#GOD OF WAR NAME SERIES#

The Greek word κράτος was used as a translation for the Latin word imperium. The lictors carrying fasces represent the level of imperium the consul possessed. The word κράτος is also a component of the word Παντοκράτωρ ( Pantokrátōr), an epithet used to describe Jesus Christ in Eastern Orthodoxy that means “All-Powerful” or “Almighty.” In Greek mythology, the deity Kratos may be accurately thought of as personifying the all-powerful, unquestionable authority of Zeus.ĪBOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of a gold Koson from Roman Dacia depicting a consul with two lictors carrying fasces.

During the Byzantine Period, the word κράτος almost completely displaced the Latin word imperium. To give you some idea of just what kind of power Kratos represents, during the time of the Roman Empire, the word κράτος was used as the Greek translation of the Latin word imperium, which means “the absolute power to command and be obeyed without question.” People in the Roman world who wielded imperium were followed around by bodyguards known as lictors, who carried the fasces, a bundle of rods with an ax blade emerging from it, symbolizing absolute authority. The Greek word κράτος is also a root word behind our word aristocracy, which comes from the Ancient Greek word ἀριστοκρατία ( aristokratía), which is formed from the word ἄριστος ( áristos), meaning “the best,” and κράτος, meaning “power.” Thus, the word aristocracy literally means “the power of the best” or “rule by the best.” (In ancient Greece, it was widely believed-at least among members of the aristocracy-that those who were of wealthy birth were naturally and inherently better than those who were not born wealthy in every possible way: morally, aesthetically, intellectually, etc.) The name Kratos itself is literally just the Ancient Greek word κράτος ( krátos), which means “strength,” “power,” “authority,” or “dominion.” The same word is also one of the roots of our English word democracy, which comes from the Ancient Greek word δημοκρατία ( dēmokratía), which is formed from the Greek word δῆμος ( dêmos), meaning “populace,” and κράτος, meaning “power” or “authority.” The word democracy therefore literally means “the power of the populace” or “rule by the populace.” He is, in other words, the literal personification of the concept of power itself. Therefore, although Kratos is described as a deity, he does not seem to have been envisioned as a deity in the same way Zeus or Athena were envisioned as deities instead, he was seen as more of a personified concept elevated to the level of being a divine being.

Likewise, he is virtually never mentioned outside of a mythological or allegorical context. We normally think of deities as being worshipped, but we have no evidence that Kratos was ever worshipped in ancient Greece as a deity. Nonetheless, this superficially simple description belies the somewhat more confusing reality of the exact role that Kratos occupies in Greek mythology. The mythological Kratos is the divine personification of power and authority.

#GOD OF WAR NAME SERIES#

Ironically, in ancient Greek sources, Kratos is portrayed as a dumb, overly violent thug who is unquestioningly loyal to Zeus and whose job is to enforce Zeus’s authority over all the other deities whereas I’ve read that, in the video game series God of War, Kratos is apparently portrayed as a renegade demigod who kills all the major deities in the Greek pantheon, including Zeus.

In Greek mythology, Kratos is the divine personification of strength, the son of the Titan Pallas and the Okeanid nymphe Styx. Nonetheless, as a Hellenist, I like to pay attention to how Greek mythology is portrayed in modern popular culture and I find it interesting that Kratos, the main character in the God of War series, is actually very loosely based on a real figure in Greek mythology. I don’t really have any interest in video games and, even if I did have an interest in them, I would never have time to play them. I have never played any of the games in the video game series God of War.

God of war name