We plan on checking out both Neil's and Gigi's God Games ASAP! We're currently traveling to Chicago for TE/MO's concert and we won't return before the next saga is out
The clam shell in Aphrodite's section of God Games is a reference to her creation (and the famous painting 'the birth of Venus') as she was spawned from Sea foam and a part of Ouranos that fell into the ocean. Also Hera being represented by a male peacock is mytholgically accurate as the peacock was Argus, a many eyed giant that she had a as a servent she was fond of. Upon his death she turned him into a peacock hence the many eyes/feathers. Also the best God Games animatic i've ever seen is by 'Neal Illustrator' here on RU-vid. It is unbelievable and 1000% worth a watch!
45:38 About Athena’s snake associations, Athena has the snake as one of her sacred animals, since they represented wisdom from the earth, while owls gave wisdom from the sky. Plus Athena is often depicted with Aegis, the shield (or breastplate) which uses Medusa’s attached head to inspire fear and protect her! Also if you look at the animatic slowed down you can see the Medusa face, seen as Zeus attacks Athena, isn’t Athena’s face. It seems like it’s Aegis, which as a cool touch.
38:00 It's not just the feathers, look at her face. Athenas helmet shadows her eyes making her look those highlights or frames many owls have, and that V on her lips is an owls beak. And it's not just that scene, it's how she looks through the whole thing. One of the reasons I absolutely love this animatic is how each of the gods are just a little inhuman even when they look human. Their movement, their scaling, it all gives them a feel that makes them seem different, off, dangerous. It's perfect.
So fun fact on the Anniflamma symbolism. One of Zeus' animals is the Bull and Eagle, thus his horns (and bird at the end). Hera is the same, except one of her holy animals is a cow. One of Athena's (And Ares') animals is the Serpent, thus her serpent form in the flashback.
Counter argument to Telemachus being a ditz - he knows it's Odysseus she's talking about, but he doesn't actually know Odysseus *as a person*. Only stories about him.
@@angierodriguez8972 if I recall correctly Hermes (and perhaps Apollo) also have snakes as their sacred animals (at least in some sources). I think it's quite comical how most of the siblings share a sacred animal. Though Hermes is sometimes depicted as a trickster God so it is fairly understandable why he's associated with snakes. As for Apollo I'm unsure why I think I remember him being associated.
36:57 And then Ares went and whined to Zeus and Zeus was all "If you weren't my son I'd bury you deeper in the earth than I did my Father" Father of the year material for sure
The shell/clam with Aphrodite is based on the famous painting „The Birth of Venus“ by Sandro Botticelli, which depicts her standing naked in a shell. It has to do with her origin/birth in Greek mythology. She came into being due to Kronos cutting off his father‘s (Ouranos) genitals and throwing them into the sea, where some *secrections* mixed with the sea foam and bam: Aphrodite emerges. Since the creation of the painting the shell symbolism has been used a lot with her. So yeah hope this helps lol :D
So, Aphrodite is actually sea foam, or in other interpretations blood, from the Sky Titan Uranus! Backstory: Uranus and Gaia created all of the titans, but Uranus casted some of their "ugly" children into Tartarus. Gaia hated him for that and got her youngest son, Kronos to tie Uranus to the earth and cut him up. His goop spread across the ocean, and formed Aphrodite, hence the Aphrodite is sky titan goop! (Also the reason she's in a clam is because she's the "pearl of the sea", and her tears of joy turn into pearls) ALSO ALSO! You should totally check out and/or read the Iliad + watch Percy Jackson the lightning thief musical :D
So fun myth facts: first of all, the reason Aphrodite is in a clam shell is a reference to a famous picture called “the birth of Venus” which depicts Aphrodite being born from the remains of ouranos when he turned into sea foam Both Athena and ares got some serious snake imagery, which is a not to subtle nod to the fact one of the patron animals they share happens to be snakes. Athena is also often represented in imagery as the gorgon (aka what Medusa is) as she has two different myths associated with it: one with the cursing of Medusa and the other being her shoving Medusa’s head into her shield which retained its power. (I believe the shield one came first since Medusa was an established monster before her origin myth) If anyone has other fun facts please feel free to add.
I can't get over these two grown up men becoming little girls and screaming over a high-five 😭. You guys are a total mood together. Lotta's love for you ❤️❤️❤️
Dear, sweet little Polites. We all love him, we all miss him dearly, we cry whereen he shows up in songs every saga. Our hearts are with you, little Polites.
The clam shell is a reference to Aphrodite’s birth story and a very famous painting, The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. When killing Ouranos, Kronos c4strates him. The male bits fall into the ocean and the resulting sea foam births Aphrodite, similar to how pearls are made. This is why she’s usually associated with pearls and clam shells!
Talking about Hephaestus's depiction in Anniflamma's, the myths actually depict him gaining a limp after Hera throws him down from Olympus. But still, love the representation for disabilities so I'm not going to argue with it. Outside Hephaestus, there's a whole bunch of sacred animal representation with the other gods. Aphrodite is surrounded by doves, Ares and Athena (both gods of war) transform into snakes, Athena also transforming into an owl, Hera having male peacock feathers for creating them from the Hundred-Eyed Man, Argos, and the "devil horns" on Zeus are actually bull horns, hence why he transformed into a bull hybrid and also an eagle. Also, live-action Percy Jackson please!
I saw a comment on Heras part when Anni used the Demo that said that They felt like the fact that Hera is so bound up is a symbol of her marriage to Zeus, she is truly happy for a moment when she is unbound but is quickly made more downtrodden again and bound in clothing. Also The Peacock is Her sacred animal and she set the Watchman Argos to guard Zeus’ lover Io as a prisoner, Hermes put Argos to sleep and killed him so Hera put his hundred eyes on the male peacock, hence why her outfit is inspired by the male peacock.
In terms of the snake showing up a bunch it’s because the snake is actually one of Athena’s sacred animals! Not quite as much as the owl of course but she is depicted with snakes around her or as details on her armour hence why she’s a weird owl snake thing.
Aphrodite's clamshell is a reference to how she was first pushed to shore inside one after being born from the seafoam. This motif follows her a lot, but is probably most famously depicted in The Birth of Venus.
the reason why there are so many references to snakes on Athena is not so much to Medusa but to Athena herself: her sacred animals are the owl and the snake (which is why in memory she has the shape of a winged serpent) and in her statues she she was depicted wearing a special armor called the aegis which was decorated with many small snakes, while the shield does indeed have the head of Medusa, cut off by Perseus and given to Athena to thank her. If you see frame by frame in the animatic you will notice her raising her arm and the shield that opens showing the face of Medusa to defend her from Zeus' attack. For the horns of Zeus similar reason: his sacred animal was the bull in addition to the eagle.
41:13 OMG ITS SYMBOLISM! So far throughout the musical we have seen this more composed, regal Zeus, represented by the eagle. Now, in God Games, we get the more angry, spiteful Zeus, represented by the bull! THAT IS SO COOL! I also just realized that his true nature being that angry, spiteful bull is hinted at with his design, he has the horns and the tail! I CAN'T WITH THESE ANIMATICS OMG!!!!!!
27:16 Ahem: YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES OH MY GOODNESS YES. I love Percy Jackson so much and I would absolutely die to be able to see your guy’s insights into it! Pls pls do it (obviously only if you can, don’t pressure yourselves into doing something that’s too much or doesn’t fit in your schedules.) just know that I would love to see it and will shout about it from the rooftops to all of my Percy Jackson friends! Edit: I missed the premiere but after watching the live chat for a second: an owl snake/snake owl is similar to the eagle bull that was Zeus. Less of an actual creature/myth rep but more of a combination of their sacred animals. It’s very Greek after all. Take the head from one thing, the body from another and the tail from another lol
Oh my god, I'm just imagining the quick thought fight as the scenes in Dragon Ball Z when you see Goku fighting from everyone else's perspective, and it's just sounds of him and his opponent whizzing through the air and the shockwaves from them hitting each other
Mythology with the clam shell is based off of this one famous portrait by Sandro Botticelli where she’s depicted standing on a clamshell rising from sea foam. It’s become the standard of Aphrodite history that she was formed this way after ouranos was chopped to pieces and thrown into the ocean which created sea foam, and from it Aphrodite arose. 29:46
Well, to at least defend my boy Telemachus a bit for not realising, you could maybe make a small argument that Athena was just looking around his room and all the things hanging there, which just happened to be Ody But yeah, my boy should have still realised
“He’s just..not sorry for loving it!” Oh. Yeah. Also Zeus’s horns are meant to symbolize one of his sacred animals being a bull I think. The dove in Aphrodite’s bit is really funny as well because there would be no where for it to perch, it’s either floating or comically large. And how Heras cloak ties her arms to her side is representing her being trapped in marriage or something. I keep adding onto this, but the snake is one of Athena’s sacred animals. I think what she is in the flashback is a mix of a snake and an owl?
they reacted to all animatics for wisdom saga, they just went back to god games and we’ll be fine for anni and gigi’s versions edit: i hate autocorrect lmaoo
I know Neal’s wasn’t out when you recorded this, but I can’t thank you enough for watching Anni’s. I love y’all, and I wouldn’t have been able to watch all of this if God Games was Neal’s. Anni’s has some flashing, but not too much, and she takes needed breaks in between. Neal’s never stops moving, and has what feels like a lot of flashes. As a photosensitive viewer, the constant motion and lights in Neal’s affected me poorly afterwards. Great animation, but it’s a lot for people like me. In case you’re reading this, which I know you’re not, I wanted to say a quick thank you 🩵 (Also, yes, we preesh the disability rep from Anni. In some myths, Hephaestus has a wheel chair.)
The eagle and the bull forms of Zeus are references to when he transformed into them in different myths. Pretty sure Ares's sacred animal was the snake, and he and Athena are siblings in similar domains, represented by them both having Quick Thought for example, so that's why I think they both have a Snake form, as well as the reference to Medusa. As for Athenas form in the flashback, her being so an owl creates a sort of Feathered Serpent, like the Quetzalcoatl from Aztec mythology, although I do think Greek mythology also had winged snakes, but don't quote me on that.
Imma gonna try to explain in a short summary why AnniFlamma chose the designs she did for the gods. - Athena: We all know why, with the owl being her symbol, but the Madusa part has to do with Athena being the supposed god who turns Madusa into a gorgon. Zeus: His animal is a hawk and the horns with the hair tail have to do with the minotaur and possibly Io mythology. Aphrodite: Many other comments I've seen have explained this, but in short, it has to do with her birth mythos, and I won't explain any further. Hera: The Horn and Peacock are representative of the Io mythos where a lady got turned into a cow by Zeus, who he gave to Hera, who put Io under the watch of a guy with eyes all over his body, Hermes is sent to free Io and kills the eye guy named Argus, and Hera feeling bad for Argus puts his eyes on her Peacock... And that's why Peacock feathers look like eyeballs!
Honestly, I just started getting into this channel more recently, and I kinda wish/hope they could watch CanTheCatInATux’s animatic for Different Beast
Athena has snakes as one of her sacred animals, specifically the non venomous kind, as opposed to Ares and his connection to venomous snakes. Some attribute this to a mycenaean goddess that some believe were the predecessor goddess to Athena. Extra fun fact, Ares also has owls as his sacred animal, specifically the barn owl and the eagel owl.
This is my own theory, but I'm sure other people have thought about it before: Anniflama's gods always have at least one animal trait, either through constant transformation or a permanent feature even in their human form. Athena, however, looks completely human except for moments of great tension. My theory is that originally all gods spent more time in their bestial form, with Athena being some sort of owl-winged serpent. However, she took the form of a human to interact with mortals, and the longer she did, the more human she looked, less scaly/feathery. The other gods are more distant, so some of them retain animal features (ironically, Aphrodite, Ares, and Hephaestus represent human aspects of life, so they also look very human) As for Medusa, Athena's shield has her face, so when she needs protection the shield activates, when inactive she has it hanging like a necklace!
Athena is most associated with owls but she also has snakes a lot so I think that creature she was in the flash back after Zeus attacks is just a combination but huge
Aphrodite in some myths was created when the blood of Ouranos, the Primordial being of the Sky, Consort of Gaia, Father of the Titans, fell into the ocean. The blood bubbled and turned into foam, which due to how powerful his blood was it created Aphrodite from it. In this version she is essentially a titan rather than a god due to this being her origin. This is a large part of why some of the gods choose not to anger her, she quite literally is a higher rank, and likely higher power level, than most of them. This is also why sometimes sea foam is called aphrodite
Well time to geek out a bit about Aniflama's God designs: Athena: Her sacred animal the Owl. The snake comes in with Medusa's curse, and the fact that Medusa's head is on Ageis aka Athena's shield. Plus gives a cool paralel with the other war god of the animatic Ares. Apollo: Sun motives for the Sun god. There might be other symbol I missed. Apollo has a lot of domain even among the gods. Maybe I see Hyacint on his belt, Hyacinte was one of his many lover who met a tragic fate. Hefefuf: His leg got broken when his mother Hera tossed him of Olympus like any true manifastation of family should. Aphrodite: Sacred animal the Dove. The clam shell is probably a reference to the Birth of Venus (roman version of Aphrodite) painting from Botticelli. In the Myth after Chronos cut of his dead's manhood he tossed it in the ocean, it's created some seafome and Aphrodite born from that. Kinda making her the oldest Olympian. Ares: The snake is his sacred animal. In the Myth a lot of Ares's sacred places were garded by giant snakes (a spring near Thebe for example) Hera: Her dacred animal the peacock. In the myth she had a very loyal servent Argus who had 100 eyes. When Argus got killed she took his 100 eyes and pu it on her sacred animals tail as a show of respect. Zeus: Bull ang eagle. Both Sacred animals. Hera turned Zeus's childhood frien Aetos into an eagle because she suspected that Zeus might love him. Also Zeus took the form of an eagle whe he abducted Ganymede. Zeus took the form of a bull aabducted Europa and did with her what Zeus usually does with beautiful people.
I agree with the comments about disability rep! Not only from being neurodivergent, but I also have a cane due to a couple work injuries. I don't have to use it often but I do have some days where I can't move around my place after work without it.
There's 2 stories (both greek) of Aphrodite's birth! In one she's born in the sea (that's why the shell is characteristic of her) from Uranus cut t3sticles-. The fluids (including blood and water) created sea foam, where she was born. (Correct me if I'm wrong). And in the other version she's the Daughter of Zeus and Dione, but Idk that story
Mr. mortius, the clam shell is from her birth mythology where she washed up on the shores of Cthera after being born from the seafoam produced by Ouranos's (Primordial Sky deity who was the partner to Gaia) castrated testicles that were cut off by Chronos when the Titans first took over prior to the age of the Olympians when they fell into the sea.
About the Medusa myth , the version where athena curses medusa is the roman version (which was written by Ovid who absolutely wanted to depict the greek gods as bad and cruel), in greek mythology medusa is born a gorgone like her two other sisters and gets killed by Perseus with athena's help
So i know you already have watched plenty of god games animatics but I would love you guys watching God games by Noir.Hyacinth. So many mythological easter eggs and just the way they introduce the gods is freaking hilarious! (it doesn't have to be on the channel, but I feel you would love their interpetation)
32:50 i will help you boys with the aphrodite in a shell dilema but for that we have to move from Greek to roman mythology. In roman mythology Aphrodity is known as Venus and there is a very famous painting by Sandro Botticelli called the birth of Venus depicting the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, when she had emerged from the sea fully-grown and sitting on a shell. This also, base on my interpretation forshadow the relationship she had with Areaas as lovers. So Ares resons and criticism twords Ody is close related to the roman criticism of Odysseus of Hommer from back in the day (a cowerd who does not fight at front, who waiste time, who did not fight for his man and so on). In roman mythology just like in greek they worship gods and for them Mars is there interpretation of Ares and it was even more loved and appreciated by romans than Minerva aka Athena who had a higher popularity amoung greeks who understanding the art of war as more than Areas brital force. So both having roman symnolism on them as well as a hate for odyseus judgent and actions forshadow the strong connection this two gods had as a power couple lovers.
im gonna try and go thru the god games animation and answer some questions/point out fun details that i love from anniflamma's work for yall bc i think its fun. disclaimer i am not an expert and mythology is never constant so theres no "true" version of any of these stories, etc 19:36 her shield, aegis, turns back into Medusas head which she is keeping on a necklace (you can see the snake hair is tied up to become the pendant) and she also gets rid of her spear to show that shes not looking for a fight! from a war god, id think thats one of the highest forms of respect, leaving her weapons behind. 20:23 i think its more bull horn + tail, as reference to the myth where zeus turns into a bull to seduce europa(? i think). in the barest defense, gods turning into animals for seduction reasons happens a lot (i am always thinking about the swan thing) 23:03 i wanna say the words youre looking for are silhouetted art, or maybe cut out? not sure. also monochromatic or something with a limited color scheme. also randomly wanna point out thats apollo has a hyacinth in his art 😢 23:37 i ADORE anniflammas hera design. i think shes talked about how its representative of how repressed she feels in her marriage, explained later with her "breaking free" of it and her attendants trying to put her back in place. also i love how the pearl veil makes it look like shes crying. 24:47 i also like how Apollo is the one pf the more human designs, but hes got a part of his clothes that fades into black and acts like a tail, which feels like a reference to his ""darker"" aspects as a god of plagues. also unrelated to the video or the animation but i do think its incredibly funny that athena lies to the god of TRUTH and hes like "if thats true 🤔🤨😮💨 release him" she owes him for sure 29:44 folks have already mentioned the birth of venus painting and the version of Aphrodites birth related to it so i wont linger here, but i did really like the details casper shared here! :) 37:59 some art has aegis as more of a snake cloak thingy which is why the snakes are there too 39:22 something i really like with this version is how its not played for laughs. hera conceding to athenas point isnt a spit take or anything, shes being forced back into her role as the obedient wife and shes having her husband's infidelity thrown in her face in a way. she still concedes, she is the goddess of marriage and family, so she does rewards when its respected by heroes and punish infidelity (*COUGH* JASON *COUGH*) but yeah. i love how nuanced she is here. 40:59 im gonna ignore What ur reacting to, we all know its cool as hell, and just point out this shot u paused on. i love everyone's faces and body language here. ares is standing in front of the others, protective. he never expected this to happen to the favored child. apollo looks shocked, but hephaestus doesnt, hes surprised, but grim. plenty of versions have zeus being the one to throw him from olympus after all. aphrodite is standing behind her husband, looking disgusted. 41:22 meanwhile, heras not surprised at all, just resigned. shes been on the other side of this after all. she knows her husband, knew exactly how this would turn out. shes separate from the rest of the family both in not being surprised, bur shes also physically isolated from them. man it hurts. 41:29 quick tangent back to ares, he tried to protect them from the blast with his cloak!! 43:41 thats an original design im almost certain, but it does look a bit like Quetzalcoatl from south american myths. don't quote me on anything tho 44:24 ow it hurts :(( also ew degloving yeuck. i am tired now, this has stressed me out doing this on mobile. gnight :-)
So abt the connection between Medusa and Athena : They always have been connected, not only is the snake one of the sacred animals of Athena, gorgon as a monster has always been a symbol of protection for warriors which is why we need a reason for it to be and there enters the decapitation of Medusa, in some texts her and Poseidon have a consensual relationship in some other no, for the greeks she was already a gorgon since birth but the only mortal of her family meanwhile romans believe she was human at first, even the reason why Athena helps Perseus in decapitation changes somtimes is simply bc he is a hero and she is the protector of heroes, Pseudo-Apollodorus even wrote : "Athena placed the Gorgo's head in the center of her shield. It is affirmed by some that Medousa was beheaded because of Athene, for they say the Gorgon had been willing to be compared with Athene in beauty." so yeah there a long and various history that connects them
Just to explain the Aphrodite clam thing(in case no one has yet), it is both in mythology and in a painting. In mythology, her like goddess throne thing(that apparently all the olympians have?? I learned it from a book idk) is in the shape of a shell. What people usually draw on for the shell inspo though is the fact that the painting “The Birth of Venus” showcases Aphrodite(or Venus as this was painted during the Renaissance and was more heavy on Roman Mythology) in a shell arising from sea form, as this is what was said to be how she was born in both Greek and Roman mythology. So yeah the shell thing is incredibly important to Aphrodite
32:05 she was born from seafoam and the blood of a titan, think Uranus. And there's a famous painting called the Birth of Venus. Look it up if you got the time
I think the main reason for all the Madusa shoutouts is Athena's shield. I can't remember what it's called, but Thalia had a replica of it in PJO I also think it was the one she gave Percyus to kill Madusa.
Aphrodite in mythology rose from the ocean when Kronos cut off his father’s..parts…and they fell in the water. It’s never said she was in a clam, but there is a famous painting where she rises in one.
In some versions of the myth Aphrodite is born from the castration blood of Uranus as it fell into the ocean. The clam shell is in reference to a painting that depicts this event called the Birth of Venus.
Hera has the cloak/veil because it's a nod to her being the goddess of marriage. And her being huge would make sense since she alongside Zeus are some of the oldest gods.
Why Aphrodite has a clam it was symbolizes her origin. Cronus castrated Uranus and threw his father's testicles into the sea. They caused the sea to foam and out of that white foam rose Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. She also iconic painting of The Birth of Venus.
Y'all reactions are always SO good. I feel like I learn something new every single time you break down the music or story. PLEASE tell me you guys are going to react to Lin Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis' new musical concept album that just dropped!! There is SO much musically and storywise to break down and pick apart. You guys would love it! 🎉
I assumed the clam shell was a reference to Aphrodite’s origins of being born out of the ocean. I’m pretty sure a famous painting depicting her birth uses the shell but I’m not not sure if the shell was specifically referenced in the myth or something that artist added, either way it emphasizes that link to the ocean kind of thing.
the bull horns are there because of a greek thing which i think is related to Zeus. edit: i looked it up Zeus, the king of the gods, had fallen in love with the mortal princess, Europa, from the Phoenician city of Tyre, in modern Lebanon. To win her he turned himself into a magnificent bull and carried her across the ocean to the distant continent that would bear her name.
I absolutely love both animatics, but my honest reaction to seeing Athena as a giant feathered snake was „Anni,Wrong mythology lol!“ Still an amazing animatic despite that moment
ok you guys HAVE TO react to Percy Jackson season 1 and 2, it would be so cool!! the 2nd is entirely based on the Odyssey so it would be a lot of fun One of the epithets used to refer to Hera in the Iliad: “boophis” (Cow-eyed) someone has probably already said this in the comments, but cows are animals that represent Hera and Zeus.
The parralels with rome greek methodology are closes related with the gods themselves existing under different names in both roman and greek culture. There are different stories but the thruth is the gods are preatty much the same and i assume annie try to showcase that as an easteregg for thise who know and also makeing her designs unique from other animations
I think Hera beeing covered in layers of clothing represents how Zeus is surpressing her.... She is the most powerful of the godesses, so Zeus pushes her down.
I will say about the Medusa myth, it's rough to say there's a real connection because Medusa in older myths just. Is a gorgon, she's a gorgon with her gorgon sisters, they just exist. The Medusa connection is specifically in Ovid's version of the myth and Ovid had... Problems with authority that got put into a lot of his works with the gods
