Air Raid Robertson

Author notes

Make Mine Aristophanes Page 7

Air Raid Robertson

on March 12, 2012

The idea of space aliens being interpreted as gods by ancient humans is not a novel concept. The book Chariots of the Gods? is probably the most famous example of this theory. That tome has largely been dismissed as pseudoscience, but plenty of other people have used the premise in their fiction. I have now done the same.

When I sat down to draw the Greek pantheon I knew that I wanted them to be instantly recognizable to the reader. However, I also wanted their designs to have my personal artistic stamp, so I took a less humanoid approach to their coloring.

Hermes and Ares were fairly easy to design since they have such distinctive headgear. Dionysus, on the other hand, has nothing of note except for a pine-cone scepter that I didn't want to use. I thought of having him hold a jug of wine, but that would've interfered with the panel where he scratches his back using his own dismembered arm. Ultimately, I just colored him like a grape and hoped that would be good enough.

And yes, I am aware that Dionysus appears in The Frogs and not Peace. I have a fondness for Dionysus though, and shoehorning him into this story allows me to make tawdry jokes about hedonism under a classical veneer. It's not everyday where I can draw a gag where a green man finds a mysterious brassiere sticking to his back.

Ares' comment about the salad is a direct reflection of Aristophanes' writing. Trygaeus, upon landing in Mt. Olympus, discovers the personification of War making a salad composed of the destroyed cities in Greece.