There are a lot of characters and references to the legend of Greek mythology found in Crazier Eights: Olympus. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Artemis

Artemis is the god of the Moon and hunting. She is thought to live in the wilderness in the mountains with her many nymph followers.

Artemis also helped save an abandoned baby, Atalanta, who grew up to be a great hunter-hero.

Artemis has the ability to destroy assets to represent her hunting ability.

Circe

Circe is a sorceress who met both Jason and Odysseus. She lived in a palace surrounded by a forest on an island. She lived with sedated lions and wolves in addition to servants.

In the Odyssey, she enchanted many of King Odysseus’s companions by turning them into pigs. Odysseus convinced her to transform them back into humans. Odysseus and his companions then stayed at the palace of Circe for a year. She then helped guide Odysseus into the underworld of the dead, and helped him know how to continue his quest back home. For example, she helped Odysseus know that his crew would need to use wax in their ears as defense against the sirens’ song.

Circe’s ability to gain control of assets represents her ability to enchant others to get them to do what she wants.

Polyphemus

Polyphemus is the cyclops son of Poseidon. He is a shepherd who lives in a cave on an island with other cyclopes. He is a giant person with one eye, and likes to eat humans. He ate some of Odysseus’s companions in the Odyssey.

Polyphemus’s ability to destroy assets represents his brutal willingness and ability to kill (or eat) just about anything or anyone.

Pan

Pan is the goat-legged and goat-horned god of the wilderness, music, and festivities. He appears to be a faun god.

Pan’s ability to cause players to draw cards represents his ability to inspire others through music.

Eurydice

Eurydice is the wife of Orpheus and not a lot is known about her.

Orpheus

Orpheus is the husband of Eurydice. He was the most legendary and greatest human musician in the world. He could charm beasts with his music, who would flock around him.

His ability represents his musical skill to charm others into joining him or trying to aid him in some way.

There are two main stories Orpheus is most famous for:

One, he was a heroic companion of Jason, as one of the Argonauts. They had to sail past the sirens and needed a way to resist their music. Orpheus played music to counter their “siren’s song.”

Two, when his wife Eurydice died, he traveled to the underworld to save her, and hoped to bring her back to life. He found Hades and Persephone, the royal gods of the underworld, and his music convinced them to give him a chance. Hades said Orpheus could take Eurydice with him back to the land of the living, but only if he could do so without looking at her. Right when Orpheus was at the entrance to the over world, he looked back to make sure she was there. She was. But that was little solace to then lose her for.

Hecate

Hecate is the goddess of sorcery, ghosts, medicine, and poison. She was often depicted as three, perhaps with an ability to duplicate her physical form.

Her ability represents her ability to duplicate and cast spells by being able to copy any event ability you play from your hand.

Medea

Medea is a sorceress, who was famous for using rituals and spell components to cast spells. She is the grand daughter of Helios, the original Sun god (a titan). She was central to Jason’s quest of the Golden Fleece. Her father was King Aeëtes of Colchis, and the golden fleece was a sacred artifact of theirs guarded by a dragon (giant snake) that never sleeps. Medea agreed to help Jason if he would marry her. She did multiple things to help, but the most important is that she created a potion that put the dragon to sleep. That made acquiring the fleece easy.

Medea’s ability to play cards from the top of the draw pile is representative of her power to cast spells.

King Oedipus

King Oedipus has a vast history, which is greatly explored in two different plays by Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus and Oedipus Rex. He is also known as the one hero who defeated the Sphinx by answering her riddle.

Before he was born he was prophesied to kill his father, and marry his mother, who were the king and queen of Thebes. His parents sent him away as a baby to be adopted in order to thwart the prophesy. That didn’t work out. It wasn’t his fault, though. It was a huge coincidence. It was destiny.

Ultimately, Oedipus is known as a wise hero who makes the “right choices” through good foresight, yet he can’t escape his destiny. Not always, at least.

His ability represents his wisdom and foresight, mainly as an even older and wiser king later in life. Before you draw a card on your turn, you can select what you want to draw between two different cards, and you get an extra discard. It might be enough to help you achieve victory, but your destiny might still get in the way.

Zeus

Zeus is the king of the gods. He overthrew his father, Kronos, and banished him to Tartarus, a land of punishment found in the underworld.

Zeus’s ability represents his ability to banish people (and gods) to keep them from being mischievous in the world.

Andromeda

Andromeda was the princess of Ethiopia (a legendary realm) and became the first queen of Mycenae. The queen and mother of Andromeda, Cassiopeia, boasted that Andromeda is more beautiful than the Nereids (sea nymphs). This claim outraged Poseidon, and he decided to punish her kingdom. He flooded Ethiopia and had a sea monster, Cetus, ravage the kingdom. The king and father of Andromeda, Cepheus, was told by an oracle that he could appease Poseidon by sacrificing Andromeda to Cetus. He had her chained to a rock to await her doom.

Not long after that, Perseus came to the kingdom after recently defeated Medusa. Cepheus told Perseus that he could marry Andromeda by defeating Cetus. Perseus succeeds and married Andromeda.

Not a lot is known about Andromeda other than what happened to her in the story of Perseus. Her card ability represents her diplomatic ability and charm as a beautiful princess or queen. She can get others to join her cause or donate important assets to help her cause.

Perseus

Perseus became the first king of Mycenae, and the son of Zeus. He borrowed Zeus’s shield and the boots of Hermes (to have the ability to fly). He went on many adventures, such as defeating Medusa.

His ability represents his ability to slay monsters and his other enemies.

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