The Netflix series KAOS tries to breathe its own life into the age-old Greek myths as three humans rise to challenge the all-powerful gods and put Zeus and Olympia in a flat spin. Kaos is a British TV series that mixes mythology and black comedy. The show premiered on Netflix and was created by Charlie Covell.
In this daring reinvention, Jeff Goldblum portrays Zeus and is joined by legendary actors Billie Piper, David Thewlis, and Janet McTeer. Without a doubt, to make the original tales interesting to a modern audience, certain creative liberties must be taken with them.
Given that the show takes certain liberties, Soap Central examines some of these modifications and how they manifest in the Netflix series KAOS.
Listing out 5 major changes that the creators of KAOS have made to Greek mythology
1) Hera turns her victims into bees
Like Juno in Roman mythology, Hera is the goddess of marriage, motherhood, and wives. She is Zeus's sister and wife, making her the queen of the gods and a strong supporter of fidelity in marriage.
Hera is depicted as a possessive and hostile goddess who hates adultery and abhors both Zeus' mistresses and their children. Sometimes, she even turns them into animals. For instance, she transformed Io into a cow and let her run around the Earth. In Netflix’s KAOS, Hera turns Zeus' victims into bees, which is very different from what we know of in Greek Mythology.
2) The story of Orpheus and Eurydice
In the contemporary retelling of the ancient myth of KAOS, Eurydice dies from injuries inflicted by being hit by a truck. Eurydice had just made up her mind to leave her husband, Orpheus, an excellent musician because she no longer loved him. Unaware of all this, Dionysus, son of Zeus, helps him and arranges a pact with the fates to get Orpheus into the underworld.
In the original Greek Mythology, Eurydice dies from a snakebite, and Orpheus laments and plays a sad tune to catch the attention of the gods. He then travels to the underworld to beg Hades and Persephone to have his wife sent back to the world of living.
3) KAOS changes Dionysus' pet’s story
Dionysus is the god of wine, pleasure, and madness. The name "Dennis" is because of his followers. In the Kaos story, Dionysus takes the kitten home and gives it the name Dennis.
After Orpheus leaves to rescue Eurydice from the Underworld, Dionysus starts caring for Dennis. At first, Dionysus looks out for himself only, but Orpheus teaches him what it means to love someone. When Orpheus goes away, Dennis asks Dionysus to feed the kitten. Initially, what started as feeding the fur ball, Dionysus soon becomes attached to the kitten and decides to take Dennis with him, knowing that the kitten cannot survive on its own.
Sadly, when Dionysus takes Dennis before Zeus, the king of the gods kills the kitten. That teaches Dionysus a hard lesson about love, and after that, he decides to leave his father's side.
In Greek mythology, Dionysus is associated with big cats like leopards and cheetahs.
4) The love story of Hades and Persephone
In Greek mythology, Hades abductes Persephone into the underworld. As a result, the Goddess of harvest and agriculture, Demeter (Persephone’s mother), grieves, causing the earth to grow cold and barren. Eventually, Zeus gets on to Hades's case and reminds him to return Persephone. But before that, Hades tricks her into eating pomegranate seeds, which binds her to the underworld.
But in Netflix's KAOS, Hera distorts Persephone's story, which is why humans think she was kidnapped and even r*ped. Persephone later confronts Hera about this. In the show, she willingly stays with Hades in the underworld, and the couple seems to be in love and performing their duties with full consent.
5) Caeneus has a new origin story altogether
Caeneus, in Greek mythology, is a woman known as Caenis. In a fit of perverted temptation, Poseidon maltreates Caenis and then, at her request, transforms her into a man who cannot be hurt. But Caeneus meets his demise after being trampled and crushed onto the ground by Centaurs.
The Netflix show changes his story altogether; he is born a boy to an Amazon tribe. He lives among female warriors in disguise who are known for sending boys away at age 11 and then killing anyone who attempts to return. Caneus leaves the tribe at 15, when it becomes almost impossible to hide himself. Unfortunately, the tribe catches up with him and kills him because they believe changing his gender is a taboo and an insult to the gods.
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KAOS has been performing wonderfully in Netflix's most-watched shows chart. If you still haven’t streamed the show, tune in to Netflix and check out the modern take on Greek mythology now.
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