oneus and a theory of deification

(oneus, apollo and helios, classical allusions, apotheosis, and immortality from your friendly neighborhood classicist)

apotheosis derives from the greek, apotheoun (apo - from, theos - god) and refers to the elevation of mortal to divine status. i’m going to talk a lot about roman deification, because i’ve been thinking about it since the come back home concept film.

just to start, the teaser image is filled with classical allusions i should quickly mention. the columns around the portico are tuscan order, one of the two classical orders of roman architecture. the scenery is a classic greek or roman sanctuary setting.

personally it reminds me most of apollo’s sanctuary at delphi because of the greenery and hills but many sanctuaries are of similar design (i’ve included nemea too). sanctuaries are places where pilgrims visited to be close to the gods, to make offerings

the reason i want to talk apollo is because i think that apollo is the perfect god for the oneus concept. not only is he the god of music (appropriate) but more importantly the god of sun and light. oneus are bathed in bright light in the teaser photo, the area vibrant green.

but we know who else is a god of the sun? helios. helios is the personification of the sun while apollo’s assocation with the sun came later (c.4th century bc). in post-classical art, helios has been all but written out of the narrative and replaced with the beautiful youth.

sure sounds like something that would make helios jealous, jealous enough of humans’ worship of apollo to threaten the world. as a titan, helios has that power. if helios represents brute strength, then oneus represent poetry and music and light, apollo’s emblems.

the last connection that i want to draw with apollo is that of the pythia, the oracle of the sanctuary at delphi (so named for the snake slain by apollo to found the sanctuary) who worshippers queued for days to meet in the hopes of receiving prophecies.

i want to mention the pythia solely because the come back home concept film includes an important prophecy. ‘when the red moon appears again...’ but it’s important to note that prophecies from the pythia were often misleading.

feast scenes have become increasingly popular in depictions of the gods. the feast of the gods is a notable subject of art depicting greco-roman deities popular in the renaissance, but dating further back to antiquity.

the gods feast on nectar and ambrosia, food and drink of the gods. others have since gone into discussion of ambrosia and immortality so i’m not going to elaborate too much on it except to reference that for mortals who consume the food of the gods it can confer eternal life.

why is this relevant? it brings me on to the discussion of deification and my overly niche absolutely not correct but fun nonetheless take on the oneus concept: (long spiel coming i’m so sorry first enjoy this beautiful 1st century cameo depicting augustus’ deification)

the imperial cult of rome was key to power during the roman empire. rome dispensed of its kings early so i’ll relate the monarchs of oneus’ concept to emperors. the imperial cult hinged on connection of deities and the emperor’s family; they were so to say ‘chosen’ by the gods.

deification was a process with its roots in ancient greece. the first greek leader to assign himself divine honours was philip ii of macedon. throughout greek history hero cults also sprung up around the idea of heroes made divine after death.

under the roman empire, deification is a public ceremony to confer the highest respect upon deceased leaders (at the height of the cult it could include their families, too). deified roman emperors became ‘divus’ to distinguish them from ‘deus’ true gods.

the process was at times much maligned, especially when an emperor was not popular. for a delightful satire check out seneca’s apocolocyntosis (or: the pumpkinification of the ‘divine’ claudius). but i digress i’m here to talk about oneus.

i got obsessed with the thought of oneus made immortal by the manner in which they were cursed. because what better curse to place than to force people to live forever in an ever darker world? gods were known in antiquity to come to earth to help humans on occasion. like a child.

oneus’ music videos span so many times and places that i couldn’t help but get caught up on this. we have valkyrie, representing the future, twilight and lit the past (joseon era and regency europe), and then aswe, the present. but then come back home arrives.

if we take the armour and weapons of the cbh video, we can assume that it is set the earliest in time. therefore it makes sense that the curse of immortality occurs then, and that their other videos show the immortal monarchs living out lifetimes in different times and places.

we see connections between all of their videos - the chain, the moon. perhaps i’m just dreaming but i can’t help but see monarchs gifted or condemned with immortality, living lifetimes to try to reach a purpose, but dreading the moments when a prophecy may come true.

anyway it’s late at night and i had an exhausting day at work so i’ll think some more to express things better in the morning. but remember: HYPE ONEUS CONCEPT KINGS.