Hades is an incredibly well designed roguelike. It ties together its endless runs with a gripping narrative about escaping the underworld with the help of the Olympian gods, who provide protagonist Zagreus with helpful boons. It has numerous interlocking upgrade systems and drop-dead gorgeous art, but none of that is what this video is really about. It’s about diversity.
See, Hades doesn’t feature the typical whitewashed lineup of Greek gods and goddesses. Developer Supergiant Games made a concerted effort to diversify its deities, resulting in a wonderful melting pot of racial, orientational, and cultural diversity. From Athena and Ares to Achilles and Patroclus, there is a lot to be analyzed in how the developer elevated its game using these principles.
Hades is available now on PC and Nintendo Switch, and Supergiant Games is still keeping the fire going with frequent updates. FrameWork doesn’t hand out a traditional Game of the Year award, but if we did, this would be it–so consider it a strong recommendation.
00:00 — Intro
00:50 — Title Card
1:02 — Three Types Of Diversity
1:30 — Diversity Of Race: A Different Point Of View
4:36 — Diversity Of Orientation: Directly From Greek Myths
6:38 — Diversity Of Culture: An Artist’s Inspirations
8:40 — Variety Is The Spice Of Life
9:34 — Yes, The Gods Are All Hot
10:01 — Inclusive Content Creators
11:16 — Like, Comment, & Subscribe!
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Sources:
Here’s how ‘Hades’ makes going back to hell feel fresh [Washington Post]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/10/13/hades-game-origins/
Black Athena: How Hades Gets Its Gods Right [Kotaku]
https://kotaku.com/black-athena-how-hades-gets-its-gods-right-1845146132
How Supergiant Games Create Music & Art – Developing Hell #03 [NoClip]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQPk9J7spw0
Twitch.tv Clip [Chloe Naylor]
https://twitter.com/echochlo/status/1308282873904939009
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Thanks for stopping by, everyone 🙂
Personally I never thought of Ancient Greece or Greek Mythology as anything but diverse. Not the best example, but the slange "greek" for sexual practices involving the rear stems from that very idea – most pilosophers had male lovers, often younger.
As for cultural diversity, Hades is pretty on the nose about several myths from different cultures picking up similar themes – just look at the ancient weapons' alternative forms 🙂
I'm so glad Gameranx mentioned your channel. Awesome videos so far and looking forward to more in 2021!
I really need to play Hades. My backlog is swamping me down I might just go for the recent games at this point.
Nice vid, I have not heard anyone talk about this subject until now but it’s really interesting.
If anyone has thoroughly studied ancient Greek society they'd know that ancient Greece was a fractured frontier of culture that branched into the modern day Middle East and Africa. Their pantheon of gods was as much borrowed from neighboring civilizations throughout the millennia as much as that which descended from Minoans (pre-Greek Greeks).
That said, this modern notion of whiteness, blackness, etc did not exist in antiquity at all the way we obsess about it today, though I understand our need to modernize the mythology, however inaccurately it might be received. So I wouldn't make the mistake to call ancient Greece inclusive, since they had their own intracultural divisions.
So yeah it's great to see that they incorporated gods of different skin color because it more accurately and interestingly reflects their possible origins, as long as you understand that such an emphasis is purely a post-colonial way of viewing the world, completely foreign to antiquity. Though it is of course a bonus that people can find identification through Hades' godly interpretations today. As for myself, I just nerd out on the historical context of it all.
I dont think the best part of hades is the diversety,but the diversity is cool.
Love the channel so far but fyi Athena's mother was Metis who Zeus "ate" or absorbed (giving him his 'wisdom') and then 10 months later she shot out Zeus' head fully grown and fully armored while Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera and alongside Hephestus is the only legit in marriage son(s) Zeus has, all the rest are from varies one night stands.
Also im sry dude i get what ur doing and its awesome but for someone who studies greek myth this is hurting my insides.
And crucially, they did it so seamlessly I didn't even notice most of this stuff until you mentioned it despite my many hours playing, and I'm sure the people within those diversity groups noticed and appreciated it immensely, incredible work.
Artemis the Celtic-inspired ace/aro*. UwU
*which is almost me except male, although I'm not aromantic though. But I have plenty of Celtic ancestry and am Gray Asexual.
The Smite version Is the One much similar to the myth, yes She blonde and have Blue Eye so stereotypes go away.
Actually doing anything ancient greece without male love would be a gross misrepresentation. It's mostly a matter of western mass media stoping to be pussies about it, and Supergiants sticking to the source material as they should 👌