Clash of the Titans is a fun movie, but to enjoy it, you will have to deactivate any understanding of the Greek gods and goddesses and relax to enjoy the fast-paced story and special effects. But let’s be clear about some of the biggest “innovations” in Greek myth found in the film. There are more, but these are the most dazzling.
Whoops I left the titans on the courtroom floor
The biggest “Oops” is that the Titans are not in conflict in this movie. The Olympian gods and goddesses are not the Titans, those were their parents and predecessors. In the original ‘Clash’, the enemy was Thetis, goddess of the sea, who was apparently treated as one of the Titans, but actually belongs to an even older layer of Greek belief and may have been one of the major unnamed Minoans. . goddesses who preceded the myths of Greece.
The central problem with all this “titan” talk is that the name itself has meant something really great and powerful, like the unfortunate Titanic. In this way of thinking, the filmmakers (and most of the audience) simply assume that all gods qualify as “titans.” Hence, “Clash of the Titans.”
Perseus is not an orphan
Bring back mom. Perseus and his mother, Danae, were saved from the floating death box. Furthermore, the fisherman who saved them was a prince whose brother ruled the country. Her original name was Diktys, and while we can understand why the filmmakers may have wanted to change her nickname to keep the audience from laughing, they couldn’t find something more classic than Spiros.
Perseus also had nothing against being a king, which in the movie he apparently equates with being a god. He is considered the founder of the Mycenaeans and has been recognized as their ruler and king.
Who is that girl and where is Athena?
Athena may be an independent goddess, but she always has a soft spot for heroes. But the change in Perseus’ story requires that he is fighting the gods, not fighting alongside them. In the original myth, both Athena and Hermes help Perseus. Io, although based on another suffered nymph conquest of Zeus, is an addition to the film, and possibly to make a more enjoyable sequel than the truth that Perseus and Andromeda married and quietly proceeded to rule Mycenae.
Andromeda is filing a complaint
Of all the “mythologies,” the one involving Andromeda is probably the worst. In the original myth, she is rescued by Perseus and they marry, go to Tiryns in Argos, find their own dynasty called Perseidae, and have seven children together, who become great rulers and kings. The original movie “Clash of the Titans” treated Andromeda with a little more respect.
By the way, her parents were the King and Queen of Ethiopia, not Argos. And her mother’s boasting compared her daughter to the sea nymphs, the Nereids, who complained to Poseidon.
Zeus and Hades don’t hate each other. And there is another brother!
In general, in Greek mythology, Hades and Zeus get along quite well, which is why Zeus did not interfere with Hades when he kidnapped Persephone, causing his mother Demeter to prevent all plants from growing on the face of the earth until that they found it and returned
Also left out of the “Shock” equation: the mighty god of the sea and lord of earthquakes, Poseidon, who barely gets a footnote at the film’s premiere. If there had been a Kraken (see below), it would have fallen under their rule, not Hades.
El Kraken
Great beast! Bad mythology The name of the Kraken comes from Scandinavian myth, and although Greece had many sea monsters, including one waiting to feed on the lovely Andromeda who was chained to a rock, they did not have this one. The original was Cetus, from which the scientific name “whale” is derived. The squid-like Scylla also qualifies as a more legitimately “Greek” sea monster.
