From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“Eschew Obfuscation”
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
November 18, 2009
Medusa Never Did That!
Soon to strike theatres with a bolt, bang and crash will be a remake of the geek-adored but critic-deplored mythological movie “Clash of the Titans.” Like the original, which was released in 1981, the remake will revolve around the ancient hero Perseus, with the focus being on his rescue of the lightly-clad Andromeda and slaughter of the sea monster which was about to dine upon her.
While many applauded the original for its groundbreaking (at the time) special effects and elaborate costumes, others detested it for the liberties it took with the mythological tale upon which it was based.
We’ve mentioned before that Greco-Roman mythology has more than its fair share of austere purists, many of whom will erupt into froth-sputtering tirades at the slightest provocation. “Clash of the Titans” (1981) engaged in many of these provocations. Actually, it was more like a provocation-palooza.
We’ll take one example. During the movie Perseus went to lair of Medusa, a snake-like creature with serpents for hair and a quiver stuffed with deadly arrows. Perseus deftly avoided the arrow onslaught and beheaded the evil gorgon. Out of the blood torrents that gushed forth from Medusa’s decapitated body,
Pegasus was born. Perseus then stole Medusa’s head and rode upon Pegasus’ back to the shore where Andromeda was about to be devoured by the Kraken.
Instead of fighting the Kraken with a sword, Perseus showed the monster Medusa’s severed head. As Medusa still retained her petrification powers, the Kraken turned to stone and crumbled into the sea.
Well! Time to adjust the horn-rims upon the yard-long nasal hypotenuse and strip away the falsities and misinterpretations about the REAL mythological figures.
We must begin our scalding scoldings with a remark about Medusa, herself. Being possessed of petrification abilities, Medusa proved so formidable that she didn’t require other weapons, such as arrows. Those intrepid (or stupid) enough to venture into her lair would have found her face to have been enough of a challenge without adding an arrow barrage to the fun.
Secondly, in our frenzied fit of pedantic pooh-poohing, we also mention that the sea monster’s name was Cetus, not Kraken. Cetus is a constellation and represents a whale as well as a sea monster. The term “Cetology,” pertaining to the study of whales, derives from this name. (You can almost see the shadow of the erect pinky cast onto the teacup handle, can’t you?)
Also, the real Perseus did not use Medusa’s severed head to slay the sea monster. According to the ancient authorities, Perseus used the old fashioned, but reliable, method of sword cutting to achieve the monster’s death. Granted, employing the Medusa head in this fashion would have been very clever and would have saved Perseus all that tedious hacking, slashing and blood-letting. Nevertheless, Perseus cut Cetus into strips without Medusa’s help. Later on, however, Perseus did use the head to petrify Andromeda’s uncle, who was engaged to Andromeda until Perseus decided to marry her.
All this having been said, we must admit that we enjoyed the original. (Any movie that could incite the ire of so many stuffed-collar critics must have something to it.) So, please do not infer from this article any discontent with the original film or any anticipated distaste for the remake. We are confident that the modern day special effects technology will likely make “Clash of the Titans 2010″ a sight to behold!
And believe you me, we’ll behold it.
