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A hub is at the centre of any good journey, a place to rest and recuperate before setting out on your next big journey. It is a place of safety, a small refuge away from greater struggles. In the original Hades, this came in the place of the House of Hades. In the sequel, the Crossroads take up that position.
Yet inHades 2, the Crossroads feel so much safer. You are straddling the line between the mortal world and the Underworld, surely you could be spotted by any and all. Simultaneously, the Crossroads make you feel at ease, as the line between the living and dead is thin, but very long. Where, however, has the inspiration for the Crossroads actually been pulled from?
What Are The Crossroads In Hades 2?
For Melinoë,the Crossroads are quite literally her home away from home. Dragged from the House of Hades at birth followingChronos' invasion, a singular tent is all she can call her own at the Crossroads. You see, this is no home to any, but the in-between of the mortal and divine. You are not supposed to dwell in the Crossroads but pass through it on your journey.
In the case of Melinoë, this fits thematically. Hecate, though acting as a foster mother, does not wish to be called as such. The Crossroads, though functioning as Melinoë’s only home, are not a permanent home at all.It signifies her disconnect from the world around her, not quite fitting in anywhere she goes. At the same time, this gives her the chance to go anywhere.
While the Crossroads represents a place you are not meant to stay,it also connects to all other walks of life. Tread below and venture into the Underworld in the search for Chronos. Head to the surface and travel through human cities on the way to Mount Olympus. Even for Melinoë, the Crossroads is just a stop on the way.
In early myth, Artemis and Hecate were seen as epithets of each other, likely explaining why Artemis dwells so close to human woods and Hecate to the Crossroads.
Aside from Melinoë, the Crossroads is home to many others, with Hecate sitting at the top.She is a god of witchcraftand those who sit on the edges of society, so it is only fitting for her to reign supreme over the Crossroads as her own domain.
As such, many others left on the wayside from Chronos' invasion yet deemed unsuitable for life above were relegated to the Crossroads, the sole refuge they had anda training ground for the resistance against Chronos.
Do The Crossroads Exist In Greek Mythology?
‘The Crossroads’, as a concept, is a very old idea. They exist in many different forms, from purely literary techniques to superstitious beliefs. To ascribe them to a general origin within one family of mythos would be like trying to say someone invented maths. It is a given idea across many cultures and has persisted since the earliest human writings.
An angle we can consider, however, is the prevalence of crossroads as a concept within older Greek stories and myths. Indeed they exist, but moretypically represented as a boundary between realmsrather than an ambiguous choice for the weary traveller to make.
A particularly interesting point to start with is that, although the Crossroads exist more as a metaphorical concept in depicting the passageways between the realms of mortal and divine, they were at times in history literallymarked by statues known as ‘Hermae’. These were placed by people less as guiding stones to the Crossroads, but rather as warning signs as to what to avoid. No one wanted to accidentally enter the realm of the dead, after all.
‘Hermae’ are likely named afterHermes, as he was seen as both a messenger god that would traverse the Crossroads frequently, but also one who would guide souls to the Underworld.
Yet while Greek myth often positioned the Crossroads akin to passing a barrier, Hades 2 has represented them as a more tangible locale, though still one that can be difficult to actually happen upon by chance.
In many ways, this is represented bya symbol associated with Hecate, theStrophalos, which can be seen frequently within the game itself worn by many characters. Depicting a seemingly impossible-to-solve maze, with the individual themselves at the very centre.
The Strophalos, though an older Greek symbol depicting a circular maze, only came to be more definitively associated with Hecate in more modern times.
Why Can’t Chronos Find The Crossroads?
With mortals seemingly so easily able to discern when they are at the boundary of The Crossroads, surely it should be a simple task for one of the calibre of the Titan of Time, Chronos, to find this refuge of resistance against him. Yet with many things enshrouded in myths, the moral trumps all logic.
The Crossroads exists as Hecate’s domain, the line between the realms of the living and the dead. Nothing is supposed to stay there, only pass through. It is a gate of sorts, a liminal space to take you where you need to go and no further.Chronos would have no reason to believe the Crossroads would harbour any threat against him, especially to a daughter of Hades he doesn’t even know exists.
Let’s consider it from a later standpoint. Chronos learns of the existence of Melinoë and now seeks her out. He spies her on the edges of Erebus and knows from his own assaults on Olympus that she does not reside there.
Logically, he could only assume she is somewhere near the Crossroads, if not within them. Yet serving as a liminal space, nothing there would stand out. It is simply a transitory space.
In fact,Hecate herself remarks that none may enter the Crossroads without her permission, let alone find it. With that in mind, even should Chronos manage to find the Crossroads, it would be entirely possible for the whole place to be vacated before he ever had the chance to enter. The only ones who can come and go freely are the daughters of Nyx whom Hecate swore to always protect.
