Talk:Religion (Hellas Supplement)

Nemesis Equivalent

For now I'm leaving the equivalent name of Nemesis blank. Invidia has been suggested, but I feel that Invidia's portfolio much closer follows greed and envy. I included Nemesis because she is a great deity for chaotic evil characters. Invidia would be neutral evil. So, I thank Xenophon for the contribution, but think that-- for now-- I'm not going to move to equivocate the two. If I were to fill in the blank I would simply fabricate a new deity from a latin word (probably just Ira, but maybe Persecuta, meaning "She who has taken revenge.").

Further, in the next week or two I'll add a second pantheon, which will include some of the major Egyptian gods. And eventually a third will follow with other Near Eastern gods. For the time being, however, it's limited to the Greco-Roman pantheon.

Any attempt at categorization of gods is difficult, so I'm operating in part on art. That's why I've rejected Invidia; I don't think she (especially as one of the abstraction goddesses) really fits the revenge portfolio. I just wanted to justify why I've removed her! Thanks for all the help, though--

--EldritchNumen 15:25, 2 February 2007 (MST)

I can see your point on the distinction between Nemesis and Invidia. However, their alignment I think is way off. Nemesis especially, as she represented the counter to hubris. I've always viewed Nemesis as a righter of wrongs, not some petty revenge deity. She fits well into the "judge" stereotype of Lawful Neutral. --Xenophon 17:44, 3 February 2007 (MST)

That's quite a good point, and I do agree. In the majority of the stories Nemesis is fairly calculating, matching each wrong with a punishment. I haven't made any portfolios yet, but I think I will probably take that suggestion (i.e. LN) into account. I am just struggling to match some of the deities to proper alignments, since they are all quite capricious and alternately do good and evil things (and many, in different attributes, also waver between lawful and chaotic). In particular, Chaotic Evil is rather difficult; many deities do Chaotic Evil things from time to time, but-- like humans-- in the long run tend towards neutral. Do you have any thoughts about a major deity who would fit nicely into the chaotic evil framework? If so, I'd love to hear who and why... --EldritchNumen 15:09, 5 February 2007 (MST)

Tentative Alignments

I've added some tentative alignments for the Gods. What do you think? These are especially problematic because each god has several aspects, some of which are rather paradoxical. I've tried to go with the most commonly occurring descriptions of the deities in order to most effectively categorize them, but there are sure to be disagreements. I'd love to hear what you all have to add... Thanks!

Also, there are clearly problems, since there is only one major evil deity (Mars) and he is somewhat dubiously evil (and it is also unclear as to whether he should be NE or CE). This problem is slightly offset because many of the capricious gods (such as Poseidon!) often do "evil" things, though such actions don't define their alignment. Thoughts? --EldritchNumen 15:19, 5 February 2007 (MST)

I've changed Hera/Juno from LG to CG because she is more often than not associated with raw emotion and the desire to oppose the divine order of Jupiter/Jove/Zeus.