This week, US television network SyFy took a tiny dip into the pond they'll be exploring come 2015 in their new series 'Olympus'; in the seventh season of the series, Face Off went Greek. Face Off is a competition/elimination series exploring the world of special-effects make-up artists and the unlimited imagination that allows them to create amazing works of living art. Each week the artists are tasked with using their considerable talent to create original movie-worthy characters such as aliens, human-animal hybrids, horror villains, cyborgs and others. Challenges incorporate a wide range of skill sets including design, sculpting, molding and application. It all builds to incredible reveals of the competitors' finished work and the drama of one artist being sent home by the expert panel of judges.

This week, the contestants had two challenges: one minor in which the contestants had to create Médousa's victims, and a major one, in which they had to transform their models into Hellenic Gods carrying the severed heads of their enemies. Now, I am a huge fan of Face Off. It's the only competition show I watch, and I have seen every minute of every season ever aired. For those of you who have not, let me give you a tiny bit of warning before we look at some Hellenic Gods: the whole point is to find a creative angle to tackle your charatcer and find a viaually appealing way to portray that angle. Authenticity is not the main goal, the goal is to get across that this character is a Greek God, and--if they are good--even which one. The difficulty is in avoiding the lowest hanging fruit while still finding (stereotypical) characteristics everyone knows about. The focus is always the face, and the body needs to match. I'm going to be sharing pictures of the face only, but with a link to an image of the entire character. With all of this in mind, let's see what the contestants came up with.


Apollo(n)
 
"Cig emphasized the fire element for Apollo, god of the sun -- and as he's also the god of the plague, his victim is some diseased abomination."
 
 
Aphrodite
 
"For Aphrodite, Dina went back to the roots of the goddess of love and beauty -- or, rather, the water, as Aphrodite was born in the sea and her symbol is a seashell."
 
 
Hades
 
"Drew imagined Hades, god of the underworld, as shriveled and corpse-like, holding the head of an impish servant that displeased him."
 
 
Zeus
 
"George imagined Zeus, the god of the sky and thunder, as a Renaissance oil painting come to life, holding the head of the last remaining titan of the sea."
 
 
Athena
 
"Sasha was inspired by Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare, as the guiding hand behind Perseus's slaying of Medusa. Her Athena has been turned to stone, a bittersweet image as she holds the severed Gorgon's head."
 
 
Poseidon
 
"Stella imagined Poseidon, the god of the sea and 'tamer of horses,' as a sea creature with sea horse elements, with the head of an octopus impaled by his trademark trident."
 
 
Dina's Aphrodite won the challenge, while Sasha's Athena sent her home. How do you think the contestants did, reimagining the Hellenic Gods? All photo credit goes to SyFy and Brett-Patrick Jenkins.