A dash of Mythology

 

Hello everyone. Tom's here. The creator of Gaia, and today I want to talk to you about my use of Greek Mythology in the Gaia universe.

Right off the bat I feature the comic in Greece by a cave with archeologists working in and out of it. They are led by leading archeologist, Lauren Cooper, who's from Kansas City, Kansas and loves her job as an archeologist. She's approached by one of her people and the two go deep inside the cave to find the discovery of a lifetime.

The stone head of Medusa on Athena's shield. Eyes shut to avoid the nasty occupation hazard of turning people into stone. This sets the stage for other Greek elements to work their way into the Gaia series. Of course I got the name from Greek Mythology from the titan of the Earth, Gaia, who laid with Uranus and gave birth to the titans, who later gave birth to the gods. Of course it's not the real Gaia. It's just the name Tori decided to give herself to match the themes of her powers which are Earth and Plant Manipulation.

It's hard to go into much details about the use of Greek Mythology without giving away spoilers, but one of the first things I wish to establish in the universe I'm creating is that the Greek myths are actually true. The Olympians once ruled the human world and had since been abandoned by the population and sealed away in their world unable to enter the human world. All but one. Thanatos. Who bypasses the seal because everyone believes in death and the work he has to do.

After the Medusa head is found in Greece, it causes people to believe in the gods once again. Some at least. That's enough of a burst to make Tori's powers, which were dormant, come to the surface and reveal itself. Meaning there's a connection between her powers and the Greek gods. Which she finds out more about at a later date. In the first issue I mostly focus on the discovery of the Medusa head and Tori coming into her powers.

Of course it won't just be Tori who develops powers. As the belief in the gods increases, more people will show up with powers. I have a title for these people, but I'm not gonna reveal it in this article because I don't want to spoil the surprise, but I have a plan for everything. Gaia originally started out as a trilogy of books I wrote back to back and has since decided to turn into a comic book series, so I have a lot of story left to tell.

I had to read up on some things about Greek Mythology to be as accurate as I can be in the depiction of the different Greek figures. Thanatos is actually a minor character in Greek Mythology, but in my series he's one of the bigger masterminds of the first story arc in Gaia and is a major player in the world I'm creating. I of course plan to introduce other Greek gods at a later time, but for right now Thanatos is the major player spinning things in motion. I originally envisioned him as blue, but decided to be more accurate to his appearance in Greek Mythology and give him regular white skin but with long black hair and dark eyes. He doesn't make his first appearance until Gaia #2 and we see more of Medusa in Gaia #2 and #3 which I plan to write out at a later date.

All in all, I really enjoy Greek Mythology, and plan to include it in strokes to enrich the story I'm creating and I invite all of you along for the ride. It's going to be a big one.