"What Have I Become?"

For my last couple of posts, especially my most recent, which dealt with the film Animal House, I have done topics that have been irreverent in nature and trivial in underlying meaning. For this post, however, I have decided to write about a topic that is irreverent in nature, yet serious in its underlying meaning. Now, before you judge this post based on the topic itself, give me a chance to explain why this is a serious post that I take wholeheartedly. The tale is a deep and moving story, and upon further inspection, it tells a truth about human nature that we just can't seem to escape.

God of War is a video game (yes, it's a post about a video game) that tells the tale of a Spartan general named Kratos who, for various reasons through multiple games, is on a quest for vengence. Kratos was a remarkable general, leading his army of thousands to countless victories. Despite the brutal and unrelenting nature of the Spartan army and their bloodthirsty leader, they were no match for the invading barbarian army. Kratos, in a final effort to snatch victory for his army, he pledged his soul to Ares, the Greek god of war. Ares, seeing promise in the young commander, descended from Olympus to deliver Kratos his victory. In return, Kratos was Ares' unflinching disciple, carrying out his master's orders without question or remorse. Kratos murdered innocent servants of the other Olympians, namely Athena, and destroyed countless villages, all in service to his insane lord.

Kratos carried out all of his orders without question, until one night, Ares tasked him to burn to the ground a village, built in the service of Athena. Kratos, standing before the ominous wooden doors of the village's temple, was warned by the village oracle never to step inside. Pushing her aside, Kratos kicked in the doors and fell upon the servants of Athena without mercy, slaying and murdering in a mad bloodlust all in his path. When he finally regained his rationality, he looked on in horror at the bodies of his two final victims: his own wife and daughter. This was a cruel trick masterminded by Ares to sever all ties to Kratos' former life, leaving him free to hone his strength and, in Ares' words, become "Death itself." However, Kratos vowed revenge on the god of war who had taken from him the only thing he ever truly loved. After ten long years of service to the other gods, Kratos was finally delivered his revenge on Ares, killing the god of war after a long and drawn-out adventure that I don't have any time to explain.

The tale told in God of War, as extreme as it may be, is a metaphor for how far people will go for what they desire. Kratos' only desire was power, which was delivered to him in full. He was given more power than any mortal could dream of, and that power only grew with each task completed for his master. But at what cost? With each innocent person he killed, with each village he burned, with each sin he committed against each and every one of the gods, more of Kratos' humanity was robbed, until he was little more than a beast who cared only for the thrill of slaughter and war. It wasn't until everything was taken from him that he realized what his service to Ares had done to him. He asked himself upon his journey in the game, when gazing upon the work of his former master, "By the gods, what have I become?"

How far will we go for what we desire? How much of ourselves are we willing to sacrifice for what we claim to pine? How many will we trample underfoot to get what we want? Are our dreams worth our lives? Kratos' weren't. Are yours?