There are so many modern adaptations of this tale that it is hard to choose which ones to talk about in this final entry. I chose the most recent takes on this story which happen to be in film and literature. I am a huge movie fan and am never without a book, and as far as I can remember I have always been interested in mythology from other cultures so when I heard about the Clash of the Titans movie I had to go and see it. On the whole the movie was terrible and did not hold true to anything other than the major parts of any of the tales, such as the characters names and the general layout of how it all happened. However, I thought the fight scene with Perseus and Medusa in this film was really nicely done in regards to effects and artistic qualities. The other two sisters are completely left out of this and instead other men are added in which is not right, also the Pegasus and the warrior are not included. What was really interesting and very well done was the inclusion of the collection of stone warriors and unfortunate souls that happened upon her as well as how they create Medusa’s body. Instead of her having wings she has one enormous snake body with a rattle at the end and uses that to propel herself around her lair just as fast as wings would but with the capabilities to grab people or things with her tail.
I found this clip while searching for pictures of statues and thought it was brilliant. It shows the actual transformation of Medusa from beautiful woman to gorgon. The makeup is brilliant and the way they show the pain and agony of what she had to endure for punishment is actually a bit unnerving. The end of the clip is my favorite part though because one of the scholars being interviewed for the series states that the physical aspect of the punishment was not the most horrible, it was the life of solitude that she would be forced to live with no one but her gorgon sisters. I can honestly say I think that is the more miserable part of the punishment, not being able to interact with anyone, looks will fade eventually, but the inability to have any kind of relationships with anyone but two immortal monsters would crush me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQvAvBxEm4k&feature=youtu.be
My favorite rendition of this legend has to be the book series by Rick Riordan Percy Jackson and the Olympians. In the first book, Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief, Percy finds out that he is the son of a Greek god on his twelfth birthday and that he has to make his way to a camp to train with other Demi-gods. In one of his many adventures while attending this camp he has to defeat Medusa, who cleverly disguises herself as the humble owner of a statue emporium and diner. In the book Percy uses a mirror to keep from looking at her much like the legend uses a polished bronze shield and a sword he has that is made of celestial bronze (good for dispatching immortal monsters and created by the gods) like in the legend Perseus has a sword made of adamant.
This wonderful book series was turned into a movie, just one for five books, and was ruined by Disney. I watched the first twenty minutes of the movie and turned it off because it was terrible, but I digress. I found a clip of the scene with Medusa from this movie and I liked what they did with what Percy’s mirror was. This part was a brilliant adaptation using modern items we rely on and mixing them with legend.
The books are INFINITELY better than the movie and that goes for all of Riordan’s books. He has other series involving Egyptian mythology and Roman mythology. The Roman series is amazing so far and he makes and amazing tie between the Greek and Roman aspects of the gods. Since they are each based on the same areas of ruling and the Romans derived their gods from the Greeks it was fantastic to read how he was going to go about making the ties. If you like Harry Potter and you like Mythology you will like these books. They are fast, easy reads and he not only uses the mythology but also the geographical ties as well.
http://www.rickriordan.com/my-books/percy-jackson/percy-jackson-olympians.aspx
http://www.rickriordan.com/my-books/percy-jackson/percy-jackson-olympians.aspx
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