Netflix's KAOS: The Disenchantment of Greek Mythology

[@AncientGreeceRevisited]

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[@LadyBeesTOYBOX]

I have become thoroughly enchanted by the Ancient Greek World; Especially the Mysteries, Muses, Preistesses, and the history that has been stolen from us. I can only imagine a world filled with the Gods & Goddesses. Their imperfections gave us a place to observe behavior. Our own and others. Hence, their theater. Thank you for this and all your videos 💜💜💜

[@WorshipperoftheOldGods]

@@LadyBeesTOYBOX You can only imagine it? Imagine no longer for it is true. The world is full of Gods

[@farewelltothesun]

I absolutely loved KAOS. In my opinion, it's one of the best shows in the last years. For me, it's a show very much in line with the myth of Prometheus. Gods really are spiteful and petty, egocentric and narcisstic. They require worship and give nothing in return - even worse, they are unjust tyrants. So, the series is about what humans and other lesser beings can do to fight this injustice. They can't appeal to a higher authority - the gods are the highest authority. But something needs to be done. And on top of this main theme, the world of KAOS is amazingly complicated. Each character has their vices but also each one is presented in a way that lets us understand why they are like that. There's no simple white-and-black situation even when it comes to Zeus, just as there's no simple solution to any of the conflicts depicted in the series. And then there's wonderful acting, decorations that are both absurd and very down to earth, there are little details everywhere that prove the writers know Greek mythology very well... It's all just perfect. I enjoyed every minute of the show. So, as a side note: I believe that if you look for politics, you will find it everywhere. Like in this saying, that if your only tool is a hammer, everything starts to look like nails. It's actually important to stop looking at art through political lens or you will just make hurt yourself otherwise because you will not be able to enjoy anything.

[@AncientGreeceRevisited]

I actually agree with much of what you say, apart from "absolutely loving" KAOS. It's true that the Greek gods were - or could be - spiteful. But they were also resplendent, and that **too** was uniquely Greek. In fact, that is something that has been forgotten, how only the Greek gods were beautiful. The Christian "gods" are not beautiful, they are not ugly for sure, but neither Jesus nor Mary are described as radiating with beauty, their long black hair falling on strong shoulders (like in the ode to Dionysus) or the shimmering gray eyes with their terrible look (Athena in the Iliad). We have to hold both Greek "uniqueness" at once in order to understand how KAOS misses the mark. Having said that, and despite what many of our audience might think, I do believe that KAOS **did** capture something authentic about Greek mythology, which is what you mentioned here. It's just that it was clearly part of this de-mystification that is beneficial to the status quo (talking about politics being everywhere) with its scientifi-bureaucratic methods of control.

[@Diogenes_43]

May the Immortal Gods return to destroy this world of ugliness.

[@daniellogan-scott5968]

In watching the trailer, the show struck me as being made from a position of hubris - the great sin in Greek myth. I was still open to watching it out of curiousity to see if I was right, but your comments settled it for me and I will not bother. The Divines must be disenchanted so that we can conceive ourselves capable of judging them. That is the hubris. So no second season? I would like to think Nemesis has not yet left us.

[@raphaelplatania2079]

I've just stumbled across your chanel and I'm really enjoying the content. Your attempt to understand ancient Greek mythology without our modern lens is very rare and praiseworthy. I wonder, would it be possible to do an episode on Ares and his domain? Modern writers seem to dismiss him, but I have trouble believing that he would be one of the 12 if he wasn't important and in some way revered. Besides violence and war, does the worship of Ares have deeper significance?

[@WorshipperoftheOldGods]

@@raphaelplatania2079 I would argue that war is pretty significant enough. The world is run on conflict. History is written in blood. That alone tells you that we need Ares on our side because life is do or die. I'm not saying that's all there is to Ares but that aspect in and of itself is no small thing.

[@AncientGreeceRevisited]

We’ve done such an episode, which hopefully addresses your point. Look for “Ares: our terrible love of war”

[@AncientGreeceRevisited]

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[@WorshipperoftheOldGods]

Not going to lie. As someone who is a Hellenic Polytheist, the show seems lame. It's just another piece of media saying, "Oh look! The Old Gods are so terrible! Haha!". Hard pass. This show is proof positive that Polytheists need to create their own media. Like, seriously folks, it annoys me to no end. Here we are having to pick through shows written by people that couldn't care less about the Gods and writers of Pagan news sites like the Wild Hunt think we should be happy about it. Meanwhile, shows like The Chosen are out there with the most charismatic and endearing depictions of Jesus Christ and His saints to be put to screen and Christians still find something minor to debate about in every episode. Really goes to show the disparity in standards between the two groups and how we as a community need to demand better (both in our media and of ourselves in what we're willing to support).

[@daniellogan-scott5968]

We live in an age of hubris where people openly defy the Divines. Our poisoned food and farmlands is a sin against Demeter. We reject Aphrodite when we reject beauty in things like art and video games all in an effort to stop the "male gaze" and the love and children that may come of it. The list goes on. Hera and marriage, Hestia and community, Athena and wisdom, Ares and masculinity, and people openly mock the virulent Zeus - the sky-father. From what little I have seen of Kaos, it is a celebration of this hubris because the makers think that are better than the divine forces that have guided humanity from the start.

[@WorshipperoftheOldGods]

@@daniellogan-scott5968 Yes. It's like what Hesiod wrote. We are in the Iron Age of Man. Impiety reigns. All of these are symptomatic of the Protestant-Secular and Monotheistic hegemonies that have hijacked the West. That's why we as contemporary holders of these traditions to need embrace our ancient values. We as a community need to embrace values of family and piety again. The time of the Pagan being the rudderless, countercultural libertine is over and should have never started to begin with.

[@carmichaelree]

Thanks, Michael!

[@Oblomovrising]

7:44 Exactly

[@BlackAngusReviews]

Never heard of it, gotta check it out

[@noonesomeone669]

There is room for various depictions within art of existing material. An issue arises when only one form of it dominates everything else. The disenchantment or casting choices made in adapting Greek myth are fine removed from everything else, however in context they are just more of the same and in service of a narrow worldview. People can see it with media they dislike and that disagrees with their politics however the blind spot emerges when both of those are false.

[@AncientGreeceRevisited]

What you wrote here is what we said in the video

[@achillebrlnds]

I can't bring myself to watch that show, great episode though!

[@magouliana32]

The blind leading the deaf.

[@magouliana32]

Followed by the gay 😅

[@AncientGreeceRevisited]

If only the ignorent were “the mute” …

[@brian423]

I like the idea of reenchanting our modern world through rediscovery of Greek myth and (some) Greek philosophy, but I don't like your channel's subtle implication that the state should carry out the reenchantment through public policy. I get the sense that you would entirely reject the classical liberal tradition of the past few centuries even though it genuinely improves on ancient Greek political thought. Reenchant the world, yes, but please don't do it through Platonic-Aristotelian tyranny. (Please correct me if I misunderstand you here.)

[@AncientGreeceRevisited]

Where exactly if I may ask did you get this idea (I would love it if you could send us a timestamp with something that I’ve said). The state re-enchanting the world is an almost satyrical contradiction in terms. The state is but a product of the same disenchantment that began with the modern revolution we call “the Enlightenment.” Hope that I’m making our position clear…

[@lucianofreire1848]

Why on earth would anyone in one's right mind waste any time of one's lifetime watching a netflix WOKE ADAPTATION of Greek Mythology when one can read the Theogony, the Metamorphoses, the Illiad, the Odyssey, and so on... ???

[@YLunatic]

👌🏻👌🏻👍🏻

[@WellingtonVieira-wc4jf]

Wow

[@RaineHoltz]

What's a genuine depiction of Greek Mythology in your opinion? (Recent or not)

[@daniellogan-scott5968]

Yes. Percy Jackson - Sea of Monsters was rubbish - BUT I think Nathan Fillion made a great Hermes.

[@WorshipperoftheOldGods]

@@RaineHoltz Genuine how so?

[@AncientGreeceRevisited]

That’s a great question by the way

[@geogeo2299]

Well the disenchantment goes hand in hand with the woke agendas - in fact, it precedes them by far, as it was introduced as Historical Materialism. So the feeling that emanates from your position is rather blunt and muted, as if you'd liked to speak frankly but the political correctness won't let you.

[@AncientGreeceRevisited]

How is that? We’ve done many episodes on scientific materialism and its disenchantments. You might want to check out our episode on Aristotle’s Politics. Materialism precedes woke agenda by a few centuries, and its evangelists, like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris keep their distance from it. Yet, the two might connect in strange and underground ways to be sure.

[@seangavingregory4367]

I watched 15 minutes of that KAOS garbage... glad it failed miserably

[@AncientGreeceRevisited]

We could do better

[@TheMouseOfAtreus]

Propaganda (always) stands against art - poetry, beauty... everything that can keep us alive (... it is also clear who wins ❤ :)

[@carmichaelree]

Propaganda is no different to Aristotle's rhetorical appeals. It is neutral in nature. It is a vehicle with no innate evil or goodness. It is up to the individual on how propaganda is used. Did Aristotle hate art?

[@TheMouseOfAtreus]

​@@carmichaelree I'm sure you are right about neutrality. Thank you for reminding me of Aristotle; I'd like to read/learn more about him. I rather thought that if someone uses a work to prove the right to exist of their ideology, or twists it completely. Interpretation, judgment... Sometimes it can be good. A bowtie and little trousers can suit a cat (especially if it's in a Bulgakov novel). But does it really matter if Medea is guilty? Shall we judge or analyze her deeds today? Or something is more dreadful - shall we think of what we should think about her?

[@borisnegrarosa9113]

Greek mythology is really boring. But hey, who am I to judge?

[@WorshipperoftheOldGods]

@@borisnegrarosa9113 This might come across as presumptuous but I get the feeling that your opinion on the Greek myths has more to do with the pop culture understanding of the stories more than the actual stories themselves as they are presented in the ancient texts that tell them. Have you considered reading the actual texts from the Greeks and Romans themselves?

[@AncientGreeceRevisited]

Greek mythology is only boring in its washed out version of white statues and morel crowns. Whoever read the Homeric Hymns cannot but be left in awe.

[@borisnegrarosa9113]

@@WorshipperoftheOldGods I just find the names, characters, gods, stories, acts etc somewhat exaggerated and difficult to relate to average life and reality in general. But maybe I'm not intellectual enough to understand and draw conclusions.

[@WorshipperoftheOldGods]

@@borisnegrarosa9113 Before I respond, I'd like to ask: do you feel the same way about stories from the Bible?

[@karlsapp7134]

@@borisnegrarosa9113watch some of the other videos on this channel. It will help you to see how a story can guide life understanding.