Blood of Zeus is the latest show in Netflix's extensive anime catalog, which is the latest of many retellings of Greek myth. In this new show, streaming now, we follow Heron (voiced by Derek Phillips), an ordinary citizen of Ancient Greece who discovers that he is the son of Zeus (Jason O'Mara) and has a part to play in battling demons that are attacking his town.
If you do not recognize the name of Heron from your studies of Greek mythology, that is because he is a character invented for Blood of Zeus. However, the world that he lives in is straight out of mythology.
At the start of the Blood of Zeus, we get the history of this anime's world. Way before the events of the Netflix show, the Gods waged an epic war against the Titans and, when the last Titan fell, he swore a curse against the Gods and created a race of giants.
This is inspired by the traditional myths, but the Greek story was even bloodier than Blood of Zeus. In Greek myth, the Giants were created after the Titan, Cronos castrated his father Uranus, with his blood creating a race of Giants or Gigantes.
Notably, Cronos is traditionally the father of many of the key Olympians, including key players in Blood of Zeus; Hera (Claudia Christian), Hades (Fred Tatasciore) and Zeus himself.
As well as being Zeus' sister, Hera was also his wife, as she is in Blood of Zeus. Though the myths do not include any character named Heron, Zeus often had children with humans in the myths, much to the anger of Hera. Among the famous heroes created this way was the slayer of Medusa, Perseus, who was created after Zeus impregnated Danae in the guise of a shower of gold, and Heracles, who Zeus fathered after disguising himself as the husband of Alcmene.
In Blood of Zeus, Heron is the son of the god Zeus and the mortal Electra (Mamie Gummer).
This seems to be a different Electra, however, from the Greek mythology character of the same name, who is seen in a number of Greek tragedies (most notably two versions of the play "Electra" by both Sophocles and Euripides) trying to get justice after her mother, Clytemnestra, murders her father, Agamemnon.
Though Heron is not a real Greek mythology character—"Heron" seems to be a slightly on the nose bastardization of the word "hero", the heron bird is rich with symbolism in Greek myth, with the bird acting as a messenger of the Gods.
Blood of Zeus is streaming now on Netflix.
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