Greek edition
Have you noticed that all the most fun slots have some mythological influence? Have you ever wondered what are the hidden references behind the slot themes and design? They are much deeper than you think. Well, worry no more and join me in welcoming this new series Slot Myths and Culture in RTG games. First up on Slot Myths, the Greeks.
Legend of Helios
Ever wonder who ladies are next to Helios in the Legend of Helios and why’s one of them so angry? Isn’t Achilles supposed to be the angry one? Let’s bring it back.
So, Helios was the Titan who rode across the sky in a flaming chariot pulling The Sun. Also, his name literally means The Sun (just don’t think about it). That’s all we got. You know why. Because of the new upstart kid called Apollo. The new hotness that is Apollo swiped all the good myths from Helios and the dude had an identity crisis.
Well, I say enough is enough, I’m stealing them back. So, now Helios is the god of music, sports, and medicine. Helios murdered the mighty Python, a primordial snake deity who guarded the center of the world, Delphi. There Helios created his temple, spruced it up a bit, summoned a few priestesses and flew off into the sunset. Well, more like the sunset was flying into him because he was pulling it, with his chariot. DUH!
But enough about that, priestess you say? Yap, the ladies next to him are his priestesses. One with stick and snake and the other with a hot temper (to say the list). The first is easy. So, Helios being the god of medicine had a son, Asclepius, who was, you’ll be shocked, also good at medicine. So good, in fact, that he was bringing people back from the dead on the regular. And Hades did not like that one bit. So, he ordered a hit on Asclepius and Zeus, the kingpin of the operation, obliged. So that’s the end for him but the stick lives on as a symbol of medicine around the world.
Cool, what about the other one? Well, this one is trickier. She appears to be a fire priestess and her red hair remind me of Jean Grey from the X-man. And what’s Jean Grey hero/villain name? The Phoenix. The mythical firebird of rebirth, also associated with Helios. Bam! Slot Myths! 2/2. Let’s round up the ramming slot symbols.
We got the two scatter symbols represented by the Patina coins (oxidized bronze coins). Nothing much to it, except for them looking ancient. But Mystery symbol is more, well mysterious. It’s probably the ever-changing nature of Helios as he brings plagues on one side and good health on the other. So, pray to him and his priestess for big wins and instant withdrawals (though Yabby has taken care of this already). And your wishes may be granted.
Princess Warrior
So right off the bat, the middle lady is Athena. The goddess of war and wisdom, she is as pretty as she is dangerous. But watch out, she is also the goddess of chastity (maybe not in this rendition). She was born by bursting out of Zeus’s head, fully armored and ready for battle. She has a whole city named after her and is very fond of owls.
Pretty badass all things considered, but what about the other two warriors? Well, the answer poses itself. Amazons! Warrior women clashed and drove fear into the hearts of even the mightiest of Greek heroes. Don’t believe it, let’s take a closer look at our warrior princesses. The most distinctive feature on both of them is the headwear. The left one is wearing a gold headband-like tiara. And who else wears the same tiara? Excuse my comic-book geekiness but, Wonder Woman! And that’s our Amazon link, because Wonder Woman herself was raised by the Amazons and it shows in her design.
That’s all fine and dandy but what about the other maiden of war? Well, as I said, it’s all in the headwear. The olive wreath was awarded to the winners of the ancient Olympic games. The winners were amazing athletes who were believed to attain near demigod status. And the best female athletes at the time were of course the Amazons. They even went to toe with Hercules, the father of the Olympics. Got another one! Slot myths!
The other symbols you know and love are the Corinthian helmet, Greek short sword Xiphos and some decorative vases.
Achilles and Achilles Deluxe
Sing, O Muse, of the rage of Achilles! Those are the words with which Homer starts the Iliad. So, really no mysteries here. Achilles is – well, Achilles; you all know that you all watched Troy. But did you know he was a redhead? No wonder he was so angry. Kidding.
So, what to talk about? About the movie? Yea. So, if you lived under a rock there was a 2004 movie titled Troy. And Achilles Deluxe is slightly more inspired by it than the original Achilles slot. The movies are pretty fun, and it changes a few things for better and worse. But it nails one thing and that’s the scene between Achilles and Prima. If you don’t know who’s who, well, to put it super shortly: Priam’s son (Hector) killed Achilles’s buddy (Patroclus) and then Achilles killed him back real hard. And now Prima asks him for his dead son’s body and Achilles relents and chills out for the first time in the book.
And the Iliad ends there, while the movie has about 30 mins of run time left. So, we learned a lesson here and that lesson is to chill out and play some slots. Look at Achilles from the original slot games, not a care in the world. As we all should be. This concludes the session of Slot Myths. Also, Achilles beat both the Amazons and Helios, so this is the best slot by default!
