For those of you who don't know about my fascination with Greek mythology, this will come as a surprise. For those that do know, you'll be able to pass it off as Australian Kiwi going off on a mythological tangent once again.
Clash of the Titans Movie Poster
I have recently watched Clash of the Titans (the 2010 version starring Sam Worthington) and was surprised to see that it was based (very loosely) on the legend of Perseus. Perseus is most commonly known as the hero who slayed the gorgon Medusa and saved the princess Andromeda from being sacrificed to a sea monster. I knew the myth well, so I thought I'd do a comparison of the myth and the movie and then let you decide what is better. Personally, I like both equally, but that's just me.
1. Perseus's Birth
According to myth, Perseus was the son of Danae and Zeus. Danae was the daughter of King Acrisius and his only child. When he went to an oracle to find out how to produce a male heir, he was told that he would have no sons and that his grandson would kill him. In an attempt to prevent Danae ever giving birth to his grandson, King Acrisius imprisoned his daughter in a bronze chamber, open to the sky, with wild, ferocious dogs guarding the entrance. Despite this, Zeus saw Danae one night and came down in a golden shower and impregnated her. When Acrisius learned that Danae had given birth, he suspected that his brother had lain with her but, not daring to anger the Gods by killing his wife and grandson, he locked them in a wooden ark and threw them into the sea. A fisherman, Dictys, hauled the ark aboard his boat and opened it. Both mother and child were still alive and he took them to his brother, King Polydectes, who brought them into his house.
In Clash of the Titans, Perseus was the son of Zeus and the unnamed wife of King Acrisius. Acrisius, enraged that Zeus had slept with his wife and that his wife had given birth, attempted to execute his wife and Perseus by throwing them into the sea. The wooden ark (or perhaps it's supposed to be a coffin in the movie?) is caught by the fisherman Spyros, who raises Perseus as his son.
Spyros the Fisherman
2. Perseus's Adulthood
Sam Worthington as Perseus
According to mythology Perseus was brought up as the son of King Polydectes, but his first loyalty was always to his mother Danae. He protected her once when Polydectes tried to force her to marry him. Still determined to marry Danae, Polydectes decided to pretend that he intended to marry another. He brought all his subjects together and asked them all to contribute one horse apiece to be his love gift (much like a dowry) to a girl called Hippodameia who lived on another island. When he asked Perseus for a horse, Perseus replied that he had none but, if the king really did not intend to marry his mother, he would contrive to get the king whatever gift he desired. Perseus added, very rashly, that he would even get the head of the gorgon Medusa if the king so desired it. King Polydectes, seeing an easy way to get rid of Perseus and marry his mother, said that Medusa's head would please him more than any horse in the world, so Perseus set off on a quest to behead Medusa.
The cinematic version is a little different. Perseus's family are killed by Hades after being caught (so to speak) in the cross fire as soldiers of Argos topple a statue of Zeus and declare war on the Olympian Gods. Perseus is the only survivor and is rescued by the only boatload of Argos soldiers to survive Hades. He is taken up to Argos and then up to the palace where he meets Andromeda, the princess; Draco, the captain of the guard and Io, a mysterious woman who has been watching over him since his birth. When Hades gatecrashes the feast Argos is having in celebration of their war on the Gods, he says he will release the Kraken, a hideous monster that even the Gods fear, unless they sacrifice Andromeda. Perseus, determined to avenge his family, tries to attack Hades, who reveals that Perseus is a demi-God. Draco's soldiers attempt to torture Perseus to find out why he has been sent, but the king intervenes and begs Perseus for help. Perseus says he can't help and is imprisoned. In prison, he is visited by Io, who tells him that, if he kills the Kraken, he will be able to get to Hades. Perseus says he will fight the Kraken and is released from prison. Io tells Draco that, if the Kraken has a weakness, the Stygian Witches will know what it is. He tells her to back off.
3. The Quest to Kill Medusa
Athena, having overhead Perseus's rash declaration that he would get King Polydectes Medusa's head, decides she will aid Perseus on his quest, as she is Medusa's mortal enemy. She first leads him to the city of Deicterion, where images of the three gorgons are displayed, so that Perseus will be able to distinguish Medusa from her immortal sisters, Stheno and Euryale (yes, there were three gorgons, this will be the subject of another post another day). She tells him never to look at Medusa directly, only in a reflection and presents him with a brightly-polished bronze shield. Hermes also helped Perseus, giving him a sickle with which to behead Medusa. However, Perseus still required winged sandals, a magic bag to contain Medusa's head, and the helmet of invisibility. All these things belonged to Hades and were in the care of the Stygian Nymphs, but nobody knew where the nymphs were except the three gorgons (who Perseus was not going to ask), and the Graeae. The Graeae were beautiful, swan-like creatures who shared a single eye and tooth between them. He sought out the Graeae and, creeping up behind them, snatched the eye and the tooth and refused to give them back until the three of them told him where the Stygian Nymphs lived. He then went to get the sandals, bag and helmet from the nymphs before using the winged sandals to fly to the gorgons' lair.
As usual, Hollywood spruces it up a bit. Perseus and Draco's band of soldiers, who are none to impressed with this 'demi-God' travel through a dense woodland. Perseus notices at one point that Io is following them, despite having been told to keep her distance by Draco. Draco humiliates Perseus in a sword fight, but is then bested by him.
Mads Mikkelsen as Draco
Perseus wanders off and, in a clearing, discovers a herd of Pegasus's (winged horses) grazing. Io coems up to him and tells him that it's a message from the Gods. Suddenly, the herd takes to the wing and a massive, black Pegasus lands in the clearing, nearly trampling Perseus.
Perseus and the Pegasus
While Perseus and Io talk further and stroke the Pegasus, they are again interrupted, this time by a cry for help. They run towards the sound, Draco and his soldiers following, and arrive in time to see the disfigured form of a man tearing one of the soldiers in half! It is King Acrisius, the man who attempted to kill Perseus when he was an infant to get back at Zeus for sleeping with his wife. He tries to kill Perseus, but fails, only managing to infect him with venom from Hades. Eventually he has his hand cut off. He runs into the desert, drops of blood spilling from his injured wrist onto the sand.
Jason Flmyng (in prosthetics) as King Acrisius
The drops of his blood turn into massive Scorpiocs (no, I didn't spell it wrong, they're called Scorpiocs by the director, and the producer, and the visual effects team). They Scorpiocs attack Perseus, Draco and the soldiers, killing two of them. Perseus is almost stung by one, but is saved by Io.
A Scorpioc
The men and Io looked like they are about to be over come by the Scorpiocs when they are saved by the arrival of strange creatures called Djinn. The Djinn live in the desert and are traditional enemies of men, many soldiers accompanying Perseus have fought them before. The Djinn calm the Scorpiocs (those ones that aren't dead) and Perseus beings to feel the effects of the venom. He takes a fever, but is cured by one of the Djinn, who has been waiting 'many years for the one who will free them from the Gods.'
Djinn
The Djinn, who are able to ride the Scorpiocs, give the soldiers a lift to the Garden of Stigu (I know I spelt it wrong, I'm sorry), where the Stygian Witches can be found. Io warns Perseus that he must only ask what he needs to know, and no more.
Gemma Arteton as Io
Upon reaching the lair of the witches, Perseus demands to know how to kill the Kraken, the witches, who appear to be flesh-eating, demand payment for such knowledge and attack one of the young soldiers. Perseus sises the eye they share among them and threatens to drop it over a cliff. The witches are them forced to tell the soldiers that there is a solution, but that it is impossible. If they can somehow get the gorgon Medusa to gaze in the eyes of the Kraken, it will be turned to stone, like anything of flesh that gazes upon Medusa. Draco says that Argos is doomed as they will not be able to control Medusa, but Perseus says they just need to take her head. He is about to leave when the witches ask him if he wants to know more. Despite Io's protests, he listens as the witches tell him that he is certain to die, along with all those who accompany him. Perseus throws the eye at the witches and, as the scrabble around to find it, he, Io and the soldiers quickly leave their lair.
A Stygian Witch with the eye
4. Slaying the Gorgon
Perseus and Medusa
The Greeks claimed that Perseus knew when he had reached the gorgons' lair because he saw the rain worn shapes of men and animals who had been turned to stone by Medusa's gaze. He was fortunate enough to come across all three of the sisters sleeping and, quick as a flash, he cut off Medusa's head. He might have been able to get away quietly if Medusa's children the winged horse Pegasus and the giant warrior Chrysaor hadn't then leapt from Medusa's dead body. They made such a noise that Stheno and Euryale awoke and pursued Perseus as he ran. Quickly, he put Medusa's head into the magic bag and put on the helmet of invisibility and took flight. Medusa's two sisters tried to pursue him, but were unable to see him, so they had to give up the chase. It is interesting to note that, according to the myth, the immortal Stheno and Euryale and still alive and waiting to avenge their sister by killing either Perseus, or his decedents.
Ancient Greek vase painting showing Perseus fleeing from Stheno and Euryale
In the movie, killing Medusa is much more graphic and is (arguably) the best scene in the whole movie. Perseus, Draco, the soldiers, and Io descend into the underworld to slay Medusa. While crossing the river Styx, Io tells the men that Medusa was once so beautiful that Poseidon came down from Olympus and raped her. Medusa ran to Athena for help, but Athena felt only disgust and turned Medusa into a hideous beast. She then tells the men that she cannot assist them in Medusa's prison, as the curse Athena placed on Medusa prevents women entering the prison. When the men enter the temple, they hear chilling laughter and Draco is shot with an arrow. One of the soldiers falls into lava, while two others are turned to stone by Medusa. With the help of Draco, who drops a stone on Medusa's tail and is then turned to stone, and the reflection on the back of his shield, Perseus is able to decapitate Medusa.
Medusa
Ok, this post is already way too long and I'm tired. I'm going to bed now, I'll finish this off in the morning.
Good night!
~ Australian Kiwi
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