How Harry Potter is to Latin, you could say Westworld is to Greek. Author J.K. Rowling notoriously buried clues in the Latin origins of names and spells used in the book series, and last night's episode of Westworld gave me reason to believe that the HBO show's creators have a similar method of foreshadowing up their sleeves. During the many timelines that were overlapping during "Reunion," perhaps the most interesting was the one that took place around 35 years ago when the park was still looking for investors. While we already knew Delos Inc. would become the majority shareholder, we didn't know that Delos was Logan's (Ben Barnes) last name. We also didn't know that the project of Westworld was originally called the Argos Initiative.
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Both "Delos" and "Argos" are Greek words, and each have significant mythological roots that say a lot about where the series could be headed, and the fact that the two have joined together makes this all doubly interesting.
Let's start with Delos, which is a real Greek island. First off, we don't know the actual location of the park, and some people believe that it's tucked away on a island. But furthermore, according to Greek mythology, Leto escaped Hera to give birth to Apollo and Artemis on the island, making it a sacred space where mortals could neither be born or die. They can only visit — the same way humans can only visit Westworld. Does this mean the robots are the gods?
And what about Argos? Ford and Bernard's company namesake sounds an awful lot like the Argonauts, who played a major role in the tragic and quintessential Greek myth, Jason and the Argonauts. Long story short, in order to claim his rightful throne, a man named Jason must hunt down a golden fleece, and he brings the army of the Argonauts with him on his quest, and they hop aboard a boat called the Argo. The Argonauts' role is to assist Jason in his quest to gain control of the kingdom, but once he has it, he's driven out by the people he sought to rule. This supports the idea that Argos assisted in the creation and rise of something that will ultimately backfire — and season 2 is all about the slow burn of its downfall.
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