Commentary: Netflix’s ‘Kaos’ Echoes Shakespeare

It’s hard to argue that any author’s work has withstood the test of time more than William Shakespeare. He’s an author who has been dead for centuries, and yet his work continues to be adapted all over the world today. One of the reasons his stories has had such longevity is the universality of his characters and plots. His plays are written with very few stage directions, and even though a lot of it is period based, the drama and emotions that unfold are very familiar to audiences throughout the ages. Countless storytellers use Shakespeare and translate his work into modern times or even fictional worlds. So it’s very interesting to see the same approach taken to the recent Netflix series Kaos.

Although it features an original storyline about Zeus (Jeff Goldblum) trying to defy a prophecy about him falling as king of the gods, the show more or less adapts an extensive series of stories and characters from Greek mythology. It has Poseidon (Cliff Curtis) and Hera (Janet McTeer) engaging in an affair and follows Orpheus (Killian Scott) as he travels to the underworld to rescue Eurydice (Aurora Perrineau). There is a version of the Fates who own a bar, and a trio of Furies who are portrayed as a female biker gang.

There are many examples of how the show took these myths, which traditionally occur in Ancient Greece, and re-imagined them as how they would unfold in modern times. One such example: Orpheus is a traditional pop star, even going so far as to showing him performing on stage. Perhaps the most extensive adaptation is the show’s depiction of the underworld. Even the journey across the River Styx takes place on a large ship as opposed to a simple rowboat, which is how it is usually depicted. Changes like this happen time and time again in Shakespeare’s work. A great example is Baz Luhrmann‘s Romeo + Juliet, which takes place in modern day Venice Beach. This story is outfitted with guns instead of swords. But the core of the characters’ journeys remains the same. The success of how Kaos pulled this off begs the question as to whether other traditional settings for classic stories can be applied to a modern world.

Kaos is now streaming on Netflix.