Though ΖΩΗ will be a historical database as a love letter to the history of humanity, so far in this written editing “broadcast”, you haven’t seen any actual humanity – only pre-human species thought in our modern era to have been our primitive ancestors. Today, you won’t see any either.
I had my doubts when considering whether I would include the following in this database, because they are surely not human, but in the end I decided to move forward with that idea anyway, for their existence – even if not on the physical plane as we know it – is one of Man’s greatest achievements, it is proof of his unmatched intellectual brilliance. Their stories are inseparable from him; and even if it is difficult to understand this as we are living in this modern, secular world, this symbiotic relationship between Man and God(s) shaped the lives of countless generations of people all over the globe for, at least, many thousands of years (for many, that relationship is still going strong nowadays) – they are, as a consequence, a fundamental part of the human experience: it would be unforgivable if I ignored such a fundamental piece of our history and didn’t include them in ΖΩΗ.
The Gods (and Goddesses!)
It is surely interesting to witness that all civilizations all over the world for many thousands of years – most didn’t even have contact with the “outside world” -, despite their differences, eventually developed the idea of divine beings superior to Man himself, pulling the strings of the world, controlling time and the universe as they pleased. You won’t be surprised then when you find out the vast collection of mythological beings in ΖΩΗ, from Mesopotamian deities to the pillars of African mythology, Greece’s own pantheon to Japan’s, and more. These will, naturally, have to be the strongest players in this database, reflecting their divinity on this virtual football pitch.
Yet, if there is no doubt that those deities have to be the best players, should there be any skill gap…between gods of different mythologies? I am tempted to recreate, say, Ancient Greek gods as better footballers than, for example, Polynesian gods, naturally because of the former’s much broader, more impactful historical influence.
Regarding how each god will be depicted, they will, just like any other player of this database, be as much of a kind of “footballing incarnation” of their historical profile and relevance as possible. Zeus, king of Greek mythology’s gods, will for example be a uniquely phenomenal all-around footballer, reflecting his leadership role among the very best of actual gods, whereas the god of war Ares, a specialized divinity under his command, will display a significantly different footballing skillset – in this case his warfare supremacy will be represented with phenomenal attacking and shooting stats, as Ares becomes one of the best strikers in this game.
The inaugural team of deities in ΖΩΗ has to be the consequence of Mesopotamian inspiration, providing us with the oldest mythology known to Man, straight out of the imagination/spiritual capacity of that which is regarded as the oldest civilization in recorded history. It would be impossible for me to include a full roster of Mesopotamian deities, considering that they had at least several hundreds, some say even several thousands of them, so I chose some of those who, according to other people who actually know what they are talking about, are the most relevant on that gigantic list. The “Triad of Heaven” should make a powerful footballing trio, comprised of An (the “God of Heaven”), Enlil (the “chief of all Gods”) and Enki, the “benefactor of Humanity” – the latter having helped people survive the Sumerian version of the Great Flood myth. The seven “planetary deities” are also present, from the God of the Sun Utu to Moon God Nanna, Marduk to Ishtar (the latter is probably just the Akkadian nomenclature for Inanna, who is also present in this roster; if that is the case, only one of them will be included in ΖΩΗ). Additionally, I have included a respectable trio of Mesopotamian heroes: Gilgamesh, Lugalbanda and Enmerkar, individuals (possibly all Sumerian kings) who were deified because of their valorous acts, therefore earning a spot amongst their beloved Gods – though I suspect they will have a hard time getting a starting-XI spot. Finally, I have decided to include at least one member of a kind of “society of deities” called Anunnaki, who are supposedly deities of the Underworld (and, nowadays, regular guest stars of History Channel’s Ancient Aliens show), despite the fact that we don’t know exactly who they were – it is even possible that some of the other Gods in this roster belong to that list; anyway, (at least) one “generic player” named Annunaki will still feature in ΖΩΗ.
“(…) and then Gilgamesh scored the 2-1 / and the League title was brought to Sumer” –
Epic of Gilgamesh, Book 3
Though I haven’t yet created the skillsets of the members of this Mesopotamian pantheon, their unique position as characters of the oldest mythology in recorded history will have to be translated to an unmatchable footballing proficiency for all of them, despite the fact that they are not at all as famous as Greek/Roman deities, for example; so don’t be surprised if among the superstars of a ΖΩΗ-powered Master League save you end up finding a few Sumerian deities.
ΖΩΗ Teamlist (so far):
- Australopithecus
- Homo Habilis
- Homo Erectus
- Neanderthals
- Mesopotamia
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