It is strange to me that I can pursue either of these victory conditions and the other empires in the game pay zero attention.  You mean to tell me that these opposing great magical heroes have no way to notice the giant magical spires that my kingdom is building or that I'm riding all over their land fighting major battles and recovering godly artifacts? 

The fact that I can chase either victory option without repercussion is in itself weird.  It is exacerbated by the fact that the other sovereigns carry out normal relations with me in the process.  Two turns before my spell of making went off Pariden asked for a research trade of 48 research.  Really?  You're concerned about a tiny research trade two turns before you are my slave?

In order to truly feel like my sovereign is accomplishing something epic either of these options should have serious international relations impacts.  Otherwise pursuing either of these victory conditions makes the other nations largely irrelevant to the game beyond the point that your kingdom is big enough that other nations won't mess with you on a whim.