War of the Gods: Immortals is an American epic fantasy film directed by Tarsem Singh. Before he got his official name, it was planned to release it under the names "Dawn of War" or "War of the Gods." This film is partially based on the Greek myths Theseus, Minotaur, and Titanomachia.
Most of the filming began in Montreal on April 5, 2010. The film was released in 2D and 3D (using Real D 3D and digital 3D formats) November 11, 2011 with the support of the distributor Relativity Media, having achieved commercial success at the box office.
He received mixed reviews, but critics considered the cast to be the merit of the film, the overall plot and visual effects, as well as costume design and music. They criticized the history of the film, the script and the lack of character development.
The film's unconditional feature, Epirus Bow, is a mysterious superweapon for which there has been a long struggle between mortals and immortals. What is he like?
What is Epirus Bow
According to the film, the bow was created during the wars between the immortals. This bow was considered a weapon used by Hercules, and legends about it were common among mortals. During the conflict between the immortals, weapons were lost, and the victors began to call themselves Gods, and the losers were called titans, who were imprisoned inside Mount Tartar. The law of the gods stated that they should not interfere in the affairs of people, unless they themselves were released from captivity by the will of the gods.
King Hyperion searched for the Epirus Bow to use it to free the titans from their imprisonment and avenge the gods of Olympus. He intended to use weapons to control all of humanity, and tried to find out the location of the artifact by sending him the legions of Heraklion, who destroyed every shrine dedicated to the Greek gods. Thus, during his search, he besieged and took control of the Sibellin monastery, but still could not find the bow. It was noted that the oracle of the Sibellins could see where the Epirus Bow was located, while the gods themselves realized that Hyperion was closer to its target than ever before.
As a result, the bow was discovered in Kolpos by a prisoner in stone and was later found by Theseus, who used it to save his comrades when they were captured by the Heraklion patrol. According to the oracle, the bow in Theseus' hands will lead to the victory of the Hellenes over Hyperion. However, Theseus later fell into a trap with his friends, and the soldiers of Heraklion pleased their master Hyperion with the Epirus bow, which was taken from Theseus. Later, the weapon played a fateful role in the plot of the film, was returned by Theseus and led to the victory of the forces of good.
The power of divine weapons
In the film "War of the Gods," Epirus Bow was positioned as a weapon of unimaginable power.
This bow does not need physical arrows, forming something like energy shots. After one such energy arrow flew into the target, a new arrow was formed from the light, which hit the targets with greater impact force.
At different times, they owned Epirus onion:
- Theseus is a Greek man who, according to the oracle, was destined to possess a bow in order to defeat King Hyperion.
- Hyperion is a warlord who lost faith in the gods and decided to find a bow to free the titans. He received the weapon after it was delivered to him by the dog of Heraklion, who wrested it from Theseus.
The discrepancies of the film with real mythology
- In myths there is no mention of any Epirus bow. The closest analogue is the bow of Hercules, used to win the Trojan War.
- Hyperion never fought Theseus, as was the case in the film. In fact, Hyperion is hardly mentioned in any myths.
- Theseus fights the Hyperion army in the film, but the only army he ever fought in myths were the Amazons.
- In myths, Theseus's mother was the daughter of King Pittay of Troien. She was not a peasant, as in the film.
- Theseus did not find any bow in myths - there he found only his father's sword under the rock. This sword marked the beginning of his famous adventures.
- Theseus received special combat training in the film. But myths say that he was so strong because Poseidon was his real father.
- The gods never helped Theseus in any of his battles.
- The titans were locked in Tartarus in both the film and the myths, but in myths it was a dungeon, and in the film a mountain.
- In myths there were only 12 titans, in the film - as many as 20.
The myth of Theseus
The myth of Theseus was described by Plutarch in his works. Theseus was the son of King Aegus and his wife Aetra, although some believe that his true father is Poseidon. Theseus proved his worth as the heir to the throne after returning from a dangerous journey, where he defeated the bandits.
Upon his return, he volunteered to go to Athens along with six other young people who were to be sacrificed by King Minos to a monster - the Minotaur. The guys were imprisoned in a prison maze built by Daedalus, escape from which was impossible. The minotaur was sitting in the center, waiting for them to come.
The daughter of King Minos, Ariadne, suddenly fell in love with Theseus and decided to help him. She gave Theseus a ball of magic thread, also made by Daedalus, which helped Theseus get through the maze. He took the Minotaur by surprise and killed the creature, thereby saving other young men.
As for “Titanomachia”, the plot of which was also used in the film, it was described by Hesiod as a long period of wars between the older generation of deities - the Titans led by Kronos and the younger generation in the person of the Olympians, who were then headed by the young Zeus.
The Olympians won and gained power over the universe. After that, Zeus gained control of the sky and air, while his brothers Poseidon and Hades gained control of the ocean and the underworld.
Like it was in the movie
The plot of the film has a very large deviation from mythology. Epirus bow, for example, was never mentioned in myths, and the mythical Hyperion was a simple titan. But the character played by Mickey Rourke turned into an archetypal villain who looked more like King Minos.
There are also no links to other events that occurred in the myth. Characters like Ariadne and King Minos were not mentioned, nor were Theseus's previous exploits.
A reference to Christianity
The idea of making the Greek gods angelic and the titans demonic was an attempt by filmmakers to create an allusion to Christianity. This was done in order to equate the "Titanomachia" to the battle of Hell with Paradise.