Kaos Theory

RARELY SIGN petitions but when the historian Tom Holland posted a link to Twitter asking Netflix to make a second series of Kaos, I did so. This is simply because it is a brilliant retelling of several Greek myths set on Mount Olympus, as well as in the modern world.

I suppose one can’t give spoilers for myths that are already over two thousand years old. The central story is of Orpheus’ descent into the underworld to reclaim his wife Eurydice, whose soul was being held by Hades. The story is well known, retold throughout Western culture in painting, poetry (Shakespeare: ‘Orpheus with his lute’ in Henry VIII, later set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams). The most popular is Offenbach’s 1858 opera, Orpheus in the Underworld (Orphée aux enfers), which parodies Gluck’s stately classical Orfeo et Eurydice (1762) while poking fun at Napoleon III’s French Republic. Offenbach’s opera has been revived several times, notably by the English National Opera, but one of my favourite tellings of the story is Opera North’s extraordinary Orpheus (2022), a blend of Monteverdi’s Orfeo (1607) and Jasdeep Singh Degun’s music. The often-told story of the Minotaur, whether in Mary Renault’s novel, The King Must Die, or Picasso’s paintings, is also mixed into this story in a new telling of the myth.

In Kaos, the humans live in the modern world but the gods continue to interfere in their lives. Humans suffer because of their own actions as well as at the whims of the gods. Orpheus is a famous musician whom Eurydice no longer loves. At her death, he doesn’t put a coin in her mouth to pay the ferryman, so she cannot cross the River Styx (or Acheron) to the Abode of the Dead. Orpheus has to descend to the underworld to rescue her.

It is hard to believe the uber-cool Jeff Goldblum, a top Hollywood star and known for his jazz piano with the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, wasn’t the first choice for wily Zeus. The King of the gods, he is neither heroic nor athletic but rather a neurotic character as seen in Woody Allen films, obsessed with himself and endlessly anxious. Here he is alarmed by omens of his demise and the chaos (Kaos) that will follow, though he also frets endlessly about his popularity in the modern world. No one will answer him on this topic for fear of meeting an unpleasant end. Zeus is dressed in the style of a Florida/ Palm Beach semi-retiree, wearing gold-rimmed sunglasses and athleisurewear. He watches humans on what looks like a TV set in his kitsch palace where everything is gold, marble, or shagpile, or barbecuing in his garden with its excessive water features.

Zeus’ wife, Hera, is the imperious queen of the gods but always jealous of her husband, turning his lovers into bees. She is also his sister and is having an affair with their brother, Poseidon, portrayed as a louche Greek shipping magnate on his luxury yacht. (The series has many nice touches, such as when Poseidon comes to Zeus’ suburban-style barbecue and they get salmon in for him.) Hades, the god of the underworld, is another brother who comes to Olympus for a family meeting. The world of the gods is difficult to understand in the modern world.

The series is narrated by Prometheus, punished eternally for helping humans by giving them fire. Zeus has an eagle eat his liver daily only for it to grow back at night so that the torture may continue. Yet, Zeus summons him whenever he needs his advice. Yet, Zeus doesn’t know that it is Prometheus who is planning the Kaos, even murdering his lover, Charon (the excellent Ramon Tikaram), so he can ferry Orpheus, when the time comes, over the River Styx.

As well as the world of the gods and humans, there is Hades, the Underworld, all shot in black-and-white where humans continue to be tragic figures existing at the whims of the gods. The only figure who moves between these worlds is the demigod, Dionysus, god of wine and partying (an outstanding performance by Nabhaan Rizwan). He brings chaos all around him as he negotiates between the gods and humans, causing mischief as he goes. He is the most appealing character in the series, when he finally rises above his spoilt rich-kid behaviour.

Is Kaos relevant to us? It mocks the vulgarity of the super rich, but presents a world in which some humans act according to morality. The Greek gods are too difficult for us moderns to comprehend. Yet, they continue to fascinate and entertain us

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Although the myths are modified and developed in Kaos, the behaviour of the gods is not some modern interpretation, but is in the spirit of the old tales, which presents problems for us to understand them today. Sometimes, they just seem cruel as Zeus killing those he suspected of stealing his watch.

Classics was an essential part of an elite Western education, at least until recently.

Macaulay saw English’s role in India to be similar to that of the Latin and Greek in the West, namely as a language of culture. Richard Symonds says that in 1938, six of the eight provincial governors in India had read Greats (Classics) at Oxford. Perhaps, Boris Johnson was the last British prime minister to have this education.

In Western high culture, the Greek (and Roman) myths remain important for understanding literature, art and other forms but they have become stories, albeit powerful enduring ones about important ideas and questions pertaining to life, the world, etc.

The gods were replaced in Europe by a very different monotheistic religion which is at odds with Greek mythology and religion. The Greek gods are all too human, seeming to behave badly, yet they are gods and have divine powers. They seem to possess none of the features of modern literary characters such as motivation or personality while Dionysus, the demigod, and the humans are affected by the narratives.

The stories about Hindu gods and goddesses and heroes and heroines can be retold but they are part of a living tradition. They are still to be worshipped and revered and although they can be shown as living in both divine time and in the modern world like the gods of Kaos, they are very different in that they are always divine.

Does Kaos create its own mythology which is relevant to us? It mocks Lord Minos, an all too human dictator, as well as the vulgarity and behaviour of the super rich, but presents a world in which only some of the humans act according to morality. The Greek gods are too difficult for us moderns to comprehend. Yet, they continue to fascinate and entertain us. Perhaps our incomprehension of them can be seen in Offenbach’s opera which ends with a dance, the ‘Infernal Galop’. Its well-known tune is the ‘Cancan’ and the dancers are the Olympian gods.

About The Author

Rachel Dwyer

Rachel Dwyer is an author and culture critic based in London. She has written extensively on Hindi cinema and is an Open contributor

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