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Glimpse the Sun God -
Semele - Semele was a priest of Zeus and one that gained the eye of Zeus. One day Zeus transformed into an eagle and followed her. He repeated his rendezvous' with her and began an affair. Eventually Semele became pregnant. Hera, ever jealous, discovered Semele and the affair. She decided to change her appearance to seem like an old woman and befriended Semele. Over time Semele confided in Hera that her lover was Zeus. Hera acted surprised and sowed the seeds of doubt. Semele, now doubtful, asked Zeus for a favor (or boon). Zeus was eager to comply, pledging on the river Styx that he would grant her anything. She asked to see him in his true, glorious, form. Zeus begged her not to ask that but she insisted. He revealed himself and the sight was so much that Semele was incinerated. Zeus saved the fetus who eventually became Dionysus.
While this spell doesn't kill the creature the flavor matches the story pretty well and given that the most Zeus like god is sun god on Theros I doubt we will see a card closer than this to the Semele story.
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Hero of Iroas -
Heracles - Heracles is one of the most prominent figures of Greek mythology. He completed the twelve labors (referenced in the ordeals of Theros), killed the hydra, defeated the giant Antaeus and did many other divine and heroic acts. He fought on behalf of royalty that he had loyalty for numerous times.
The creative team at wizards just published an article centered on Hero of Iroas. Like Heracles he is blessed by the gods, though for different reasons. The hero's mother died in battle in the name of Iroas who then blessed her survivors. The hero labored on behalf of Anax and sought to help keep stability for Akros. Through some divine intervention the hero escaped the trap set by the duplicitous Pilun.
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Fated Infatuation -
Narcissus - Narcissus was a hunter renowned for his beauty. While traveling he caught the eye of Echo, a mountain nymph. After an eventual confrontation Narcissus rebuked Echo, breaking Echo's heart. Echo eventually become a shell of her previously self. Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, heard of Echo's turmoil and heartbreak and decided to punish Narcissus. Nemesis lured Narcissus to a pool where he fell in love with his reflection, unaware it was just a view of himself. He eventually realized his love could not be returned and died.
The flavor of this card, despite being in a cycle, seems so clearly the story of Narcissus, or at least the end of the story. The name, mechanic and art all blend together to portray the story very elegantly.
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Kraken of the Straits and Vortex Elemental -
Scylla and Charybdis - Scylla is a sea monster with many heads that sat on one side of the Strait of Messina. Charydbis is a whirlpool that sat on the opposite side of the Strait of Messina. Passing through these two required a very specific path and was virtually impossible to do without hitting one. Odysseus chose to confront Scylla because it was better to lose a few soldiers than the whole ship. The saying "between Scylla and Charydbis" is essentially the Greek version of "between a rock and a hard place"
I discussed these somewhat in my first Theros article, however the flavor of these two being in the same set highlighted the Scylla and Charydbis story very well.
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Oracle's Insight -
Pythia - The Oracle of Delphi, the Pythia, was any priestess at the temple of Apollo. The priestesses were renowned for their prophecies, supposedly given or inspired by Apollo himself. The Pythia existed for nearly 1200 years and spent most of that time as the most respected and authoritative of the oracles among the Greeks. Becoming the Pythia was considered a respected position for a woman, and came with many benefits while halting any previous marital or familial duties.
Tiresias - Tiresias was the blind oracle of Thebes and an oracle of Apollo. He received his prophecies through visions, the songs of birds or interpretations.
The art on this card is the particular reason I singled it out. Between the blind oracle and the exhausting nature of being the Pythia I feel the art shows both the potential blindness or the strain of being an oracle.
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Forlorn Pseudamma -
Lamia - Lamia is yet another one of Zeus' mistresses that also falls prey to the jealousy of Hera. There are various accounts of what happened: Hera either stole or killed all of Lamia's children; the grief drove Lamia to steal other children and devour them thus turning her into a monstrous demon or Hera forced her to eat other children. In all versions Lamia steals other children and devours them out of grief. Some versions have Hera cursing Lamia by never being able to close her eyes so she always has to see her dead children.
This card represents the child snatching through the art and flavor text. The ability increases the horror factor by effectively having the children come back to fight against you, never letting you forgot them.
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Gild -
King Midas - There are 3 in the royal house of Midas, the most famous being King Midas. Silenus, the teacher and foster father to Dionysus and also a satyr, had gone missing. Midas found Silenus after he had been wandering lost. Midas recognized Silenus and took great effort to be hospitable to him, giving him feasts and entertainment for 10 days. At the end Midas took Silenus to meet Dionysus. In return for Midas' deeds Dionysus granted him a reward of his choice. Midas desired that anything he touch turn to gold. His greed was rewarded when he realized he couldn't eat or drink and his daughter was turned to gold. He begged Dionysus to fix it and after a dip in a river it was reversed. Midas afterward disavowed greed and wealth.
Mark Rosewater discussed this card and I think it mostly works. I do think the story would have been better conveyed with a creature that did this with combat damage however.
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Weight of the Underworld -
Atlas - One of the original Titans, Atlas went against the Olympians in the war and upon defeat was punished. He had to hold up the celestial spheres at the edge of Gaia (a common misconception is he held up the Earth but that is due to the word atlas meaning maps along with some particular artist interpretations). Zeus selected this punishment so that Atlas and Uranus (primal Greek god that personified the sky) could no longer partake in their primordial embrace. Atlas is well known through his interaction with Heracles who during his 12 labors held the spheres for Atlas for a short while. Atlas attempted to trick Heracles into continually bearing the burden but Heracles saw through the ploy and instead tricked Atlas into retaking the burden (another version has Heracles building two pillars to liberate Atlas from his punishment).
While there are some contrasts between the card and the story I believe the similarities are far stronger: the artwork, the flavor text - including the name of the character - and the go against the gods mentality are very evocative of Atlas.
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Flame-Wreathed Phoenix -
Phoenix - The concept of the Phoenix is very well known, at least of the most common depictions. Dying in fire and being reborn from the ashes has brought the Phoenix to represent many different concepts from the empire to time to consecration. One of the less commonly known depictions is that the Phoenix simply died a normal death and after some period of decay it rises again. There is debate on whether the Egyptian Benu inspired the Greek Phoenix or if the Phoenix influenced the Benu. As for appearance there is disagreement between historical sources as to precisely how it should look though the most common and popular is the red and yellow combination.
Phoenixes are common in Magic so this is not really out of place. I do think the part where it returns to hand is a valid attempt to show the rebirth aspect as the death of the predecessor allows the birth of the new.
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Impetuous Sunchaser -
Icarus - The son of Daedalus (master craftsmen who built the famed Labyrinth), Icarus desperately wanted to leave the isle of Crete. Daedalus crafted two pairs of wings, made of feathers and wax, one for himself and one for Icarus. Before departing Daedalus instructed Icarus not to fly too high and to follow the same flight path as him. Once in the air Icarus got caught up in the flying and took higher to the sky out of curiosity. As Daedalus had warned this was unwise; the wax began to melt from being closer to the sun. Icarus flapped his wings furiously but it was in vain as eventually the crafted wings fall apart and Icarus plummeted into the sea, where he drowned.
The artwork on this piece really captures the Icarus story quite well. The image of flying higher while the wings are falling apart from the strain is a great line up. The remainder of the card rounds out the story extremely well.
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Raised by Wolves -
Romulus and Remus - The story of Roma's founding is Romulus and Remus and is in the domain of Roman Mythology. Numitor is king of Alba Longa and has some number of children. Amulius, one of the sons, seizes power from Numitor and kills all other male heirs. He forces his sister, Rhea Silvia, to become a vestal virgin. However, Rhea Silvia conceives of twins either by Mars or Hercules. Once the twins are born Amulius abandons them to a river to die. A series of miraculous events allow them to survive. The river carries them to safety where a she-wolf finds them and suckles and cares for them for a time. Eventually they are adopted by a farm family, ignorant of their true origin. They are both natural leaders and amass followings. When they discover their origin they go to Alpa Longa and kill Amulius and restore Numitor to the throne. Instead of waiting to inherit Alpa Longa they decide to found their own city. A disagreement about the location leads to the death of Remus. Romulus then founds Roma on his preferred location.
Mark discusses this card as well and there was contention to including a Roman myth but it was decided the card stood on its own well enough. I think mechanically it makes sense for the myth however the art is misleading. It either isn't portraying the characters that would be Romulus and Remus or is making them non-human. This could be a Leonin however.
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Gorgon's Head -
Medusa's Head - Medusa is one of three children of ancient marine gods. All three were terrifying, deadly, and hated by man. Medusa is the most well-known of the three. Originally she was depicted as a hideous woman with a head of live poisonous snake - it was not until later that some depictions showed her as beautiful but deadly. Medusa is also the only mortal of the 3 sisters. Danae, the mother of Perseus, was sought after by the king Polydectes. Perseus did not approve and believed Polydectes was less than honorable with his intentions. Polydectes arranged for a banquet in an attempt to dishonor Perseus. Persues in a moment of rashness said Polydectes could ask for any gift. Polydectes asked for the head of the only mortal gorgon under the assumption Perseus would die in the pursuit of it. The gods were aware of the suicide mission and intervened to help. Perseus used a mirror shield given to him by Athena to see Medusa through reflection only. When Perseus killed Medusa she was pregnant by Poseidon and upon her death both Pegasus and Chyrsaor, a giant, sprang forth. Perseus took Medusa's head and used to turn Atlas to stone when Atlas attacked while Perseus was passing through the area. Perseus then stopped the forced wedding of his mother by showing the king Medusa's head. After that he turned the head over to Athena, who added it to her shield.
This is another complete flavor hit, it all comes together very well to demonstrate the story.
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