Greek Gods in Age of Sigmar – PRIME
The gods of Age of Sigmar look familiar for a very good reason.
When the world shattered and the Mortal Realms were born, several of the greatest heroes of the Old World were flung across the cosmos, absorbing latent magical energy and being reborn as powerful gods. They joined a pantheon of old gods, and each took possession of one of the varied Realms, each hoping to stave off the return of Chaos and prevent a repeat of the dreaded End Times. However, you may notice that some of them look…very familiar if you’re a fan of Greek mythology. While it probably isn’t a direct inspiration, the similarities are there, especially in the Order Grand Alliance.
Sigmar
The de facto leader of the Order Alliance, Sigmar is the lord of Azyr, God-King of the Stormcast, and the first of the old gods to be reborn in the Mortal Realms. He wields lightning as his primary weapon, and though his main inspiration is fairly clearly Odin or Thor with his hammer, he also bears some similarity to Zeus. He is thankfully less disdainful of mortal life, as he once walked amongst them, but as the lord of the Heavens and master of sacred lightning, he makes an excellent comparison to the king of Olympus. Also, look at his newest Stormcast: you aren’t paying attention if you don’t see the Greek influences there.
Alarielle
The half-tree Alarielle is the Everqueen of Ghyran, Mistress of Life Magic, and sire of the Sylvaneth. Taking the souls of her beloved Wood Aelves and combining them with the living trees of her Realm, she created a bitter race of vengeful nature spirits, then retreated into the woodlands, destroying any who trespass on her kingdom with ruthless efficiency. This duality of life and death reads very similar to the goddess of the harvest and the cycle, Demeter. The mother of Persephone, Demeter represents the natural transition from life to death and back again, representing both new life and eventual death. Her part in the myth of the seasons gives her dominion over the autumnal harvest season and the cold death of winter. As a vengeful goddess of Jade magic, Alarielle fits this model, and her capricious nature to heal or harm follows the cycle that Demeter represents.
Grimnir
One of the two ancestor gods of the Duardin, Grimnir was the fiery avatar of rage and battle and the chosen deity of the Slayers. When he died fighting Vulcatrix at the behest of Sigmar, he solidified himself as a figure in the Realms, and now the Fyreslayers search the Realms for sacred ur-gold to emulate his runic power. Even his connection to Vulcatrix is mirrored, with the Fyreslayers sharing a special bond with the Magmadroths, the children of the great Salamander herself. With his rage and love of battle, he is the perfect emulation of Ares, the god of conflict and war. Ares was described as vengeful and quick to anger and was a much wilder god than his more level-headed sibling Athena, which is an apt comparison to the god of the Slayers. Much as they desire to meet death in glorious battle, and Grimnir threw himself into every battle he could, Ares was always hungry for battle and would resort to violence at even a perceived slight. When it comes to wrathful war gods, these two are a match made in the heavens.
Grungni
The second of the primary duardin ancestor gods, Grungni is master of the forge and the only remaining living dwarven god. He helped Sigmar forge the first Stormcast and returned to the battlefield to assist him by developing the Thunderstrike armor to shatter the fell sorceries employed by Be’Lakor. As such, he is a perfect parallel for the forge god Hephaestus, though thankfully, his relationship with Sigmar is much kinder than Hephaestus and Zeus. Both were master craftsmen, creating items of extraordinary quality and wonders far beyond their time, which brought the Dwarves to the peak of warfare before the end times and influenced the skyborne Kharadron Overlords. When it comes to craftsmanship, there’s none better than these two masters of the anvil.
Tons of the other factions draw parallels to Greek gods as well, though not quite as directly. Morathi is related to Hecate, the Greek goddess of magic (and ironically, the old elvish goddess of dark magic was called Hekarti), the Shadow King Malekith has some parallels with Hades, and Tyrion bears at least a passing resemblance to Helios. Of course, parallels can be drawn with gods from SEVERAL pantheons, but that is the nature of creative properties; they rarely draw inspiration from a single source.
Which of the new gods is your favorite?
