Mapping the Terrain

When we were discussing the difference between race and ethnicity we came to some conclusions, ethnicity is basically a putative common ancestry, which doesn't always involve a power struggle. Race on the other had is a constant power struggle and we categorize people into a social construct by the color of their skin or the way their eyes look...etc..etc. In God of War II there is a power struggle amongst different types of people. Kratos in particular is fighting for power against the Gods. This is the major plot of the game. I guess you could "categorize" mortals and Gods as a race. Yet you also have those creatures that in our present day don;t even exist, such as, harpies, gorgons, and Medusa. These are all a species but not technically the race that is described in the article Mapping the Terrain. Kratos is white, but he is also a ghost, but all of the characters in the game that are human are white, so we obviously have the white power reigning in this game. Still, when this game is taking place the characters fit the description of what they are supposed to be. I don't write this to be harsh, but when more than one diety ruled the world all the people in power were white. In my gaming experience, of playing God of War II, I have yet to see a human of a race that was not white, but like I said before, It seems very correct for the time in which the game is set.

Ethnicity is definitely in the game, its hard to describe, but for example, Kratos goes agaisnt the ways of his culture which is to be sacred to the Gods and respect them. Kratos is very disrespectful and does not give a rats ass about what the Gods tell him to do. Hence his demise by Zeus in the beginning of the game. Yet many of the mortals who are in this game do respect the Gods and worship them as they should be worshipped, also feared. There is a great amount of ethnicity in this game, with the different uses of the statues and the famous Golden Fleece. Everything is there that is so culturally bound to this game, its hard to say what is missing. You could say there should be people of different race according to the "social construct," but that wouldn't make the game correct for the setting its in, mythological times...ya..no. Maybe if you threw a few Persians in the mix but Kratos the great white male (he's actually dead, thats why he's so white) would kill them, I mean he is the God of War.