Clash... with Mythology

I watched the hollywood epic "The Clash of the Titans" recently. And I didn't like it. At all.

Going into the movie theatre to watch a Greek history-inspired film, as a Greek, can be tricky. What you expect to see is usually different from what you actually end up experiencing. Although "Troy" had some historical inaccuracies that put some people off, it was tolerable, and the film "300" actually awoke patriotic feelings within us. "The Clash of the Titans" has none of these to offer.

The Storyline

It is well-known that Hollywood usually sacrifices the accuracy of historic or mythological events in the name of a more impressive and moving storyline, however, in my opinion there is a limit to this that was surpassed in "The Clash of the Titans."

In Greek mythology there is no such battle between the gods and humans, there is no feud between Hades and Zeus, and there is no Kraken.

The story of Perseas in Greek mythology is as follows:

His mother Danae was the daughter of king Akrisios, whome the oracle warned that if his daughter were ever to give birth to a boy, that boy would kill him one day. Fearing this prediction, Akrisios locked his daughter in a bronze chamber, away from all men. However, Zeus managed to impregnate her in the form of a golden shower.

When Akrisios found out what happened, he locked both his daughter and grandson in a chest and threw them in the sea, where they were washed ashore on the island of Seriphos. Years later, king Polydektes of Seriphos commanded the young Perseas to kill the Medusa (a gorgon sister with snakes as hair that turned everyone that met her gaze into stone) and bring him her head. Perseas received winged sandals, an invisibility helmet and a magic sword from the gods to help him in his feat.

When Perseas reached the Medusa, he managed to cut her head off and when he did, two creatures sprang from the blood spilt: the Pegasus (a winged horse) and a giant called the Krysaor. Pegasus was later ridden by Bellerophonta against the Amazons, not by Perseas himself as is suggested in the film.

On his way back to Seriphos, Perseas saw Andromeda, princess of Argos, chained on a rock to be sacrificed to a sea monster as payment for a debt owed to the god Posidon. Using the head of Medusa, Perseas turned the monster into stone and took Andromeda with him to be his wife in Seriphos (not Io, a nymph that is shown in the movie to be the protector and love of Perseas).

Back in Seriphos, Perseas turns the king into stone and goes back to his grandfather\'s kingdom to claim his place. The old man flees, still fearing the prophecy, but it does him no good. A few years later he is accidentally killed by a discus thrown into a crowd of people by Perseas.

Toping it all off...

As if these inaccuracies weren\'t enough, the directors throw in a battle with giant scorpions, magical desert creatures and terrible script that reminded me a little of the TV series \"Hercules,\" where the hero has time to crack jokes in the middle of a battle and give uninspiring speeches. And don\'t let me get started on the supposed \"3D\" experience, which left you feeling dizzy after quick scenes and didn\'t make much of a difference anyway.

Source: theoi.com

Image: filmofilia.com

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