The Greco-Norse Culture War
The ancient Greeks and Vikings have been fighting a war for our entertainment. This battle has raged for almost twenty years and dominance has recently shifted sides. For a long time Greek mythology has been the inspiration for or retold as books, movies, television shows, and video games. But Norse mythology has been taking over the past few years after playing a long patient game.
The Norse usurpation began quietly in 2003 with the release of Cressida Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon, the first title in her children’s book series. Cowell released a new book in her series every year from 2003 until 2015 (except for 2010). During most of that timeframe pop culture was dominated by Greek mythology. Wolfgang Peterson’s Troy hit theaters in 2004, continuing the Greek march into the 21st century with Brad Pitt and Eric Bana on the frontlines. In 2005 Rick Riordan released the first installment of his Percy Jackson & the Olympians series; the first series in the collection of the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles and the beginning of Riordan’s universe that contains stories connected to numerous mythologies. 2005 also saw the first installment of God of War for PlayStation 2 in which players had the joy of controlling a Spartan named Kratos as he murdered his way through numerous Greek mythological figures.
God of War II came in March 2007 with more myth murdering mayhem. As if in a coordinated strike, 300’s film adaptation dropped within just a few days of Kratos’ return. Spartans were hot that spring. I mean, really.
But later that year Norse mythology made another play. While Cowell’s books quietly continued to march forward in the shadows, the animated Beowulf came ripping and slashing to the big screen (along with a naked gold slathered Angelina Jolie). An overt challenge to the oiled abs of the Greeks. While nothing seems to beat shirtless hunks slow-mo slaughtering thousands of nameless stooges, Beowulf showed that Norse stories could be action-packed, too. It was a set up for what was to come.
2010 saw a turning point. Early in the year the Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief movie was released. It wasn’t the best adaptation and its reception was middling. This was a hit the Greek side didn’t realize it could not afford. Then God of War III was released on PlayStation 3 in March, seeing what we thought at the time to be the finale of Kratos’ journey — bringing an end to one of Greek mythology’s heavy hitters. In April of that year the CGI blanketed remake of Clash of the Titans came to theaters only to be met with the ire of critics. This is when How to Train Your Dragon swept in with a Norse victory. It had been released one week prior to Clash of the Titans. The film adaptation of Cowell’s book was critically acclaimed and even beat out its Greek competitor in the box office. This left the Greeks retreating to lick their wounds. Not only did they lose one of their most consistent fighters that year, it also seemed that Greek inspired movies were becoming stale.
STARZ’s Spartacus and Riordan’s Percy Jackson books fought hard to recover 2010, but the damage was done. Each pushed forward for several years, but were contested (not to mention Spartacus’ complications). The MCU’s Thor thundered into battle in 2011 grabbing the attention of comic book fans and general theater audiences alike. While Thor has not had the greatest solo movies of the MCU, his presence there was a lynchpin in the Norse push of the 2010s. Wrath of the Titans, Clash’s equally CGI’ed sequel, dropped in 2012. It wasn’t pretty; if anything, it further showcased the decline of the Greek side’s films.
A year later saw another Norse win. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters came out in August of 2013. The second attempt at putting Riordan’s work on the big screen and a chance to perhaps put it on track to be a successful film franchise while bolstering the Greek moviefront. However, it was as wanting as its predecessor. Spartacus saw its finale in 2013 as well, marking the end to a short, but valiant fight. Seeing an opening, the Norse side moved in. Vikings premiered on the History Channel, paving the way for a Norse television victory. Meanwhile, Thor: The Dark World mostly reminded us of Thor’s presence in the MCU and did what it could to make people forget Percy Jackson’s short time on screen.
At this point the Greek side was desperate to remain relevant in theaters. Hercules, starring the Rock, released in 2014. No one expected much from Hercules, but the Rock’s natural charisma saved it from being mediocre if only to make it an okay movie. In 2015 Rick Riordan made a decision to play for both sides when he released the first book of the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy. He released this Norse trilogy of books from 2015–2017. During that same time he also released books from his Greek The Trials of Apollo series.
It has been a near all Norse playing field since. In October of 2017 Thor: Ragnarok premiered with Taika Waititi restoring hope that Thor’s solo movies could be good. In 2018 God of War made a comeback on PlayStation 4, but this time around Kratos was dealing with Norse myths. While the game’s story did acknowledge the franchise’s Greek beginnings, it had fully turned to the Norse side. Later that year Assassin’s Creed Odyssey released on consoles and PC. Odyssey transported players back to ancient Greece so they could experience the adventures of one of Leonidas’ descendants. A decidedly Greek victory at the time, but now feels less so as Ubisoft has announced that the next installment in the series will be Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
Last year saw a subtle push back from the Greek side to the now domineering Norse forces. While Midsommar brought some Nordic based horror, The Lighthouse and A Portrait of a Lady on Fire landed some hard hitting art house retellings of Greek myth. And all the while Vikings prepares to finish up its final season and Rick Riordan continues his work with The Trials of Apollo. It was also recently announced that there will be a Percy Jackson show coming to Disney+.
Riordan has written several stories in which his Greek and Norse characters have teamed up. With that in mind perhaps it’s possible we will see a Greco-Norse coordinated front in the future. Riordan has been the longest lasting combatant for the Greeks, regardless of his Norse loyalties. Maybe he is the hope the Greeks need to make a comeback. Or maybe the Greek stories have been retold too many times and we the audience have gotten bored of them. If the Percy Jackson show takes off the battlefield could change once more. Until then strap into your longboats as it looks like mostly Scandinavian waters ahead for the foreseeable future.
