Clash of the Titans is a big blockbuster movie of 2010, a re-imagining of the earlier classic film Clash of the Titans made in 1981. Both films are based on the story of Perseus, the ancient Greek hero famous for killing Medusa and rescuing Andromeda. Find out what changes both films made, and how the real myth of Perseus played out.
Perseus’ Birth and Family
Perseus was the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Danae. Danae’s father, King Acrisius of Argos, heard a prophecy that he would one day meet his death at the hands of his daughter’s son. Fearing this, he locked her up in an underground chamber. Zeus entered the chamber as a shower of golden rain falling down through an aperture in the roof. When Danae gave birth to Perseus, Acrisius was furious. He put mother and baby into a wooden chest and threw it into the sea.
The chest floated to the island of Seriphos, where the fisherman Dictys caught it in his nets. Dictys took both Danae and Perseus in, and Perseus grew to manhood. However, Dicty’s brother Polydectes, the king of the island, fell in love with Danae. Thinking Perseus a hindrance to his attempts to seduce her, he plotted to get rid of the young man. Pretending that he wished to woo Hippodameia, the daughter of the Pisan king, he sent Perseus on a quest to bring back Medusa’s head as a unique wedding gift. Polydectes, knowing that Medusa could turn a man to stone, hoped Perseus would be killed in the task.
A Little Help from the Gods
Far from hating the Greek gods, Perseus accepted his semi-divine nature and was glad of all the help he could get. The god Hermes and goddess Athena advised him to seek out the Graeae (three witches). By taking the one eye and tooth that the witches shared between them, he convinced them to tell him where to find certain nymphs who could help him. These nymphs gave him winged sandals with which to reach Medusa, a bag to carry her head in, and a cap of darkness to make him invisible. Hermes also gave him a scimitar of adamant to behead Medusa, and Athena a shield of polished bronze.
In the 1981 Clash of the Titans, Perseus is hindered by the goddess Thetis and her son Calibos (a creation of the film-makers). In the 2010 film, it is Hades, god of the underworld, who tries to defeat the hero. In the Greek myth, Perseus has not earned the enmity of any particular god or goddess, and so is not personally hounded by any divine attempts to stop him. The sea monster threatening Andromeda was sent by Poseidon as a punishment for her mother’s vanity in comparing her beauty to the sea nymphs. Perseus defeated this monster, but never challenged Poseidon himself.
Clash of the Titans – Perseus vs. Medusa and the Kraken
Medusa and the Kraken are not titans; there are actually no titans in the myth of Perseus. The titans, according to Greek mythology, were the older generation of gods, children of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth). They were supplanted by the Olympian gods, who were the children of the two titans Cronus and Rhea. After defeating the titans, Zeus imprisoned them in the depths of Tartarus, and punished Atlas by forcing him to hold up the sky. The Kraken actually has its origins in Scandinavian mythology, and was not created to defeat the titans.
In the Greek myth, Perseus used his winged sandals to fly to the island where the three gorgons lived. As in both films, Perseus used his polished shield to watch the reflection of Medusa, and so managed to behead her without looking at her directly. The other two gorgons tried to pursue him as he escaped with the head, but he used the magical cap of darkness to become invisible and slip away.
Two children were born from the severed neck of Medusa: Pegasus and Chrysoar. In both films, Perseus rides the winged horse Pegasus as he returns to save Andromeda. In Greek mythology, it was actually a different hero, Bellerophon, who famously rode Pegasus to defeat the monstrous Chimaera. This addition to the story of Perseus was not introduced by the film-makers, however, as later art does sometimes show Perseus riding the winged horse.
Perseus and Andromeda
While Perseus travelled home with Medusa’s head, he passed the kingdom of the Ethiopians, where he saw Andromeda chained to a rock to be sacrificed to Poseidon’s sea monster. He fell in love with her at first sight, and offered to defeat the monster if he could marry her. He killed the sea monster using Hermes’ scimitar, then used Medusa’s head to turn Andromeda’s angry fiancé and his army to stone.
Perseus and Andromeda travelled back to the island of Seriphos, where Perseus used Medusa’s head to defeat Polydectes. He made the fisherman Dictys ruler of the island in his place. The prophecy that Perseus would kill his own father was fulfilled when he accidentally struck him on the head with a discus at the funeral games in Larissa. Not wanting to rule Argos, he swapped kingdoms with another king and became ruler of Tiryns. He also founded the city of Mycenae. Andromeda bore him one daughter and six sons, and their great-grandson was the hero Heracles.
In the 2010 film Clash of the Titans, Perseus falls in love with Io instead. Io was the daughter of the Argive river god, and desired by Zeus. Transformed by Zeus or Hera into a cow, she was driven all over the world by Hera’s stinging gadfly. Io has nothing to do with the myth of Perseus and was a completely new addition to the story in this film.
Source
March, Jenny. (1998) Cassell Dictionary of Classical Mythology. London: Cassell
Victoria Hooper - Victoria Hooper is the acquisitions editor and acting editor for Polluto, a Spectrum Fantastic Arts award winning magazine published by ...
