[SPOILERS] Can we talk about the nonsensical incest?

[Nico]

This post contains spoilers for the romance in the game.

So, there's plenty of incest in greek mythology. However this game takes a very contemporary approach to everything with Zagreus himself having very modern world views so he can be the hip and cool protagonist for the audience to relate to but then...things gets weird.

Zagreus was raised by Nyx and god knows how old he is, but he was raised with Thanatos as his brother and Megaera possibly as a sister; if not with a family bond at least he knows she and her sisters are also Nyx's daughters.

Then out of the blue when you're giving nectar to Thanatos things get weird. They start flirting and talking about these feelings and the hilarious "what am I to you?" question. What you are to me? Uh...my brother? Did we forget about that? In a very abrupt manner what happens is: Zagreus finds out Persephone is his biological mother then immediately goes "hey, that means it's okay if I f*ck my brother!".

And of course, there's Meg. I'm not sure whether they were raised as siblings or not but they had a relationship before the game started and can get back together as a romance option. This is perhaps even more insane, as they both dated while Zagreus was still under the impression she was his sister, considering The Furies are also daughters of Nyx.

What's up with that? If the game was greek mythology in its raw state I'd totally get it, but it's constantly trying to be modern with the character of Zagreus criticizing the insanity of it all and winking at the audience with his modern world view then he just decides it's okay to have sex with his brother just because he just found out they are not blood related? And he did the same with his sister? Wtf??

[Nibbie]

I'm not sure what is so nonsensical about it in context. As you say, Greek mythology is full of it, largely because there are only so many gods and almost every single one is already related in some way. Unless you count shades, and I'm not sure how those sorts of relationships would work, almost everyone he interacts with would have been related to him. He has also known he isn't Nyx's son for "some time". We don't know exactly how long, but it could be a while at this point.

[safersaviour]

Within the context of the game, Nyx's 'true' children are Hypnos, Thanatos, Charon, and the Fates. Meg, Alecto, Tisiphone and Zag are all fosters. Thanatos and Megera were adults by the time Zag was born and so weren't raised alongside him, and most of the House knows of Zag's true parentage. Zag himself has had doubts for a long while, and is less surprised than he is hurt and annoyed at having been lied to.

So the three are not related, weren't raised together, and don't consider one another siblings. And they're Greek. And Gods. -shrugs-

[Odahviing]

♥♥♥♥ happens when you are immortal. You gotta roll with it.

[C4RNIVOR3]

Originally posted by ScapeGoat:

Zagreus was raised by Nyx and god knows how old he is, but he was raised with Thanatos as his brother and Megaera possibly as a sister; if not with a family bond at least he knows she and her sisters are also Nyx's daughters.

No.

I don’t see how someone who played Hades could conclude Meg is Zagreus’ foster sister. There is no evidence in the game to support that. Nyx is Meg’s boss and advisor.

Thanatos is Zagreus’ childhood friend. They always knew they were not related despite Nyx also raising Zagreus.

Directly from Supergiant's head writer.
https://twitter.com/kasavin/status/1312893491370881025
https://twitter.com/kasavin/status/1312894419553587200

If you're reading incest between these relationships, that's not the intended interpretation. These characters have never treated each other as siblings or referred to one another as such. Contrast how Zagreus, Thanatos and Megaera speak about one another to Megaera and her sisters, and Thanatos and Hypnos regarding each other and Charon.


And regarding the codex entry about Megaera, this is addressed as well.
https://twitter.com/kasavin/status/1312925924074024960
https://twitter.com/kasavin/status/1313966451171098624


Either way the relationships are not meant to be interpreted as incest.

[Seflame]

And if were, in fact incest... they are greek deities after all. For all is worth, if we compare Zagreus with uncle Zeus, our boy is far more... conservative, more love driven, instead of lust and impulse driven.

For the kind of relationships that are present in greek mythology, taking them like the comparation point, our boy is quite on the conservative edge, being the absolute king of monogamy Hades, and of course, Artemis, that isn´t really interested in that kind of relationship stuff.