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On the 21st of October 2025, was held the 3 rd Seminar \u201cMyth and Video Games\u201d, embedded in the activities of Proyecto Andr\u00f3meda (Ref.: PHS-2024\/PH-HUM-76). As in previous editions of the seminar, it counted with the collaboration of Asteria, Association of Myth Criticism and Complutense University of Madrid. On this occasion, the seminar was held only via a Discord server, which made the participation of speakers and attendees easier.<\/p>\n
As in previous editions, the event included presentations by specialists with a long career in the field of game studies, as well as academic researchers who have just begun to explore it. This blend contributed to a wider diversity of perspectives and approaches, favoring an enriching environment for dialogue and exchanging of ideas. The talks given offered a notorious thematical richness, addressing various aspects of myths and myth criticism in the context of ludic multimedia. Works ranging from contemporary videogames to emblematic titles from the nineties were analyzed, including productions with a big budget (triple-A) and proposals from the indie field. This variety allowed for a broader vision of the potential of video games as an object of study within myth criticism and the contemporary reception of myth.<\/p>\n
Next, we present a summary of each speech, pairing with the main proposals carried out by the speakers:<\/p>\n
Rebeca. E. Campos – Digital Desolation: The Literary Legacy of Eliot\u2019s Wasteland and Ishiguro\u2019s Dystopia in Cyberpunk 2077<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This study analyzes how the video game \u201cCyberpunk 2077\u201d extends and reformulates the modern wasteland literary tradition, drawing on the spiritual desolation of T. S. Eliot’s \u201cThe Waste Land\u201d and the biopolitical dystopia of Kazuo Ishiguro’s \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d. Through an interdisciplinary approach combining literary and game studies, it examines how the game transfers fragmentation, alienation, and control of the body to the digital space, inviting the player to a firsthand experience of what modern and contemporary literature could only represent. In this way, it proposes a reading of the video game as both heir and expansion of literary narrative, where the ruins of modernity are transformed into an interactive and aesthetic experience of the 21st century.<\/span><\/p>\n Brennan White \u2013 Modern Myths Require Modern Solutions: Myths in video games created to explore 21st-century philosophical issues<\/em><\/b> Ruth Garc\u00eda and Bego\u00f1a Cadi\u00f1anos \u2013 Hades II: Witchcraft and reinterpretations of mythical feminine figures.<\/b><\/p>\n Ruth Garc\u00eda and Bego\u00f1a Cadi\u00f1anos’s talk addresses two fundamental themes present in the video game \u201cHades II\u201d. First, they analyze the treatment of sorcery in the game, both in relation to the protagonist and other mythical figures who possess magical powers. The analysis reveals how the game draws on classical sources while introducing subtle and contemporary references that allow it to connect with a modern audience without sacrificing depth or mythological rigor. Second, they examine the representation of various mythical female figures, traditionally associated with negative connotations due to their connection to magic or their role as deities, as is the case with Eris and Nemesis. The talk highlights how \u201cHades II\u201d offers a renewed and more positive vision of these characters, contributing to a critical and enriching reinterpretation of classical myths from a contemporary perspective.<\/span><\/p>\n Mar\u00eda Flores \u2013 Playing with death: Hades\u2019 conception in \u201cSpiritfarer\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cSpiritfarer\u201d is an endearing and cozy indie video game about managing death. In it, the players play the role of Stella, a young woman to whom Charon, the ferryman from the Beyond in charge of transporting souls, hands over the baton. Stella’s main function as a new guide to spirits or souls is, therefore, to help them make their last journey. \u201cSpiritfarer\u201d presents death and the afterlife from a very particular perspective, with ideas that come from different cultures and religions. However, among them, those from Ancient Greece are the main inspirations for the game’s approach, according to its creators. This culture, the cradle of our Western civilization, has been and continues to be a great source of inspiration at a creative and narrative level in different media, and video games are no exception. For this reason, the main goal of the talk has been to analyze some of the most significant ideas that \u201cSpiritfarer\u201d takes from Greece. We have seen how he reworks them, noting the similarities and differences that exist with respect to the original sources in each case. Through this examination, we have been able to observe that, although there seems to be a series of reworkings that creators have made consciously, others seem to go beyond their own consciousness, since there are elements that, with the passing of time and by different means, have been assimilated into the collective cultural imaginary. At the same time, this analysis has been expected to contribute to a greater understanding of how video games serve very effectively as a vehicle for cultural transmission<\/span>.<\/p>\n Sergio L\u00f3pez –\u00a0 Between devotion and profanity: the religious imaginary of \u201cBlasphemus\u201d<\/b> Jaime Segura \u2013When Odin Meets Azeroth: the Reception of Norse Myth in World of Warcraft<\/b><\/p>\n El trabajo gira en torno a la recepci\u00f3n de mitos n\u00f3rdicos en el mundo de Azeroth, del universo World of Warcraft, y c\u00f3mo su adaptaci\u00f3n, as\u00ed como los factores que condicionan su forma y elecci\u00f3n, nos pueden dar informaci\u00f3n valiosa acerca de la supervivencia del mito en la sociedad postmoderna. Entre Lokens y Val\u2019kyrs, la presentaci\u00f3n cubre las razones de elecci\u00f3n de distintos mitos, la b\u00fasqueda de referentes culturales relevantes para un p\u00fablico principalmente occidentalizado, la adaptaci\u00f3n de s\u00edmbolos can\u00f3nicos a mec\u00e1nicas de juego para favorecer la inclusi\u00f3n del personaje m\u00edtico, y lo que podemos extraer de todos estos usos. El mito, que es efectivamente recontado, pierde algunos de sus aspectos definitorios necesarios, y plantea preguntas acerca de los mitos de creaci\u00f3n propia de World of Warcraft y del papel del mito en s\u00ed mismo en la cultura contempor\u00e1nea.<\/span><\/p>\n The paper revolves around the reception of Nordic myths in the world of Azeroth, from the universe World of Warcraft, and how its adaptation (as well as the elements that determine its shape and choice) can give us valuable information about myth survival in postmodern society. Among Lokens and Val\u2019kyrs, the talk addresses the reasons behind the choices of different myths, the adaptation of canonical symbols into game mechanics to favor the insertion of mythical figures, and what can we deduce about all these uses. The myth, which is effectively retold, loses some of its necessary defining aspects, and raises questions about World of Warcraft’s self-created myths and the role of the myth itself in contemporary culture.<\/span><\/p>\n Pablo Mart\u00edn \u2013 The shine of Damnation<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThe Shine of Damnation\u201d explores the contrast between the narrative structure of videogames until the end of the 1990s and contemporary narratives. This narrative shift is articulated in a transit between the classic forms of mythological narrative, where the activities of the characters contrast and are limited to a world that is explored. On the contrary, in current narratives, the focus is on the concrete subject, protagonist and defining of the world around him instead of a universe with limits. Part of the failure of many of these individualized narratives stems from their inability to articulate a transcendence narrative, which is an intrinsic element of traditional mythological narrative. “The Brightness of Damnation” explores the contrast in the narrative structure of video games until the late 90s compared to current narratives. This narrative shift is articulated in a transit between the classic forms of mythological narrative, where the activities of the characters contrast and are limited to a world that is explored. On the contrary, in current narratives, the focus is on the concrete subject, protagonist and defining of the world around him instead of a universe with limits. Part of the failure of many of these individualized narratives stems from their inability to articulate a transcendence narrative, which is an intrinsic element of traditional mythological narrative.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/asteriamyth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Captura-de-pantalla-2025-11-07-083016.png” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” title_text=”Captura de pantalla 2025-11-07 083016″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ align=”center”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" III Seminar on Myth and Video Games<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[84,70,88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actividad-2","category-archive","category-news-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
Brennan White\u2019s talk focused on myth\u2019s nature as an element that furthers the experience in video games. The blend of myth, symbols and culture, all of them created within the game itself, offers the player new ways to address contemporary philosophical issues, including ethics, mental health or reality. Just as the great philosophical novels of the 20<\/span>th<\/span> century used symbols and myths to explore their coetaneous issues, the new medium of video games continues that tradition, but offering a much more direct and interactive experience.<\/span><\/p>\n
Sergio L\u00f3pez introduced us to the universe of \u201cBlasphemous\u201d, set in the fictional world of Custodia, characterized by its visual and symbolic baroque style. Its analysis delved in the representation of a corrupted religious hierarchy and distanced from its original spiritual message, in contrast to a piety society who, despite its contradictions, preserves the original of what this said hierarchy should represent. The talk highlighted how the video game enunciates a critic to ecclesiastical power through a esthetic setting deeply influenced by sacred art and Spanish Catholicism iconography.<\/span><\/p>\n