Andrew Weegberg: Blog 06: Clash of the Titians

Introduction

Welcome back to my blog. For this weeks installment we watched the 2010 movie Clash of the Titans Starring Sam Worthington. I enjoyed this, as it was one of the movies that I had not managed to get down to the cinema and see. Unfortunately it cannot be all fun and games and some work is required.

The work comes in to form of a series of questions and all aids to the research in Blog 2 titled ‘Greek Mythology research.’ All of the research that has been done so far contributes to a logo design that you will see some very rough thumbnails for at the bottom of this blog.

If there is a certain teacher assessing this blog and there happens to be a spare class at the end of this month the sequel to this movie Wrath of the Titans comes out on March 29 in Australia. Hint Hint.

Without any further delay I shall get straight into it.

Who are the Titians?

In Greek mythology the Titians are the original Greek gods. These gods are better known as the Elder Gods. The elder gods led by Cronus were overthrown by the gods was know today as the Olympians. The twelve Greek gods that are known as the Olympians are Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Hera, Aris, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes, Artemis and Hephaestus.

In the movie the two gods you see the most are Zeus and his brother Hades. Zeus is the leader of the Olympians and Hades was sent to be leader of the underworld. Sam Worthington’s character Perseus is a demi god and is son to Zeus.

Are there any interesting motifs you see frequently appearing?

In the film I saw many things that I would interpret as being motifs. This are my own personal opinions based on my own personal knowledge.

The obvious one is Zeus’s lightning bolt.

This is a symbol of great power and strength and is a not a force to be reckoned with. These days you see the lightning bolt in regards to electricity. It is a symbol that is seen on an iPhone or iPod when charging and is found in a wide variety of other places

Sorcery and Witchcraft

Is another motif that is seen throughout the film. This is a characteristic that is constantly applied to movie characters and was greatly feared in countries within Europe and America hundreds of years ago. It was a fear that many innocent people lost their lives to mainly because of public pressure.

The Craken

Is featured heavily within Greek mythology. It quickly became a myth for sailors and sea going people that was passed down through the generations and was something to be feared. Recently the Craken was seen featured in the cult movie series Pirates of the Caribbean. It featured along side Davey Jones (another Sailors myth) in the second installment Pirates of the Caribbean: At worlds end.

The eagle

In the movie Zeus transforms into an eagle a number of times. This is appropriate as the eagle is seen to be a great and noble bird. This is very fitting for a god who is the leader of the Olympians. It is with this theory in mind that the eagle is still used as the United States of Americas national symbol.

The Ferryman

Is another myth that tells the story of being taken from this world to the afterlife. This is a myth that isn’t known as much today but is a phrase that some people still use “don’t forget to pay the ferry man” and has been used in songs also.

Is your Greek character in the movie?

The Greek god Hercules does not feature at all in the film.

Are there any characters in the movie that are related.?

The one major relative of Hercules that does appear in the movie is Zeus. This isn’t all that surprising as Zeus fathered hundreds if not thousands of children all gods in their own right.

Hera one of the Olympians is Hercules mother but she was not featured in the movie nor were any other relatives of Hercules.

Is there a constellation of stars named after your Greek character?

There is a star constellation named after Hercules. It is the fifth largest constellation. Within the constellation there are many parts to it such as variable stars, Deep sky objects and double stars.

How is Medusa Killed?

In the film Perseus and the other fighters enter the underworld in search of Medusa with the aim of killing her. As they trek further into the depths of the afterlife the small group get broken up. It is at this stage that they engage Medusa in battle some being turned into stone instantly on the spot before they could even draw their weapons. Medusa is depicted as an abnormally large snake with the torso of a woman who has a series of little snakes forming her hair.

Some of the fighters manage to cut a few of the snakes from her head during the course of the battle. This enrages her further and leads her to a even greater destructive path. With Perseus cornered and somewhat defenseless the final remaining soldier jumps onto a rock formation hanging from the roof of the cave like afterlife. The rock formation pins Medusa just as she is about to deal Perseus’s final and fatal blow.

Medusa turns to face the soldier and instantly turns him to stone as he defiantly stared into her eyes grinning. With her attention momentarily distracted Perseus reaches for his sword and leaps into the air. With one swift movement he swung his sword at Medusa instantly connecting with her neck. Perseus lands and continues to avoid looking at his new victim.

Medusa’s body stumbles slightly as her head still with the look of total shock and awe falls off her shoulders and lands on the ground with an awful sound of serpents squealing. Her body still standing upright stumbles with nerve twitches whilst stepping backwards. With arms flailing in the air the body trips and falls of a cliff and falls into the fiery depths of the afterlife and is consumed by a large fiery explosion that leaps violently into the air.

Does your Greek character have a weakness?

As mentioned in Blog 02 Hercules main weakness was women. He was known to have many partners at various times.

Well that about wraps it up for the written part of this blog. But just quickly whilst we are on the subject of Movies and Greek gods another good movie to check out is Percy Jackson and the lightning thief (as it was titled in Australia. I believe other countries had a slightly different title) the target audience for this film may be the children to teenage range but a lot of the gods are depicted in a more modern style.

THUMBNAILS

These are some very rough thumbnails of a few ideas I have at the moment. I feel that after our trip to the National Sports Museum my current thumbnails are inspired by the old AFL Logos that depicted the various club logos.

I still havn't fully decided what sport I am going to choose so here are some of my ideas.