Olympians
the Gods of Olympus
The Olympians were the third and final generation of gods to rule over Greece, led by Zeus after they overthrew the Titans in the Titanomachy. First the allies of Kratos and then his enemies, they were slain almost to the last across his years of vengeance, their fall bringing ruin upon all of Greece.
The Olympians, more commonly called the Gods of Olympus, were the third and final generation of gods to rule over Greece. Led by Zeus, son of the Titan King Cronos, they overthrew the Titans and made themselves masters of all mortals from their seat atop Mount Olympus. First the allies of Kratos and then his bitterest enemies, they were slain almost to the last across his long campaign of vengeance.
The third generation of gods#
The Olympians were the last of three generations of gods to hold dominion over Greece, succeeding the Titans who had ruled before them. Their rise began with Zeus, the son of the Titan King Cronos. Fearing the loss of his power, Cronos had devoured his children one by one, but Zeus was hidden away and grew to adulthood in secret, then returned to free his siblings and make war upon the elder gods.
That war was the Titanomachy, a struggle that raged for ten years before the younger gods prevailed. With the Titans cast down, the victors built their palaces atop Mount Olympus and set themselves over all mortals as the new rulers of Greece.
The rule of Olympus#
In the aftermath of their victory, Zeus and his two brothers agreed to divide the cosmos and rule together. Zeus took the heavens and reigned as King of the Gods; Poseidon was given lordship over the sea; and Hades became lord of the Underworld, while the earth lay open to all three. Around them gathered the other great deities of Olympus, among them Athena, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus and Aphrodite, worshipped by the mortals of Greece as the principal powers of the world. From their mountain they governed the affairs of gods and men alike for ages.
Allies and enemies of Kratos#
For a time the Olympians were the patrons of Kratos. In his first great war they stood as his allies, aiding the Spartan in his quest to destroy Ares, and it was with their sanction that he became the new God of War. That alliance did not hold. When Zeus turned against him and betrayed him, the gods of Olympus became Kratos' enemies, and from that point on they were the chief antagonists of the remainder of his Greek saga.
What followed was the slow annihilation of their kind. Across his years of service and vengeance Kratos slew the Olympians one after another, the greater number of them falling in his war against Zeus. The deaths of so many gods tore Greece apart, unleashing chaos that destroyed nearly all the mortal world until almost nothing remained.
The fall and the few survivors#
By the end of Kratos' war almost the whole pantheon lay dead. Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, Helios and Hercules were among those slain, alongside many more. Only a handful endured. Athena survived, having returned after ascending to a higher existence when she sacrificed herself to save Zeus, a selfless act all but unheard of among the gods.
Though the gods of Olympus were gone, Kratos chose to return the power of Hope he carried to all of Greece, so that the surviving mortals might sustain themselves and rebuild their land without the gods who had ruled them. Having survived his own attempt to take his life, Kratos departed Greece to seek a new home far from the ruin of Olympus, while Athena vanished after the death of Zeus and was not seen again.
Frequently asked questions
- Who were the Olympians in God of War?
- The Olympians, often called the Gods of Olympus, were the third and final generation of gods to rule over Greece, following the Titans. Led by Zeus, son of the Titan King Cronos, they overthrew the Titans in the Titanomachy and made themselves rulers of all mortals from atop Mount Olympus.
- How did the Olympians come to power?
- After their ten-year war against the Titans, the Titanomachy, the Olympians established themselves as the rulers of Greece. Zeus and his brothers Poseidon and Hades divided the cosmos between them, with Zeus taking the heavens and rule as King of the Gods, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the Underworld.
- How were the Olympians destroyed?
- Initially allies of Kratos in his war against Ares, the Olympians turned on him after Zeus betrayed him. Across his years of vengeance Kratos slew almost all of them, and their deaths unleashed catastrophe that destroyed nearly all of Greece. Only a few survived, including Athena, who had ascended to a higher existence.
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Related entries
Aphrodite
Aphrodite was the Olympian Goddess of Love and Beauty, wife of the smith Hephaestus and one of the few deities to favor Kratos. She aided the Ghost of Sparta in Athens and remained in her chamber through the fall of Olympus.
Apollo
Apollo was the Olympian God of Light, Music, the Sun, and Archery, the son of Zeus and twin of Artemis. Though he never appeared in person during the fall of Greece, his Flame guided Kratos to the Tree of Life, his Bow passed through the Underworld, and his colossal statue on Delos was raised once more by the Spartan's hand.
Ares
Ares was the first Olympian God of War, the eldest son of Zeus and Hera and the most hated god on Olympus. Coveting his father's throne, he tricked Kratos into killing his own family to forge the perfect weapon, and so set in motion the fall of the Gods before dying at that same Spartan's hand.
Artemis
Artemis was the Olympian Goddess of the Hunt, daughter of Zeus and twin sister of Apollo. When Ares besieged Athens, she turned the beasts of the wild against his armies, and later gave Kratos the Blade of Artemis, a weapon she had wielded against the Titans, to aid him in the conquest of Pandora's Temple.
Athena
Athena was the Olympian Goddess of Wisdom, patron of Athens and chief ally of Kratos through his quests against Ares. She sacrificed herself to save Zeus, ascended beyond the Gods, and in the end turned against the very Spartan she had guided when she sought the power of Hope for herself.
Cronos
Cronos was the Titan of Time and Harvest, last and mightiest of the Titans born to Gaia and Ouranos. He overthrew his own father, was overthrown by his son Zeus, and was condemned to bear Pandora's Temple before dying at the hands of Kratos.
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Adrasteia: the griffin who raised Zeus
Adrasteia was a nymph in the service of Gaia who, with her sisters, hid and raised the infant Zeus beyond the reach of Cronos. For shielding the child she was cursed into the shape of a griffin and imprisoned within Mount Taygetos, until Kratos and Deimos set her free.
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was a distant southern land, home to the Egyptian gods and to a civilization both old and advanced. Known as the River Empire and the Land of the Pharaoh, it touched the saga of Kratos from the wars of Greece to the treasures of the Norse realms.
Aphrodite
Aphrodite was the Olympian Goddess of Love and Beauty, wife of the smith Hephaestus and one of the few deities to favor Kratos. She aided the Ghost of Sparta in Athens and remained in her chamber through the fall of Olympus.
Apollo
Apollo was the Olympian God of Light, Music, the Sun, and Archery, the son of Zeus and twin of Artemis. Though he never appeared in person during the fall of Greece, his Flame guided Kratos to the Tree of Life, his Bow passed through the Underworld, and his colossal statue on Delos was raised once more by the Spartan's hand.
Ares
Ares was the first Olympian God of War, the eldest son of Zeus and Hera and the most hated god on Olympus. Coveting his father's throne, he tricked Kratos into killing his own family to forge the perfect weapon, and so set in motion the fall of the Gods before dying at that same Spartan's hand.
Athena
Athena was the Olympian Goddess of Wisdom, patron of Athens and chief ally of Kratos through his quests against Ares. She sacrificed herself to save Zeus, ascended beyond the Gods, and in the end turned against the very Spartan she had guided when she sought the power of Hope for herself.
Athens
Athens was the great Greek city of the goddess Athena, a hub of culture and worship. When Ares laid siege to it, Kratos was sent to save the city, a quest that ended with his slaying of Ares and his rise as the new God of War.
Atlas
Atlas was the four-armed General of the Titans, strongest of his kind, who hurled mountains in the great war. Condemned by Kratos to bear the world atop the Pillar of the World, he later aided the same Spartan against Zeus.
Cronos
Cronos was the Titan of Time and Harvest, last and mightiest of the Titans born to Gaia and Ouranos. He overthrew his own father, was overthrown by his son Zeus, and was condemned to bear Pandora's Temple before dying at the hands of Kratos.
Cyclopes: the one-eyed giants of Greece
The Cyclopes were a race of burly, one-eyed giants of the Greek world. Once peaceful shepherds and master craftsmen, they were banished underground, freed by Zeus to fight in the Great War, and bred thereafter as beasts of war.
Deimos
Deimos was the younger brother of Kratos, a Spartan demigod son of Zeus seized as a child to thwart a prophecy of Olympus' fall. After years of torment in the Domain of Death he was freed by his brother, only to be killed by Thanatos, a loss that set Kratos against the gods forever.
Demeter
Demeter was the Olympian Goddess of the Harvest and Agriculture, a sister of Zeus and mother of Persephone. She held dominion over plants and grain, and her grief at the abduction of her daughter by Hades brought barren winter upon the earth.
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