"By the Gods of Olympus and order of Zeus , we are the Three Judges. Face your final judgement, mortal. King Aeacus has found you wanting. King Rhadamanthus has found you worthy. It falls to me, King Minos, to make the final decision. Your future is cloaked in shadow. The realm of the afterlife is not yet ready for you. Beyond that door awaits your destiny." - King Minos
The Three Judges.
Greek Mythology
King Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadhamanthus judge the heart of each soul that enters the Underworld. Souls deemed righteous were allowed to enter the Elysium Fields, while souls deemed as being evil were sentenced to the depths of Tartarus.
Rhadhamanthus was supposed to judge the souls of Asians, Aeacus those of Europeans, while Minos had the casting vote. (Plato, Gorgias, 524A).
God of War III
Kratos encounters the statues of the Three Judges in the Underworld who judge him after Kratos completes three trials. King Minos deems that Kratos still has time left in the mortal world, and grants him access to a Hyperion Gate so that he may proceed. Later on, the Judges grab the Chain of Balance, preventing Kratos from accessing the The Flames of Olympus. After rescuing Pandora from the Labyrinth, Kratos returns to the Underworld and smashes the Onyx on the back of their heads with the Nemean Cestus, killing them and releasing the Chain.
Trivia
- Strangely enough, Kratos never encountered the judges before during his travel to the Underworld in God of War, God of War II, and God of War: Chains of Olympus. This may be due to the fact that in God of War, he escaped before getting a chance to be judged, in God of War II, he was rescued by Gaia before falling entirely to Hades, and in God of War: Chains of Olympus, he didn't enter the Underworld through death, he was led there by Helios' fire steeds.
- In Greek mythology, the Judges were mortals of flesh and blood, rather than statues. Daedalus referred to them as "statues of Haephaestus". It implies that, in God of War III, after the kings died, they were made Judges of Hades, and had their souls contained within the statues, in order to guard the Chain of Balance.
- Like Charon and the Jailers of Tartarus, they were once mortal.
- It could be that they will soon become the Three Wise Men that are foretold in the God of War II. After the Judges are destroyed by the Chain of Balance, players will get a new trophy that curiously called: "Three Wise Men".
