Clash of the Titans

Clash of the Titans (1981)

Fern Sabessar

LITRE 421

PROFESSOR HARTMAN

01/12/2014

Table of Contents

A brief (one paragraph) summary of your literary work or film.......1

Is your protagonist a hero or an antihero?.......................................1

How does your protagonist relate to society? ...........................1, 2

In what ways is your literary work or film Greek?............................2

What epic qualities are evident in your work?.................................2

What is the theme of your selection? ......................................2

Is your chosen work universal? In what ways? .........................3

What is the aesthetic value of your chosen work?..........................4,5

Rate the literary value of your selection, and give reasons for your rating5

Bibliography.....................................................................6

The film is called Clash of the Titans (1981). It is one of many films portraying the adventures of Perseus, the son of Zeus the Greek god of heaven. This film was directed by Desmond Davis and released in 1981. The studio used was Warner Bros. The story begins where Acrisius, king of Argos, revolted against the Gods because Zeus had sex with his daughter Danae and conceived a child who was named Perseus. Acrisius was infuriated; in anger, Acrisius trapped both Danae and her newborn son in a sarcophagus and threw them off a cliff into the sea. Zeus angered by Acrisius retaliated by having Poseidon unleash the Kraken which destroys Argus. Harry Hamlin portrays the Greek hero Perseus who had to battle with the deadly Medusa in order to save the beautiful princess Andromeda from the monstrous Kraken.

The protagonist in this film is a hero. He "was the first of the heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths of the Twelve Olympians". (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com) In relation to society Perseus is a "Symbol of Ethical Values" (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com). "When I think of what a hero represents to me, I think of" a person "who fights for family values and the ethics of a good human being. Greek mythological heroes have many" (http://blogs.ccsd.edu) of the

qualities "that" relate to "positive" features "in today's" society. During his daring feats Perseus set a number of "standards, which people of ancient Greece" (http://blogs.ccsd.edu) tried to emanate "and" the "people" of "today" should try follow. "Perseus shows that he acts within the social and ethical boundaries of ancient times", (http://blogs.ccsd.edu) these social and ethical boundaries "are similar to the values" found in "today's society" (http://blogs.ccsd.edu).

The film Clash of the Titans is based on a story about Perseus, a Greek hero found in Greek mythology. This is film itself is not Greek but based on Greek mythology. There are many characteristics of epic poems or films. One of which states that "the hero is" normally "a figure of great national or cosmic importance" (http://staffweb.plattcsd.org), he/she "represents a culture's heroic" (http://staffweb.plattcsd.org) ideals; Perseus certainly represents the ideals of the Greek citizens. "The