greece we refer roughly to the period between 1100 BC and 323 AD: we start from end of the Mycenaean civilization, you go through the birth of Democracy and the bases of the republic, you arrive in the classical age and finally park in Hellenistic period, in which the Greek culture increasingly merges with the Roman one, and women acquire a little more rights than in the past.

Yes, because in Greek civilization the roles of men and women they are well defined and separate; women have substantially few civil rights, and are relegated to certain (but fundamental) tasks. There religion it is inseparable from everyday life, and there women play a very important role in operations related to worship.

I'm summing up brutally, to the point where my past teachers are already making pitch and feathers, but I'm doing it for you. Remember my sacrifice!

Religion, pantheon and gods of ancient Greece

We said. As far as religion is concerned, we must assume the mentality of the time: the gods are tangible entities, who often not only walk among mortals, but put their beak into human affairs and politics, and even go so far as to having sex with mortals. Many times. Also in the form of animals different.

Eeeeh yes. Deities who take on animal forms and gnappize unsuspecting mortals.
Think of a druid who turns out to be a serial rapist.
The plot thickens.

And hold on Zeus / Jupiter away from your loved ones.
Come to think of it, even from yours pets: it is not said that a bull, an eagle or a swan does not actually hide the old lightning thrower.

 

It is precisely in religion, however, that there is a certain contrast with respect to the civil society of the time: the Greek pantheon it's full of female deities which would make most of the male counterparts pale.

It is among these deities that, perhaps, we can find some of the characters that we will see in TV series Kaos on Netflix over the next few months.

Possible characters of Kaos

When you are talking about gender identity, power and life in the underworld and, according to some sources, including of criminality, certain mythological figures cannot fail to come to mind at the same speed reached by the famous winged sandals of Hermes / Mercury, the heavenly messenger we will talk about later.

The name of the series clearly refers to the Primal chaos which, according to the Greek cosmogony, is an empty abyss personified in the primordial divinity of Chaos, precisely. After him come:

• Gea (the earth);
• Tartar (the Underground);
• Eros (the love).

Da Chaosmoreover, they are born Erebus (the Darkness) e Nyx (the night). Among the other primordial deities we also see Uranus and his son, Crono, which we will discuss shortly and from which, in essence, the gods of Olympus that we all know.

Basically the Kaos series on Netflix could be one prequel to the myth of Olympus gods? It is not far-fetched. Or it could start from there, and progress gradually towards the most recent myths.

The setting will partially concern the kingdom of the dead, and therefore I hope to see the Gorgon: Medusain fact, with his peculiar hairstyle feared by men and gods, he lives in a cave in the garden of the Hesperides, not far from the underworld.

The theme of gender identity

In Plato's Symposium, the character Aristophanes explains that there are not only two genders: in addition to man, son of the Sun, and woman, daughter of the Earth, there are also children of the Moon, who possess traits of both natures.

Another cornerstone of this issue is Dionysus / Bacchus, which often represents theandrogynous archetype par excellence, and which has as its symbol the hermaphrodite fruit par excellence: the pine cone. Or Tiresias, the blind seer we find in the Odyssey, who becomes a woman for seven years for various reasons.

Taking the issue more broadly, we cannot forget Medea, feminist revolutionary ante litteram, in whose myth - among other things - there is no lack of possible interpretations of rather contemporary xenophobic themes.

The theme of power

Among the probable issues I would include the generational clash among the Titans, culminating in the emasculation of Uranus, primordial deity of the sky, by the son Crono, primordial divinity of time and harvest: the earthly element overwhelms the celestial one, in a certain sense the opposite of what happens in Norse mythology.

Even tastier is the desperate clash between Crono himself and the next generation, represented by the brothers Zeus, Ade e Poseidon. On that occasion the power over the universe is divided between the three brothers: Zeus is entitled to kingdom of heaven, Hades touches the underworld, while Aquaman the kingdom of the sea.

 

The power that dominates and subjugates opponents, moreover, is personified by an old acquaintance of gamers: Cratos, son of Pallante titan, which it allies with Zeus against i Titans. Yes, just the Kratos di God of War, who, however, in the videogame saga is the son of Zeus and joins forces with i Titans against the gods of Olympus.

The theme of life in the underworld

My hypothesis is that it will be about the daughter of Demeter / Request (that of Ceres beer) is Zeus / Jupiter, as well as wife of Hades / Pluto: la déa Persephone / Proserpina, who spends autumn and winter in the realm of the dead, in the role of queen of the underworld, while in spring and summer he returns to his mother's house, making the earth bloom as he passes by.

Or the series could explore the myth concerning the poet, singer, argonaut and virtuoso of the lyre (the musical instrument). Orpheus, and his troubled love affair with the beautiful Eurydice, evidently in very poor health. Our Bard ante litteram, in fact, undertakes a journey to the Underworld, charmando left and right with his music, and obtains to bring back his beloved among the living. Too bad that, in addition to having invented the nine-stringed lyre and probably also the blues, Orpheus also has a certain diffidence in gods of the underworld, and therefore more or less involuntarily breaks the pact with the gods of the Underworld. The result? Eurydice dies. Again.

The topic of crime

When it comes to crime, you can't help but get involved Hermes / Mercury, who is yes the messenger of the gods, but also is the god of deception, of thieves and liars: a fascinating as well as dishonest storyteller, a bit like the Loki of Norse mythology.

In the TV series, moreover, I would insert an honorable mention for Herostratus, one of the best known criminals of ancient Greece: an arsonist sentenced to death for burning the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, One of the Seven Wonders of Age of Empires of the Ancient World.

Whitewashing, Blackwashing, eccetera.

La TV series Kaos on Netflix will explore, as we have seen, also the issues related togender identity. And that's fine: TV series are an excellent promoter for the evolution of society and for the abandonment of any form of discrimination.

One of the risks associated with Netflix production, however, is that of seeing divinities and characters characterized, perhaps, by an ivory complexion (very white) or vice versa, who are played by actors who have an appearance that has little or nothing to do with it.

Now, it shouldn't be necessary to clarify your point of view on this, but I will do it to avoid misunderstandings: I support the culture of diversity and inclusion since before it was glamorous.

Divinities not necessarily white ...

If we talk about Zeus / Jupiter, the Father of the gods, who in literature does not have a very specific physical appearance (apart from the beard and long hair), I would have no problem if they opted for example for:

• Morgan Freeman (who needs no introduction);
• Samuel L. Jackson (does he look like a bit**- a god?);
• Jeffrey Wright (who I loved in Westworld);
• Delroy Lindo (Malcolm X, Broken Arrow, The Chicago Code, ecc.);

or for any other black actor of adequate age and stage presence.

Why just a black actor? Because one of the names attributes a Zeus it is Aethiops ("with a burnt face"), which generally can indicate the African populations south of Egypt or even the Indian ones, and which sounds peculiarly similar to the Ethiopian term.

Also an Hermes / Mercury he could have dark skin or oriental features, given that in many mosaics he is represented with a darker complexion than that of the neighboring gods, and after all the series will be set in the present day. Athena / Minerva e Ares / Marsmoreover, traditionally they have a complexion tending to bronze and, just to give an example, they could very well be played by a Native American actor.

On the other hand, I would be absolutely opposed to seeing an interpreter with a typically Northern European appearance for Silenus, dark-skinned woodland divinity with essentially African features, was also my favorite actor!
Which, for the record, is that genius of Christoph Waltz.

I could offer dozens of other examples, but I think we should stop for the moment.

… And gods who should be

If instead we are talking, for example, of It was / Juno, whose epithet in the Iliad is "with white arms", I am convinced that the character should not be distorted for a choice not related to the show or the classical mythology.

Aphrodite / Venus she is generally described with a white complexion but with dark hair, so much so that some of her epithets are Melaina and Skotia, that is the black / dark one.

Apollo must necessarily be blond, as well as Eros / Cupid, since their epithet is about golden hair. Demeter / Request instead it is described as fawn, while for Dionysus / Bacchus the situation is not clear: for Homer he has dark hair typical of the Mediterranean populations, while for Euripides he has a very light complexion.

We could go on like this for hours, but I'll stop here and underline a concept: basically for the Greeks the physical aspect of the deities was much, much, much less important than the attributes related to the divine figure, such as the lightning bolt of Zeus / Jupiter, or the aegis and helmet of Athena / Minerva.

The return of Greek mythology

We are full revival of classical mythology, both Greek and Roman: just think of the announcement during theE3 2018 di Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Ubisoft title from the imminent release for which we have also made numerous guides; or think of the first chapters of the saga of God of War, which has now come to take its own steps in Norse mythology and for which we have made comprehensive guides.

Finally, we should not forget the film español, released this summer, which re-proposes Greek mythology in a modern key: I'm talking about Ulysses: a dark Odyssey.