#anyway I've been rambling to people about zagreus as a god so there it is

[sangreprince]

Headcanons: Zagreus, The God

Who Zagreus is as a god is a complicated question, but one that boils down into a semi-simple answer: He is the god of blood, sweat, and tears. In other words, determination. This is gonna be broken into a few parts to avoid yapping so people can easily find the lore they're interested in.

1. Overview & Sources

2. Abilities

3. Personality / Alignment

4. Following

1. Overview & Sources Borrowing from his etymology first, I'm sourcing mostly from Dionysos by Karl Kerényi. A lot of what he is as depicted by SSG comes from that and I'm similarly drawing from those sources. There's other conflicting information out there such as some of the materials in the Greek Epic Fragments by Martin L. West, but I personally won't be referencing it since I don't believe much of that was sourced for his character in this specific portrayal. That said though, I do recommend people check it out regardless as there are some things in there that also seem to be the basis for what SSG establish (Such as some lines cited by Timothy Gantz). That said, I also borrow (what I can) from the Sisyphus epic as detailed in the Aeschylus, which you can find online under West as well. Mainly this pertains to not only his nature as the Son of Hades but also his specific function within the Underworld. My portrayal is kind of a mix of those sources, heavily inspired by the tones SSG set in their own interpretation of the mythology.

Because we don't actually know a lot about the historical Zagreus and some of the information is conflicting, especially regarding Orphic tradition and his relationship / identity with Dionysos, most of my portrayal is going to be a mix of filling in the blanks with my own narrative based off of (primarily) the sources given. There's a lot of mixup there regarding Zagreus and Dionysos that I won't really be touching for the purposes of this blog. That said, I strongly believe in being authentic and respecting the source material! If you know of any good sources. That said, if anyone has any ideas or thoughts regarding this please let me know some source materials I can go over!! Mediterranean history and mythology is something I'm going to try and respect and acknowledge, even if some liberties are taken for the sake of distinction. Comments should be open for this so if you've got sources, feel free to paste them below!

I'm using these two sources alongside the story established by SSG to sort of form my own narrative with Zagreus. That said, if anyone wants to read them I'll source them here!

Kerényi, C. (1976). Dionysos : Archetypal image of indestructible life. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA52740670

West, M. L. (1990). Studies in Aeschylus. In De Gruyter eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110948066

2. Abilities.

Zagreus is Hades's son. He is undying, unable to die except by extremely unconventional means that would sever his link to the cycle of life and death itself. But that isn't to say he can't be killed. He is still partly, even if only by a small margin, mortal. This allows him to be vanquished by any conventional means that would otherwise kill a regular human. Even if he's a god, he bleeds. He can be bested.

'Zagre' has its roots with 'zoë' and 'zoön', the Greek words for 'life' and 'living thing' respectively. I take this to mean he can be killed as any living thing can, a narrative the game-play supports. Taking a 'Yes and' improve approach to that, I also feel like part of what makes him formidable however is his influence over the blood of living things. This can extend to the ability manipulate the blood in an individual's body to a number of effects, such as making wounds that never heal on their own or stop bleeding. This would reflect the casting ability he has, and possibly was even one of the sources of inspiration for SSG in regards to that mechanic. Secondly, taking that prescient I'd like to think he could also control the flow of blood in a living creature to varrying effects. Heightening senses, accelerating heart-rate, even using the blood of living things to heal himself. But nothing on the level of say, water bending. His power is a lot more subtle than that.

Additionally, his name (and even Artemis in game) suggests he's a fantastic hunter. And that, I think, is where much of his actual formidability comes from. An exact translation of his name would be something like, 'catcher of game' and I think that's appropriate. He is a fighter trained by Achillies and a hunter favored by Artemis that cannot die. What makes him frightening as an enemy is the fact that, no matter what you do, he's just going to come back. And every time he does, he gets a little bit better at fighting you. And that should be terrifying, were it not the fact that Zagreus can be reasoned with. It would be a nightmare if you couldn't avoid him simply by laying down your weapon and engaging in a dialog. In as much a way that he is a god and an unstoppable force, he is still his own individual with principles. Among said principles is mercy, understanding, and compassion.

But to those that don't heed that? Zagreus is and should be frightening. Because he is stubborn. In that way he is Hades' son. And he will never stop until one day, eventually, he bests them. It isn't a matter of 'if', but when.

3. Personality / Alignment

As a god, Zagreus is... Fairly outgoing. He doesn't believe himself above anyone else, living or dead. In much the same way his name derives from 'living things', he's very compassionate towards mortals and doesn't place himself on a pedestal regarding them. If anything, he views his power as a god as a responsibility, a trait his Father instilled in him after much effort. In this way, he uses his power and influence as a god in service of the living despite being a chthonic god of the Underworld. But from a distance. He knows that power can corrupt, and his influence carries weight among the mortals that acknowledge him. So he prefers to be more of a distant but dedicated figure, one who only intervenes when inaction would be detrimental to all parties involved. Including his conscious.

For the same reason, he doesn't to reveal his nature as a god too often to those that don't already know. He understands that others might perceive him differently as just another being with their own agenda and morality if they view him through the lens of a god. They might think because he is a god and thinks these things, his opinion should be held with more regard than somebody else's. And Zagreus just doesn't believe in that. And more than that, it often introduces a power dynamic he simply isn't comfortable with in most instances.

4. Worship Zagreus is often misunderstood by mortals. Often, they see that him and Ares are close and, considering his affiliation with blood, make him out to be somewhat more of a sacrificial deity than he is. Mostly they perceive that he's the good of blood without contextualizing that he's more than that in a literal sense. Zagreus's domain more subtle, less 'blood and conflict' as it is 'blood sweat and tears'. He's portrayed as a stubborn, defiant, persistent and I'm inclined to believe he's the of god of effort and 'bleeding for your passions' so to speak.

While this does have relationships with conflict and battle, as you would naturally expect,  it's hardly what he represents on the whole. In regards to most of the people that follow him, he almost has this bitter and hesitant relationship. He doesn't necessarily endorse the collection of people who see him as a sort of god of passionate violence and bloodshed which. Is only a partial truth, and one he isn't fond of.

Ironically, a lot of the times the mortals he actually admires don't' even worship him at all. To an extent, Zagreus actually prefers this.  He doesn't seek worship. So when people actually come around and understand him and pray that fit that niche of being stubborn and passionate people who bleed for their convictions and invoke his name? He's' probably one of the easiest gods to talk to individually, as well as work with on a practical level due to his compassion and natural intuition.

[animelover20]

Hello fuckers. I would like to share some news from my life because.. why the fuck not,it's 4am I'm bored.

I started a new game😃 it's greek mythology based and it actually expands on a character who only appeared in one myth(so they're extremely minor and it's a surprise they were even able to make a game with him as the mc) but with that out of the way here's some fuckin rambles because it's so fucking cool.

(minor spoilers ahead. Also a big ol ramble)

The games called Hades and it's based in the Greek underworld. And the reason why it's so cool is because the mc is actually trying to escape,a feat that did appear in actual mythology but was rarely accomplished.

The game is a rougelike which means you die over and over in order to get better and progress..

WHICH FOR A GAME ABOUT ESCAPING THE UNDERWORLD IS SO SMART!

Anyway the main character is called Zagreus(prob didn't spell that right) and he appears in only one myth. The myth about his birth and subsequently his death. They somehow expanded on this one myth while keeping true to the source and making an impactful story. All out of one myth.

The game has about 70+ hours of gameplay before it starts to get repetitive. But the way it progresses with you is so amazing.

Right as you start getting past the first boss more consistently the game ramps up in difficulty. Not so much so it's unplayable but enough that you notice. You learn the enemies attack patterns,learn what weapon suits your play style and honestly you learn so much about this one guy and the people around him. The games so immersive I get lost for hours,so determined to finally have him escape and when you get there it's so rewarding even for me who had spoiled the ending and bosses.

The games so good it got a fucking sequel.

I know I'm a big nerd when it comes to mythology but there's a lack of media sorounding it. So to have one of my favourite game genres make sense while including the wonders of greek mythology is just unreal.

The character design is incredibly well-done with me even being able to compare most of them to real life sources and descriptions. The only exceptions to this being gods that were so minor they weren't even described. Or personifications who were known as shapeless and embodying the very things around us on a daily basis.

The game goes into gods who were feared by ancient Greeks simply for being chthonic.(Aka dwelling in the underworld.) Even if they weren't scary to our standards they believed that having any ties with what lies below would fuck you over in the long-run.

One of my favourite minor gods from greek myth is portrayed so well it's honestly hard to believe. This being the personification of peaceful death Thanatos and despite being labelled as peaceful death he was feared immensely. He alongside with his twin brother Hypnos(personification of sleep) do not appear in many myths due to being chthonic but in Hades they are portrayed so well you'd think they had a cheat sheet.

They spent so long on this game and it really shows. They have dialogue for when you die and what you die to, certain events like reaching the third area and so much more.

It's such an amazing game for being about minor figures. And it has a good and comprehensive story. One that has almost brought me to tears countless times.

The games so good I'm at a loss for words but that might just be because I've been rambling about it for the last 28 minutes😂

If you did truely make it this far hats off to you, because I think this might just be my biggest ramble yet.

Thank you for coming to my talk,even if you didn't read all the way😂❤️

Love you fuckers.

[weebsinstash]

I apologize if I'm spamming u with the whole h*and h*lding with zag and peg meg asks (hi same h*rny anon lol) I may just be a lil slow but I read that one ask as zagreus just fucking MOANInG our name in the middle of being plowed by than and meg like he was cruisin for a punishment

I like to think that adoptive (milf) mama nyx accidentally walked in on her adopted son being sowed, seeded, and fertilized (possibly by the aforementioned "meg strap" TM) and just refuses to let anyone sense enough to bot hear that shit down the hallway suffer the same fate

also

I'm so soft boned for these characters and I havent even played haha

Also I hope ur well 🖤🖤

anon: *censors hand holding*

also anon: so anyways what if once when Zagreus was getting absolutely PLOWED--

Nyx was the true hero of the underworld all along, keeping everyone safe from her nasty nasty children. Anyone starts clapping cheeks, she switches on the God Powers and puts that shit on mute

And I'm doing... okayish? Had that doctor appointment today that I thought was gonna be with with my PCP but turned out to be a different thing, got covid tested which GOD hurt like hell, I'm off work until my results come back (my mom's gotten sick recently and we both have kind of the same symptoms so, we both got tested). Got talked to about potentially having fibromyalgia (which wouldn't show up on a test and honestly would kind of be the worst outcome imo), though myalgia can also be a covid long hauler symptom, and since I've been in pain since April 2020, which was right after I moved and had a lot of exposure to different people at like different locations in several different states, I can't help but wonder..... I also had wisdom teeth surgery at some point and have to wonder if that didn't heal right and maybe that's causing the tmj and other stuff but idk, I'm probably gonna have to go back to the dentist, though I figure if something's infected that would've shown up in some of the blood tests I've been taking lately. I just have problems with being paranoid about this stuff haha

Anyways I just rambled all that cause I've just been kind of constantly uncomfortable off and on. I thought it was going away but today it's flaring up again and I'm scared of the thought of like, either something significant being missed, or having a chronic pain condition :/ I have more doctors to go to so I guess it's a good thing I have state insurance to cover everything