Peirithous
the demigod prisoner of Hades
Peirithous was a demigod of Thessaly who descended into the Underworld to claim Persephone and was condemned by Hades to eternal suffering. Caged behind brambles, he bargained the Bow of Apollo for his freedom and burned to death at Kratos' hand.
Peirithous was a demigod of Thessaly held prisoner by Hades in the Underworld and condemned to eternal suffering, a man who longed to escape and be with Persephone. In the old myths his crime was descending into the land of the dead to claim her as his bride. Caged behind a wall of bramble, he offered the Bow of Apollo to Kratos in return for his freedom, only to burn to death when the Spartan turned a beast's fire upon his prison. (God of War III; Bibliotheca)
A demigod condemned#
Peirithous was a demigod who became a prisoner of Hades, condemned to eternal suffering in the Underworld; the myths make him a king of the Lapiths of Thessaly, who went down to the dead with Theseus to carry off Persephone. In the game he had sought to escape the clutches of the lord of the dead and to be with Persephone, the queen of that place. For daring to covet the wife of one of the great gods, he was held fast and left to endure without end, a note in his own hand scrawled with his desire to flee Hades and reach Persephone. (God of War III; Bibliotheca)
The Bow of Apollo#
When Kratos passed through the Underworld during his own journey, he came upon Peirithous trapped behind a cage of bramble. The demigod begged the Spartan to set him free, offering the Bow of Apollo in exchange for his release. To open the way, Kratos loosed a captive Cerberus Mongrel held nearby, whose fiery breath ignited the bramble. Riding the beast through to Peirithous, Kratos turned its flames against the cage. The fire consumed the prison and burned the demigod to death, his screams ending as the bramble blazed, and Kratos claimed the Bow of Apollo. Whether the Spartan intended his death or whether it was an accidental result of seizing the bow was never made certain, though it ended in the same manner as other souls he had burned alive in his long path of slaughter. (God of War III)
Frequently asked questions
- Who was Peirithous in God of War?
- Peirithous was a demigod from Thessaly who was held prisoner by Hades and condemned to eternal suffering in the Underworld. He had descended into the realm of the dead seeking to claim Persephone, and for that crime Hades caged him behind a wall of bramble.
- Why was Peirithous imprisoned in the Underworld?
- Peirithous sought to escape the clutches of Hades and be with Persephone, the queen of the Underworld. For daring to covet the wife of one of the great gods, he was trapped and condemned to suffer without end in Hades' domain.
- How did Kratos kill Peirithous?
- Peirithous begged Kratos to free him in exchange for the Bow of Apollo. To open the way, Kratos loosed a captive Cerberus Mongrel whose fiery breath he turned against the bramble of Peirithous' cage, incinerating the prison and burning the demigod to death. Kratos then claimed the bow.
Sources
- GameGod of War III, Santa Monica Studio, 2010
- BookBibliotheca, Attributed to Apollodorus, 1st or 2nd century AD
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Kratos
Kratos was the demigod son of Zeus who rose from a Spartan general to the Greek God of War, destroyed the pantheon of Olympus in a quest for vengeance, and then began again in the Norse realms as a father seeking to leave his bloody past behind.
Bow of Apollo
The Bow of Apollo was a fire-imbued bow named for the sun god Apollo. Kratos took it from Peirithous, the doomed lover of Persephone, who was imprisoned in the Underworld within a cage of brambles.
Cerberus: the multi-headed hounds of Hades
The Cerberi were a race of fierce multi-headed hounds, most of them kept as the beasts of Hades in the Underworld. Kratos faced them across many of his journeys, from the breeders of Pandora's Temple to the Mole Cerberus that had swallowed Jason and the Golden Fleece.
Hades: the god whose soul Kratos tore out
Eldest son of Cronos, Hades ruled the Underworld and held life and death in balance. Kratos turned the Claws of Hades on him and ripped his soul out.
Persephone: the queen who wanted it over
Forced into marriage with Hades, Persephone set out to end the Greek world and herself with it. Kratos struck her down at the Pillar of the World.
Mentioned in8 entries
Apollo: the Olympian who escaped Kratos
Apollo never faced Kratos in the flesh. His Flame lit the way to the Tree of Life, his Bow lay in the Underworld, and he survived the slaughter.
Bow of Apollo
The Bow of Apollo was a fire-imbued bow named for the sun god Apollo. Kratos took it from Peirithous, the doomed lover of Persephone, who was imprisoned in the Underworld within a cage of brambles.
Cerberus Mongrel: the lesser hounds of the Underworld
The Cerberus Mongrels were the weakest breed of the Cerberi, gaunt three-headed hounds that served the lord of the dead. Kratos beat them into submission across two eras of his life, riding them as living weapons and turning the fire of one upon Peirithous to claim the Bow of Apollo.
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Ixion: the kin-slayer bound to the wheel
Ixion was the king of the Lapiths of Thessaly and the first mortal ever to slay his own kin. Pardoned by Zeus and welcomed to Olympus, he repaid the gods by lusting after Hera, and for that treachery he was bound to a winged wheel of fire. In the age of Kratos his ruined body hung chained in the prison of the damned.
Perseus
Perseus was a Greek demigod hero, a son of Zeus and half-brother of Kratos. Driven mad by his imprisonment on the Island of Creation, where he sought the Sisters of Fate to revive his lost love Andromeda, he was slain by Kratos.
The Underworld
The Underworld was the realm of the dead in Greece, a hellish landscape below the living world where the River Styx carried mortal souls to their rest. It was ruled by Hades until his death, and Kratos descended into it many times across his Greek campaigns.
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