Mythic Warriors

Did You Know?

• The series was based on the book series Myth Men Guardians of the Legend, written in 1996 and 1997 by Laura Geringer and illustrated by Peter Bollinger.
• Scottish Television screened the series as part of its children's programme Inside Out, and it was later repeated in 2009 on wknd@stv.
• The series has been translated into Scottish Gaelic and broadcast on BBC Alba since 2010.
• Most characters are portrayed with their original Greek names, with a few Romanized exceptions like Hercules and Ulysses.
• The book series Myth Men Guardians of the Legend received the Children's Choice award.

Premise

The series is known for its unique depictions of the Greek gods, who are shown as gigantic humanoids about 10 to 12 feet tall. They possess immortality, the ability to fly and teleport, supernatural magical powers, and the ability to alter their appearances at will, including reducing to human size or changing looks, voices, and gender. In their natural form, an echo accompanies their voice. The Olympians wear brightly colored warrior-style attire, except for Hera, Demeter, and Hephaestus.

Between the first and second seasons, several gods' depictions changed: Hades' attire was slightly altered; Persephone aged from a teenage-looking young girl to a grown goddess; Aphrodite shifted from a giggling pencil-thin schoolgirl-like teenager to a conniving fully mature armor-clad lust goddess with a different voice and manner; and Athena changed from a blonde in monotonous silver armor to a brunette cloaked in a blood-red dual-split dress with matching cape, plus golden shin guards and arm-bands, though her voice remained the same.

Key gods include Zeus, king of the gods and god of the sky, justice, thunder, and lightning; Hera, queen of the gods and goddess of the sky, marriage, and childbirth; Hades, god of the Underworld, the dead, wealth, and burial; Demeter, goddess of fertility, grain, agriculture, and harvest; Poseidon, god of the sea, horses, and earthquakes; Hermes, messenger of the gods and god of travelers, trickery, commerce, messages, international trade, wit, thieves, speed, and invention; Athena, virgin goddess of wisdom, battles, crafts, battle tactics, warriors, handcrafts, and reason; Ares, god of war, murder, and bloodshed; and Apollo, god of arts, prophecies, medicine, truth, youth, archery, and civilization.

Featured Titans include Alcyoneus, depicted as a Titan King (though actually a Gigantes), Atlas, Epimetheus, and Prometheus, who after humanity proves its worth is forgiven by Zeus and released at the hands of Hercules.

Episode list

The first season aired from November 7, 1998, to January 30, 1999, with episodes including Andromeda: The Warrior Princess (November 7, 1998), Hercules and Iolas (November 14, 1998), Ulysses and the Journey Home (November 21, 1998), Perseus: The Search For Medusa (November 28, 1998), Jason and the Argonauts: The Search for the Golden Fleece (December 5, 1998), Persephone and the Winter Seeds (December 12, 1998), Icarus and Daedalus (December 19, 1998), Ulysses and Circe (December 26, 1998), Atalanta: The Wild Girl (January 2, 1999), Prometheus and Pandora's Box (January 9, 1999), Bellerophon and Pegasus (January 16, 1999), Theseus and the Minotaur (January 23, 1999), and The Labours of Hercules (January 30, 1999).

The second season began September 25, 1999, with Psyche and Eros, followed by Ulysses and the Trojan Horse (October 2, 1999), Ulysses and Penelope: A Kingdom Lost (October 9, 1999), Hercules and the Golden Apples (October 16, 1999), Cadmus and Europa (October 23, 1999), Jason and Medea (October 30, 1999), Damon and Pythias (November 6, 1999), Castor and Pollux (November 13, 1999), The Hounds of Actaeon (November 20, 1999), Phaeton: The Chariot of Fire (November 27, 1999), Androcles and the Lion (December 18, 1999), King Midas: The Golden Touch (January 15, 2000), and Hercules and the Titans: The Last Battle (January 22, 2000), in which after being denied a throne on Mount Olympus by Zeus despite Athena's vision, Hephaestus is tempted by Alcyoneus into freeing the Titans from Tartarus, and Zeus and Athena work to convince Hercules to help them fight the Titans.