When you select a god or goddess to follow, he or she will have six minor deities that you can choose from each time you advance to a new age. Here’s an overview of the nine major gods and goddesses in the game.
Major Deities: Greek
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Zeus: Worship the king of the Greek gods if infantry and heroes are important to you. Zeus grants bonuses to both and those who worship him gain favor faster, with the ability to reach a higher favor limit. His god power is a powerful lightning bolt, of course.
In Greek mythology, Zeus was the youngest son of the Titans Kronos and Rhea, who kept him hidden when her husband learned of the prophecy that one of his sons would replace him as ruler. Kronos swallowed his other offspring, and when Zeus was fully grown he forced his father to regurgitate all of them.
He then led a revolt against the Titans and banished them to Tartarus, which lies below the underworld. Zeus won the right to rule the heavens and the Greeks worshipped him as a weather god. The enormous statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, and the Greeks originally held the Olympic Games in his honor.
Minor gods under Zeus: Hera (goddess of the home), Hephaestus (god of the forge and labor), Dionysus (god of wine and celebration), Apollo (god of the sun and music), Hermes (god of messengers) and Athena (goddess of wisdom and warfare).
Poseidon: Select the god of the sea if you prefer cavalry units. Poseidon’s bonuses help those who worship him scout the sea more easily and save when conducting market trade and building cavalry and stables. His god power is lure, a special stone that draws animals near so that they can be harvested for food.
The Greeks looked to this brother of Zeus as the god of the sea, but he also controlled horses and earthquakes. Sailors viewed the unpredictable nature of the ocean as a sign of Poseidon’s moodiness, so they would offer him tributes that included horses pushed overboard.
He supposedly created the Spring of the Acropolis by throwing a spear into the ground during a contest with Athena, and he took part in the Trojan War, during which Odysseus harmed one of his Cyclops children. He later swore revenge on the warrior and spent years harassing him.
Minor gods under Poseidon: Ares (god of battle and slaughter), Aphrodite (goddess of love and beauty), Artemis (goddess of the hunt and nature), Hermes (god of messengers), Dionysus (god of wine and celebration) and Hephaestus (god of the forge and labor).
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Hades: This dark god grants bonuses to buildings and archers. He allows dead soldiers to return as Shades and fight again. His god power summons stone sentinels to stand watch over your town center and attack enemies who wander by.
Zeus’s other brother ruled the underworld, where he sat on a pitch black throne and made decisions regarding the newly deceased brought to him by Charon, the ferryman on the River Styx. Most souls spent eternity on the Plain of Asphodel, but some were sent to the scenic islands of Elysium and others were sentenced to Tartarus, where they endured never-ending torture.
Minor gods under Hades: Ares (god of battle and slaughter), Aphrodite (goddess of love and beauty), Artemis (goddess of the hunt and nature), Athena (goddess of wisdom and warfare), Apollo (god of the sun and music) and Hephaestus (god of the forge and labor).
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Major Deities: Egyptian
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Isis: This mother goddess of Egypt focuses her powers on bonuses to economy and technology. Under her, monuments provide shelter from opposing god powers, town centers can accommodate three extra units, improvements are cheaper, and obelisks can be built faster and more economically. Her god power is the ability to make villagers gather gold faster.
Isis was the daughter of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut. She and Osiris, who was her brother and husband (deities were exempt from the effects of inbreeding, apparently), brought civilization to the Nile Valley. She taught basic medicine to the people there and introduced them to the concept of marriage. After the god Set killed Osiris, she created basic burial rituals by embalming his body. Their son Horus later took revenge and killed Set, becoming King of Egypt.
Minor gods under Isis: Anubis (god of judgment and the dead), Hathor (goddess of the sky, love and fertility), Osiris (god of judgment), Bast (goddess of protection and cats), Nephthys (goddess of night and death) and Thoth (god of wisdom).
Ra: The Egyptian sun god grants bonuses to pharaohs, priests, chariots and camels. He also allows the faster construction of cheaper monuments, and his rain power makes your villagers collect food from farms faster.
Ra was originally the most powerful Egyptian god and his all-important sunlight was recognized as instrumental in the growing of food. The pharaohs believed they were his descendants and demanded worship to protect Ra as he traveled through the underworld and battled the serpent Apep during the night. Ra’s successful trip meant that the sun would rise again the next morning.
Later, Isis eclipsed Ra as most powerful deity, but his name was often combined with other gods’ names (as in Amun-Ra) to keep the sun’s influence prominent.
Minor gods under Ra: Hathor (goddess of the sky, love and fertility), Osiris (god of judgment), Bast (goddess of protection and cats), Horus (god of vengeance), Ptah (god of creation) and Sekhmet (goddess of warfare and the desert).
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Set: This horse-faced god, the brother of Osiris, held dominion over the weather and animals. His main focus is on archers, who can be trained faster under him. He also gives priests the ability to convert wild animals and pharaohs the power to summon animals. Migdol Strongholds are cheaper when you worship him. With his vision power, you can temporarily reveal a black area of the map.
Set’s myth illustrates the power struggles between the various religious cults in ancient Egypt. He was always jealous of Osiris and eventually killed him, turning most of the other gods against him. When Horus killed him in revenge and he became an evil god, scholars believe the cult of Set lost favor among the Egyptians.
Minor gods under Set: Anubis (god of judgment and the dead), Nephthys (goddess of night and death), Horus (god of vengeance), Ptah (god of creation), Sekhmet (goddess of warfare and the desert) and Thoth (god of wisdom).
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Major Deities: Norse
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Odin: This hirsute god was revered by Norse warriors, which makes him perfect for those who enjoy battle. He grants bonuses to hill forts and allows human soldiers to regenerate damage and villagers to hunt faster. His respawning ravens are useful scouts. Use his great hunt power to make a group of animals larger for food gathering purposes.
Norse nobles revered Odin and used him to inspire their warriors to go berserk in battle. Those who died while fighting in his name were thought to go straight to Valhalla, hall of heroes, and sometimes people were hung in sacrifice to him.
He threw one of his eyes into Mimir’s well in exchange for a drink of wisdom, he hung himself from the ancient tree Yggdrasil (and was later revived) to learn the knowledge of the dead, and he was killed during Ragnarok by Loki’s wolf, Fenrir. The Anglo-Saxons called him Woden and used his name in the day of the week known as Wednesday.
Minor gods under Odin: Freyja (goddess of beauty), Njord (god of the sea and storms), Baldr (god of beauty), Heimdall (god of vigilance), Skadi (goddess of winter and hunting) and Tyr (god of warfare).
Thor: The Thunder God holds sway over dwarves; he starts with two extra dwarves and can direct them to gather food and wood faster than normal dwarves. He can also build a special armory during any age. His god power creates a dwarven mine full of more gold than ordinary mines; dwarves can extract gold from it faster.
Thor was the son of Odin and Fjorgyn, the earth goddess. Farmers often worshipped him because they admired his strength and honesty, as well as his healthy appetite (he was known to eat entire cows). He was a friend of Loki’s but was betrayed by the trickster when Loki took the side of the frost giants during Ragnarok. Loki’s serpent Jormungand killed him during that climactic battle.
The Anglo-Saxons gave his name to Thursday.
Minor gods under Thor: Forseti (god of justice), Bragi (god of poetry and skalds), Baldr (god of beauty), Freyja (goddess of beauty), Skadi (goddess of winter and hunting) and Tyr (god of warfare).
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Loki: This mischievous god grants hersirs the ability to summon myth units during combat. His myth units require less favor to summon, and his ox carts are cheaper and faster. His longhouse units also train faster, and his spy power allows you to secretly see what an enemy unit sees.
Loki may be one of the most colorful gods ever created. While he was supposed to represent fire, stories tell of his endless attempts to play tricks on the gods. In one instance, the other Norse deities briefly lost their immortality. In another, he caused the death of Odin’s son Baldr and was attacked by the other gods. He was eventually imprisoned for his trickery but escaped to lead the frost giants at Ragnarok, where Heimdall killed him.
Minor gods under Loki: Forseti (god of justice), Bragi (god of poetry and skalds), Hel (goddess of the underworld), Heimdall (god of vigilance), Njord (god of the sea and storms), and Tyr (god of warfare).
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Cheat If You Must
Stumped? Then you may need some help, thanks to the cheat codes that are commonly placed in most videogames. They allow you to, well, cheat and change the rules. This sometimes includes activating bonuses, unlocking secrets and new levels of gameplay.
To activate the cheats in Age of Mythology, press the “Return” key to bring up a dialogue box. Type the cheat exactly as shown below (they’re case sensitive, so they must be in all caps) and press “Return” again. If you entered it correctly, you’ll hear thunder.
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The Codes
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ATM OF EREBUS — Add 1,000 gold to your stockpile.
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TROJAN HORSE FOR SALE — Add 1,000 wood to your stockpile.
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JUNK FOOD NIGHT — Add 1,000 food to your stockpile.
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MOUNT OLYMPUS — Max out your deity favor.
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LAY OF THE LAND — Reveal the entire map.
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UNCERTAINTY AND DOUBT — Hide the map.
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THRILL OF VICTORY — Automatically win the game.
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CHANNEL SURFING — Skip the next scenario in the campaign.
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DIVINE INTERVENTION — Use a previously used god power again.
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PANDORAS BOX — Fills up your god powers slots with random powers.
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WRATH OF THE GODS — Get the lightning storm, earthquake, meteor, and tornado god powers.
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GOATUNHEIM — Gives you a god power that turns all the units on the map into goats, including yours.
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FEAR THE FORAGE — Gives you a god power that turns berry bushes into creatures that attack any nearby enemy units.
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BAWK BAWK BOOM — Gives you a god power that rains exploding chickens.
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WUV WOO — Get a flying purple hippo unit that attacks enemies with deadly red hearts.
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TINES OF POWER — Get a unit called “Forkboy.” (He looks kind of like Bob’s Big Boy.)
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O CANADA — Gives you a bear.
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ISIS HEAR MY PLEA — Gives you all the heroes from the campaign.
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CONSIDER THE INTERNET — Slows down enemy units.
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SET ASCENDANT — Reveals all animals on the map.
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IN DARKEST NIGHT — Changes the game time to night. (Use this again to return to daylight.)
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RED TIDE — Make the water red, because sometimes you like it that way.
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ENGINEERED GRAIN — Completely fatten your herd animals, which allows you to get the maximum food out of them.
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LET’S GO! NOW! — Increase the game speed. (Note that there have to be two spaces between “GO!” and “NOW!”.)
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System Requirements
 | Mac OS X version 10.2.6 or higher
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| 450MHz PowerPC G3 processor or higher
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| 256MB of RAM
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| 16MB video card or higher
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Anyone Know a Good Campfire Song? Cutscenes move the story along.
The Acropolis of Your Dreams. Build a mighty civilization that will stand the test of time. Or until an expansion pack comes out.
The Choice is Yours. Each time you advance to a new age, you select a new minor god to add to your pantheon.
Air Units. A Pegasus is useful for scouting out your foes.
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