#Kaos Nax

[charms-cat]

Nitpicking Kaos

Aka "Is it so hard to have 10 seconds of Googling?"

Dislaimer: I'm not a follower of the Greek pantheon nor am I the most avid "fan" of Greek myth (putting that in quotes bcs there are still worshippers today), but oh my God. Is it so difficult to keep the most basic of information correct? I'm not gonna nitpick on how they twist certain myths (e.g. how Orpheus gets to and gets Eurydice out of the underworld) bcs it's fine, it serves the plot they're telling so it's not like they're doing it for no reason. But the names of gods? Their titles? The fact that Hera is probably the only goddess who has remained faithful to her spouse? Is it too much to ask?

EDIT: just realised just how negative this all sounds, but I did genuinely enjoy the show and its plot. It was interesting enough to captivate me for 8 whole eps, the character dynamics were intriguing, and the portrayal of the gods was cruel and I loved it since it hammers in the disconnect/lack of empathy that they feel for mortals

Anyway, here's a list of nitpicks [SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT] feel free to correct me if I'm wrong

Heracles, not Hercules

Why do people keep getting this wrong? The name of a literal Greek Goddess (Hera) is part of his name. How are you gonna make Zeus praise him, but still get his name wrong

Hestia

Why is Hestia reduced to being a fucking dog????????? Not just any dog either, she's Zeus's dog that already died, absolutely no chance of an appearance of his fifth sibling unless you wanna make it that Zeus was such a dick that he named his dog after his sister. It's not like she has a "useless" domain. She's one of the three most well-known virgin goddesses. She's the goddess of the home and hearth and of the sacrificial fire. She's the one who receives the first offering at a (domestic) sacrifice so why is she just a dog??

Hera

If I had a nickel for every time I read a retelling where she cheats on Zeus with his brother, I'd have two nickels (the first was Lore Olympus, if you're curious). Hera is supposed to represent the ideal wife, the literal goddess of lawful marriage so how the fuck can you make her be unfaithful?????????

Poseidon

Not so much a nitpick than a question, said question being "why are we acting like Poseidon doesn't have a wife, the nereid Amphitrite, queen of the seas" did they get divorced? Is that why he's lusting after Hera

Hades

He's the god of THE DEAD. Thanatos is the god of death ffs; he's the literal personification of death. Thanatos takes mortal souls, and Hades presides over said dead souls. It would've taken only a few seconds to change Hades's title card and for Persephone to call him "god of the dead" instead of the "god of death". Nothing about Hades's position even hints to him presiding over death itself. We only ever see him running the underworld (Y'know, where all the dead are?). They literally had to change nothing but his title card and what Persephone calls him

Persephone

This isn't really a nitpick on her character, but.... if she's in the underworld, shouldn't it be winter? It doesn't matter that she truly loves Hades or that she went willingly, Part of what fueled Demeter's winter is her grief over losing/being away from her daughter so why is it so damn sunny when we cut to the mortal world

Orpheus

Again, not a nitpick but a definite downplay of his musical abilities considering the fact that the song he sung to convince Hades and Persephone had literally stopped the underworld in its tracks

Prometheus

Not an egregious change, but I'll say it anyway: Wasn't he freed by Heracles during his 12 labours? It's not like he needs to be chained up, pretty sure the resentment that comes from centuries or millenia of having your liver pecked out and eaten would sustain his hatred for an equal amount of time

Minos

Their decision to make him a president instead of a king is not only unnecessary, but it makes him look like the Greek ver of Putin. I mean, they really didn't need to add in the part where Ariadne(?) says something along the lines of "you should let the people vote, they'd choose you anyway". Just... the implication that he simply declared himself president is dumb as hell. Despite Athens being the birthplace of democracy, I don't think they even had presidents in Ancient Greece. You could literally just call Minos a king and virtually nothing about the plot would even change so why bother. Is this really just their attempt at "modernising" their world/setting? It's not like we don't have kings in this day and age

Minotaur

It's true that Glaucus is a sibling of Ariadne, but the Minotaur is a whole separate sibling. The Minotaur even has his own name: Asterion/Asterius. Just another case of "why did they have to change this?" Literally just swap out the name "Glaucus" for "Asterion" and not only will (yet again) virtually nothing about the plot change, but it would be more mythologically accurate and less confusing for people who do know the myths. In fact, it could've been a fun hint for people who know the myths to clock what really happened to "Glaucus" early on, but still have them questioning "how did he become the Minotaur in this version?"

Pasiphae/Pas

Ngl I'm kinda sad that Pas seems to be just a normal mortal woman bcs, in Greek myth, she was a sorceress-goddess, the daughter of Helios. Plus, although I think it's kinda fucked up that she was forced to fuck/be fucked by the Cretan bull (bcs being "made to fall in love" is not the same as "falling in love"), I think it would've been interesting to explore not only her grief over losing a child, but the grief that comes from realising that he never was and never could be accepted by either Gods or mortals. Also, it would've made her obsession over him look slightly less selfish (and lowkey creepy) if we found out that part of the reason was that she knew her son could never live among humans as half-man, half-bull so she resorted to making wax figures that would've at least let her imagine what it would've been like if he wasn't the result of divine punishment

Theseus

Was literally just an Easter egg. Downgraded from a prince of Athens to a Cretan bodyguard. Didn't even do his most notable act (killing the Minotaur) or even get sent to the Labyrinth in the first place. Makes him feel very much like a character that the writers added just to say, "Look! Look, we know Greek myth!" Especially since Theseus disappeared into thin air after the Trojan 7 were arrested. I don't think they even showed him in the crowd with Andromache, mourning Astyanax

Non-character Nitpicks (yeah, I got more)

Bees

Not really bothered by this, but I'm pretty sure that bees aren't even one of Hera's sacred animals. They could've made it peacocks, make the birds wander the grounds and when the reveal drops, the symbol of opulence turns into an unabashed display of cruelty

Ichor

Admittedly, the colour of ichor in Ancient Greek texts has always been ambiguous. But I feel like it would've been an interesting visual for their blood to be a non-red colour; maybe the popular gold, for example. Bcs it would've A) drawn a clear line between Gods and mortals and further "validated" the Gods' hubris by serving as visual proof that there's an undeniable difference between them and the mortals; and B) would've really caused Zeus to panic when he saw that his blood was red instead of gold, make him think that he's becoming mortal, vulnerable, weak

Styx

Minor nitpick, but isn't the sentence for not being able to pay the toll only 100 years, not 200? Why the extra 100 years? Why even change this? If they really wanted to make it feel like a long sentence, then they should've gone for 500 or 1000 years. Living even just 100 years of doing the same thing with no variation or even the choice to opt out, or even being able to taste anything, would start feeling hellish sooner than you might think

Couples

This might just be the aromantic in me, but why is there so much romance???? And it's between couples that never existed in the OG myths

1. Hera/Poseidon - why??? I've already talked about how it goes against Hera's character, but if they really wanted them to have a "deep" relationship, they're literally siblings?? They could just bond over having to be the ones that keep Zeus in line or being the only ones responsible for actually ruling their realms (bcs Amphitrite is nowhere to be found). They didn't need to insult Hera's character like that

2. Theseus/Astyanax - I'd have less problem with this if it didn't seem like Theseus wanted Ari to only save Nax instead of all 7 Trojans. It makes it feel like they're fueling the idea that a person would only be desperate to save the person they love romantically. E.g., a husband saving his wife, but not someone saving their best friend

3. Prometheus/Charon - same problem as the Theseus/Nax ship, especially with the added line that Prometheus needs to rely on "someone who will do anything for you" (or sumn like that). Like,,,, you can do that for your friend too, y'know. It's not out of the realm of possibility to miss your friend or love them so deeply that you'd do anything for them. It's literally a well-known joke(?) that there are friends who'd help you hide the body. It'd just be a more intense ver of that between Charon and Prometheus. They didn't need to be romantic to showcase Charon's trust in and dedication to helping Prometheus

4. Caeneus/Eurydice - I'm so tired of people falling in love in less than a week (I don't think this relationship even reached a full three days). Iirc y'all had a grand total of 6 conversations - first at the Frame, second meeting when Riddy introduces herself as a diver, third at the party, fourth when they're sitting on the bench, fifth when they have their short escapade to the Nothing, sixth in Caeneus's bedroom.

I mean,,,,, I get that they shared meaningful conversations, but I swear none of said conversations even lasted more than 5 minutes so where on Earth is this "love" coming from?? Y'all have barely scratched the surface of what you know of each other but you think you're connected??? Get real

Ending on a positive note

I actually love the Furies and the Fates. The Furies more for their looks and their vibe and especially the Fates for their (literal) know-it-all nonchalant attitude. I hope they come back next season.

The set design and colouring is also top tier, from the underworld filtered in black and white and looking industrial and office-like to the vibrant colours and festivity of Earth to the opulence of Olympus

Some actual trans and disability rep! I've been burned before with the trans rep since the Netflix adaptation of "Alice in Borderlands" has a cis woman playing a transfem, but Misia Butler is an actual transmasc! [Nobody argue that AIB couldn't have an actual transfem bcs of Japan's transphobia bcs I can tell you what's not helping trans rights: having cis women play transfem roles, thinking it makes no difference anyway. Good rep can pave the way for acceptance]

The disability rep in actors is so fucking bad that I genuinely thought most people with disabilities just didn't become actors. I only knew that the daughter in "A Quiet Place" was actually deaf bcs I went to look it up. Anyway, hope Mat Fraser (Daedalus aka only decent father figure) comes back bcs no way he actually got eaten, right? Right????

[assignedpeanutallergyatbirth]

Need someone talented to make an edit for Kaos (specifically Riddy/Caeneus, Nax/Theseus, and/or Prometheus/Charon) to “Sailor Song” by Gigi Perez

I mean “I don’t believe in god but I believe that you’re my savior”

Please tell me someone sees the vision

[sugarcube-stillabookworm]

sure i didnt have enough sad feelings about the tragic fate of astyanax of troy already why dont you add some more why dont you give him to me grown up and in love and loved just to brutally kill him as a rebel ten minutes later really why not

[jeanmoreausautismstickers]

when I say fable applies to theseus and nax will I be thrown from the walls of my city?

"love was the law, religion was taught" literally fits them to a T

[libraryleopard]

me: [complaining about how kaos's cancellation means i'll never get to see the rest of the trojan storyline unfold and whether nax might have played a role]

my sister, uncertainly but soothingly: i could send you…photos of sir manfred dondarrion…when a knight of the seven kingdoms airs…?

[koresflowers]

the fact that nax&theseus were banging eachother and in the next scene the police was at their door and then they were hanged is just wild.AND THE FACT THAT ARI WANTED TO BANG THESEUS IS ALSO INSANE(she didn’t even know he was gay)

[sapphic-terror]

Hear me out - Sometimes a relationship is you, your boyfriend, and his friend, (the daughter of the man you hate who kinda saved your life so now you owe her and you boyfriend really does like her) (fuck it, you’ve made worse decisions) (and if you radicalize the future ruler of Crete in the process of seducing her into a poly relationship with you and your boyfriend well things could be worse)

(“Hello, Princess.” Ari fought the urge to scream, or throw herself off the nearest wall. Irony and all that.

“What do you want, Nax?”)

[randomling]

Okay one of the many things I really like about Kaos.

(Spoilers below!)

Ariadne wants to fuck Theseus. But when she finds out he's with Nax, it's no more of a big drama than if she'd found out he was with a woman. She has a clear moment of "...oh" and she's cold with him afterwards, but that's clearly as much about the betrayal and setup as it is about her thwarted libido, though that does seem to factor into why she's hurt.

People are just allowed to be gay, without comment or judgement.

And they're also allowed to be trans. There is *no* discussion of Riddy fucking Caeneus, in the context of him being trans. *None.* No hand-wringing about what it means for Riddy's sexuality. Nothing but acceptance of who he is. We are given no more reason to believe Riddy is anything other than straight after they've had sex. (There's no particular confirmation that she's straight either, but then again there usually isn't.)

That's another nice thing - the story doesn't make Caeneus's gender about his partner or her orientation. Caeneus's gender and transition are about *him*.

I'm a gay (...iiiiish) trans man and I absolutely love this.

[amultitideofdrops]

Another great detail in Kaos is that in the myth, Theseus abandons Ariadne heartbroken on the island Naxos.

In Kaos, Ariadne realises Theseus doesn't like her back, he has a boyfriend who goes by Nax.

[consilio-cameos]

Kaos spoilers!

First, the show is so good and I'm pissed that Neflix cancelled it.

Second, I thought it was mostly a comedy show and I didn't imagine crying at Andromache and her son reunion and Nax and Theseus intimate moment to Andromache sobbing to the salvaged body of her son and the other Trojans.

Please, give Andromache and Hecuba some rest ;-;

[panatheia]

Okay im 3 or 4 episodes deep into Kaos, and I dont know of its a bad show or not, cause im enjoying it so far

Só here are my thoughts about it YAY (!be careful, if you care about spoilers)

First of all, Cassandra of Troy is a relevant character love that for my girl. Shoutout for the other Trojan women, Andromache and Hecuba, they are just so tired

Euridice my darling only wanted to move o with her life and curse the gods but nooo, she had to be hit by truck-kun and NOT be renewd

Orpheus dude is so real, if Riddy was my wife i would kms to join her

Also, can we all shit on Zeus head for a second? Bros an asshole wtf i totally forgot about that. Like, shooting your ball boys because of a watch? Being a total ahole to the only son that still visits you despite their stepmothers bitching? Planning to cause mass destruction, war and general mayhem in the Earth just because? Dude, get a hobbie

Now onto the Trojans 7 part omg i was so sad the entire time. When Theseus first showed Nax I took one look at that twink and I knee he'd die but I didn't think it would Hurt™ so much

Seriously, when Andromache is hugging him and he said that ir would all be ok, and cassandra screaming for them to run, thats when I knew that i was in for a tear fest. When Ari woke up to the screams of Andromache, I couldn't even see anymore cause i was crying a lot. And the way they hung the kids corpses from the wall in an allusion to Nax being trown from Troys gates as an infant (ody im looking at you), I was sad

Okay, moving to brighter topics, going down the underworld its such a fun bit! Hades and Persephone haven't done any godly bulshit and seem tô be the only healthy couple around this show so kudos for them

Riddy is having a hard time poor girl. First she dies. Then she discovers that she cant reincarnate. Then she has to work for 200 years. Then the food tastes like nothing. Then shes stuck with a annoying bitch at work. Godness, someone give her a break

Caeneus my beloved your myth is so sad you deserved better. I hope you can help little Nax and you lot in the underworld can be happy

Dyonisus has his priorities straight, ngl. Get a promotion, help the dude that makes cool music and most importantly, taking care of Dennis, the single most important character is this show

Going back to orpheus. Dude, not Cool taking your wife's coin so she cant cross. Not cool

And finally, Minos, you're a bitch and Ari, they could never make me like you, wdym "Your segregation is for your own benefit" girl

Anyways, soon I'll have more updates

[seal-seas]

Finished watching KAOS on Netflix after starting it like late November and now I’m kinda bummed it got cancelled. it’s one of the better shows I’ve seen this year, especially for a Netflix original, and I really liked its take on the myths it handled ( I love Eurydice so much I can’t even ). There were some characters I would like to see more of, namely Ari ( who did get her spotlight in the later episodes but I feel was supposed to be even more main character-y in the second season) and like. Nax, I guess ( although him showing up just to be put in situations is a little bit funny Ngl)

All in all the first season was very promising and an enjoyable watch and I think it could have really thrived if it had gotten the conclusion it was supposed to

absolutely loved Cassandra, like of course she would be some random crazy woman eating cat food

Nabhaan Rizwan did an absolutely amazing job playing Dionysus too, you really feel for him from the very start and his earnestness and slight naivety is a very good contrast to both Orpheus and the other gods

[assignedpeanutallergyatbirth]

There is something obscenely on brand about scrolling through the character tag for a minor character and seeing this:

I’m the top blog on the tag.

[superkooku]

So, remember when I said I probably wasn't gonna watch Kaos ?

Well, long story short, my family members asked to watch it with me because they found it kinda funny and, out of curiosity, I did. The first 3 episodes at least.

So, for all the fans, it's not a hate post but I'm still gonna complain, because yeah, there are problems. Just know that you're free to enjoy whatever you want, I have no problem with it.

I'm gonna add a "read more" just in case you don't want to read a (mostly) negative rant about your favorite show 😝. But of course, any friendly debate or counterargument is welcome on this post.

There will be some positives but it's mostly in a "if we forget the source material" way. Which Kaos did multiple times. But it was quite difficult for me to do.

My impressions

You know when doctors watch hospital series and point out every mistake and/or inaccuracy ? Like "No, that's not how anatomy works" or smth ? And somehow kinda being entertained by the mess ? That was me 😅. The whole time.

I don't have anything to say about the actors. They did a good job.

About cultural accuracy, that's obviously not the priority here (unfortunately). But I honestly prefer letting actual Greek users criticize the details like @margaretkart , @katerinaaqu or @wordsmithic. Btw I feel this isn't the type of shows you three would like (I myself spent the whole time finding errors lol).

Why so many shortened names ? I thought it was only Eurydice (Riddy still sounds dumb) but here they are saying Ari for Ariadne and Nax for Astyanax. Three syllables isn't that much, guys.

I kept thinking "You're a wizard Ari" the whole time. (In my language, the H in Harry is silent)

Hades and Persephone were cute, ngl. I don't know, just seeing them work together not in a toxic dark romance setting is refreshing. I just wished Hades was more intimidating. Not evil, per se, that's dumb. But more kingly. Because the Underworld is his domain.

The video explaining how the Underworld works to the shades is fun.

For the 100th time IT'S HERACLES, NOT HERCULES !!!

Thank you @sarafangirlart for mentally preparing me about Hera X Poseidon because... WTH was that ???? I audibly cringed and explained why Hera would never do that.

And for Hestia being a dog... seriously. Why ? How about we actually respect the goddess of the hearth ?

But you did NOT mentally prepare me for Zeus "originally being a human". No he wasn't 🤣🤣. Again with the gods being killable. I really hate it.

I'll repeat it : Ariadne being in the anti-god prophecy is stupid. There are way better choices than a freaking olympian god's wife

Eurydice falling out of love feels weird. It's one of the most healthy pairings in mythology 🤦‍♀️. I prefer the Hades version, she feels more like a fleshed out character and has a more legitimate reason to be mad at him.

Zeus and Prometheus' relationship is kinda fun. Especially Zeus just seeking wisdom from him and teleporting him to the eagle again.

Conversely, I don't like Zeus himself. Probably one of my biggest pet peeves in the show. He just follows the modern "Zeus is 100% horrible" approach. I'm bored by it at this point.

And Zeus would NEVER murder his infant child !!! He'd hide it, protect it, like he did with Dionysus when Semele died.

Godly red blood my beloathed 😭. Where is ichor ?

And yes, Wikipedia is right, Theseus and Astyanax are lovers in this.

(I'm referring to this post. All my problems with this are still relevant) :

If they desperately wanted gay/bi Theseus, Pirithous is literally right here.

Btw why does Theseus work for Minos ? Why did both the Immortals movie and Kaos forget that Theseus is a king and not some financially struggling guy ?

Also, for Kaos alone, he tried to save Athenians by fighting for them, for his people... and to solidify himself as king too. But he still succeeded in saving them.

(here I am defending Theseus. Yup...)

I feel the one who'd bring Ariadne to bloody shows and encourage her to break rules would be Dionysus. Not Theseus. (The Dionysus X Ariadne shipper in me is talking)

Though I still buy him trying to charm her in order to get her help. But yeah, not as much a complaint than something I noticed.

I couldn't resist explaining to my family that they never met, Astyanax died as an infant in most versions and that Minos kept ATHENIANS captive, not Trojans.

When we saw the Minotaur's silhouette, my brother and I sang Batman's theme song 🤣. Because, again, why respect the "bull-headed" man depiction when we can make it lame ?

Polyphemus' depiction was also disappointing btw

Some characters should have more fantastical aspects imo. Like the Erinyes or the Fates. And I needed some time to recognize Charon.

I like some characters like Prometheus, Medusa (she's too attractive but I like her sass), Hades/Persephone and... surprisingly Dionysus.

Ok. I'll finish off with Dionysus (because I love complaining about him in particular)

So, on one hand, this version is pretty fun. I like his energy, how he's not afraid of anything and just chills with mortals. He has a very "cool bro" energy. I liked the scene where he drove the truck in a "idgaf" way. And his dedication to help Orpheus to find a purpose is really cool. Overall if he was an original character, I'd honestly really like him.

On the other hand, as a representation of Dionysus the god ? Not really.

I'll only say he's one of the best, not because he's very accurate, but because the bar is extremely low 🤣🤣. Like at least he isn't a stupid drunkard or a background character.

But it's still very disappointing. The fact that in Episode 1, he's introduced as the god of wine and madness. And yet the second part isn't used at all 🤣. Feels like a decoration rather than the core part of his mythological character.

Also, Dionysus isn't insignificant. He had a whole journey proving his worth, traveling, expanding his cult. I'd understand Hera calling him that (in his youth, before he helped her with Hephaestus), but Zeus ? No !

Zeus values his son, he even trusted him to go to India and make them believe in the gods. He saved his son twice if we count Orphism, then enthrusted Hermes to hide him from Hera. Because Zeus can be a good father at times, yk ? 😂. He's not a horrible demon, just a representation of kings.

Coming back to Dionysus, in my mind he's a fun guy 50% of the time... and a menace to society the other 50%. And a free spirit with zero limit 100% of the time.

Also, where are the maenads and satyrs ? Why is he alone ?? He has a big following !!! I'd feel like in his moments of doubt, he'd ask Silenus or hang out with them.

Finally, him helping Orpheus is hilarious considering that

1. Orphism. Orpheus should have recognized him instantly.

2. Orpheus dies dismembered by maenads. In a way, Dionysus DID help Orpheus to reunite with his wife, huh 😂😂 ?

The scene where he and another guy made love in the toilet reminded me of the Prosymnus myth... that comes from veeeeeeeery late sources. Idk how to feel about it. I would have preferred him to show his might as a god.

(plus I don't like sex scenes in general. Yeah, I had to skip these parts 😅.)

More about my opinion on this version of Dionysus here :

Global conclusion

Idk I'm mixed about this. I don't like how they handled most of the mythological depictions, but independently, it was kinda enjoyable. Some scenes are fun independently from the myth.

I don't have a lot to say about the plot : interesting for an original show, stupid for a mythology adaptation (wth is that prophecy ?).

I think I'll keep watching the show, just to laugh a bit 🤣.

Btw seeing how they handled the couples, I'm glad characters like Odysseus/Penelope, Perseus/Andromeda didn't appear 😅. I'm betting they'd be portrayed as misogynistic cheaters or smth.

And Penelope or Andromeda as women who hate their husbands and have no common characteristics with their myth versions.

[emziess]

Would you be able to gif the nax and theseus sex scene from s1 of Kaos? I believe it’s 1.03 right before the Trojan 7 are taken? Thanks!

Hello! I just have, you can find it here! I hope you like it. I did blend in a little of their moment after the sex, just as I also thought that moment sweet.

[libraryleopard]

I keep wondering what happened to Theseus in Kaos after episode 3 since we never seen him after the police come arrest the Trojan Seven for the second time and I’ve come to the conclusion that I think the most interesting answer would be that he’s gone to Athens and becomes an enemy of Crete as a result of Minos killing Nax.