Since the birth of cinema, the stars of the big screen have been drawn to poker and the evocative world that surrounds it. Suave and glamorous protagonists from James Bond to Justin Timberlake in the recent Runner Runner know their way around a deck of cards better than a Monte Carlo croupier with a coolness and competence that’s completely out of reach for us mere mortals…
So if the leading men and women of Hollywood really are channeling the Gods when they hit the green felt of the poker table, who would they be playing the part of?
We see British superspy James Bond – particular in his earlier, Golden Era incarnations – as a dead ringer for the demi-god Hercules. Basically selfless and incredibly brave, this strong leading man gambles with his life and the United Kingdom’s national security when he sits at the poker table in Casino Royale.
As the ingenious masters student Richie First in this year’s Leonardo di Caprio-produced action caper Runner Runner, Justin Timberlake plays the God of Truth Apollo to Ben Affleck’s online gambling tsar baddie Ivan Block, whose talent for crafty deception and knack for digital innovation must surely make him the cinematic equivalent of Hermes, the thief, inventor and messenger God!
From ancient Gods to movie stars, it’s not too much of a stretch to see that both are Titans, those of the arena and those of the poker tables today.
Oh, and they’re all playing Janus…
The key to success in any poker game is having a knack for being duplicitous, a practice which the Roman God Janus pretty much wrote the book on. With two faces, this sly immortal fooled his peers in a manner which could yield fantastically profitable results on the poker table…
Of course, it’s not just in the personality traits of our best-loved movie characters that we see the personalities of the Greek Gods peeking through – we also have a long-standing love affair with the Greek Gods as the key subjects of our films in themselves.
Disney’s Hercules was one of the cartoon hits of the 20th Century, weaving a fantastic, at times threatening tale for children around the world whilst offering millions of mothers some rather dubious hand-drawn eye candy in the form of the eponymous hero. More recently, the excellent 300 took us back to Sparta, whilst Clash of the Titans brought us ancient myth on an epic scale, with added Liam Neeson just for good measure.
Originally published December 3, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
