36.4 hours played
Written 28 days ago
Age of Mythology is a brilliant game—a fantastic blend of myth, strategy, and godly intervention. You play as one of several ancient civilizations, each with their own pantheon of gods. The game allows you to summon mythical units, cast divine miracles, and use the power of the gods to crush your enemies. It's fun, it’s visually stunning, and it’s one of the most engaging real-time strategy games out there. But—and this is where things get weird—have you ever thought about how absurd it is that these "gods" even exist in the first place?
Like, you summon Zeus or Ra or Hades, and they literally rain down divine wrath on your enemies. It's kind of hard to ignore the fact that the game essentially glorifies the idea of these higher beings—who are often portrayed as vengeful, capricious, and seriously flawed. In a way, Age of Mythology is a reminder of how religions, for all their supposed virtues, have often glorified figures who, by any rational standard, are more akin to petty, destructive tyrants than benevolent overseers.
For example, consider the Greek gods—in the game, Zeus sends lightning to obliterate entire enemy armies. Now, Zeus wasn’t exactly known for being kind to humanity. In fact, the Greek gods were notoriously cruel, meddling in human affairs just for fun. Take the myth of Prometheus, the titan who gave fire to humans, only to be punished by Zeus by having his liver eaten out by an eagle every day for eternity. What a great role model, right? This isn’t a story of divine compassion—this is a tale of arbitrary punishment by a "god" who wasn’t happy that humans were given a gift. And in a game like Age of Mythology, we’re encouraged to worship these gods and benefit from their unpredictable moods. It's essentially an exercise in reinforcing power dynamics that have plagued humanity for centuries.
The same goes for Ra in the Egyptian pantheon. Sure, Ra is revered as a benevolent sun god in Age of Mythology, but his mythology is full of contradictions. In one myth, Ra’s tears are what created humanity. In others, he nearly destroys the human race because of a temper tantrum. This is a guy who regularly decides the fate of entire civilizations based on his personal whims. A god who routinely punishes humanity for trivial reasons? Sounds a bit familiar, doesn't it? Like how, throughout history, religions have often justified wars, oppression, and violence in the name of their gods. Much like the idea of divine intervention in the game, religions have used godly will to justify unjust actions, whether that’s the Crusades, the Inquisition, or countless acts of religious intolerance.
In Age of Mythology, we can summon Hades and send his armies to obliterate entire towns. But why would anyone worship a god of the underworld? Hades is no savior—he’s the king of a place that’s supposed to be filled with eternal suffering and despair. And yet, in a world of mythology, we’re told to view these gods as supreme, as divine beings who are entitled to our devotion. Why should anyone be expected to submit to a figure like that? Why should we bow down to gods who aren’t interested in the well-being of humanity, but only in maintaining their arbitrary power? It’s an absurd, damaging concept that pervades many religious narratives: the idea that submission to a higher power is inherently virtuous, even when that higher power is morally questionable at best.
One could make the argument that the concept of a god itself is just a vehicle for controlling people, as the ancient civilizations depicted in Age of Mythology often used religion to justify their dominance over others. Theocracies have existed throughout history, from Ancient Egypt to medieval Europe to modern-day Iran, where religion was not just a spiritual tool, but a political one. In Age of Mythology, when you call on the gods, you are essentially asking for help from an entity that is self-interested, arbitrary, and omnipotent in a way that reinforces the power structures of the time. But in real life, asking for divine intervention often serves to remove personal agency and leads to people resigning to whatever fate they think their god has ordained. Why rely on gods when you have your own potential for change?
This is particularly evident in how faith is treated in the game. In Age of Mythology, gods provide miracles, mythical creatures, and the ability to transform battles in your favor. But faith in the real world has often been used to justify oppression, to demand submission, and to keep people in line. History is filled with examples where the power of faith has been abused to perpetuate cruelty, from the Spanish Inquisition to the oppression of women and minorities under various religious regimes. The ability to summon miracles in the game feels a bit like the religious promises of paradise and salvation that are often used to placate people into accepting suffering in their lives. Why are people always told to wait for divine help when they have the power to make changes themselves?
Take the Atlanteans in the game. They're essentially a technologically advanced civilization with the power to build things like Colossus and mythical armies. But their downfall comes when they become too arrogant, believing they could control the gods. Isn't this the quintessential religious narrative? A civilization falls because they overstep their boundaries with the divine. And isn't that just another example of how humans are conditioned to think they need a higher power to guide them? We are taught that our fate is determined by the gods—or by religious institutions and their leaders—when, in fact, much of our suffering is a result of human-made systems of control, power, and oppression.
The idea that gods or divine powers can intervene to "fix" your problems is nothing but a way of deflecting responsibility from human beings. It teaches us to expect salvation from an external force rather than relying on our own capability to change the world. This is perhaps one of the most insidious aspects of religion. In Age of Mythology, you can summon gods to save the day, but real life doesn't offer that luxury. The gods don’t answer prayers—and they never will. If humanity wants to survive and thrive, it must rely on reason, action, and empathy, not on supernatural forces that might not even exist.
In conclusion, Age of Mythology is a fun, engaging game that allows you to explore ancient civilizations and mythologies. But, as you build your empire, it's hard to ignore the flaws of these mythological figures—gods who are quick to punish, manipulate, and reward with arbitrary actions. The game itself is a reflection of how religions have often been used to justify war, oppression, and control. It’s a constant reminder of how easily humanity has been convinced to surrender agency and free will in favor of some invisible, all-powerful force. The question remains: why should we worship deities who are just as flawed, vengeful, and self-interested as we are?
