In THE ILIAD, the Greek gods interact with humanity on a regular basis. As I listened to the first part of the book I was reminded of the 1981 movie The Clash of the Titans. Have you ever seen it? It was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. (And it is set for a remake soon!) Below are two clips from the movie that I've been thinking about as I listen to Homer's epic.
Skip ahead to time marker 4:45 and watch until about 7:36 ...
And in this clip start at 2:45 and watch though 6:42 ...
This is exactly the type of behavior that the gods display in THE ILIAD. (As a side note, did you notice Thetis, mother of Calibos? That is Maggie Smith, famous today for her role as Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series. AND Thetis is also the mother of Achilles in THE ILIAD, the one who sort of starts all the mess.)
As I got further into the story I began to think about the gods and their bickering and I found myself visualizing scenes from the tv show Xena: Warrior Princess. I tried to find some of the specific scenes that I remembered, the ones with Ares and Aphrodite but I was not successful. The only thing I found on YouTube (other than video tributes set to music - what IS the deal with that anyway?!) was the opening credits of the show.
That gives you a bit of an idea of what I'm talking about, but not exactly. In the show, the gods are petty and picky, they bicker, they scheme, they trick ... and boy, is it funny to watch. That is exactly what the gods sound like in parts of THE ILIAD.
I'm going to get back to listening now ... hope you all have a great weekend!
PS. Today is my 11th wedding anniversary!
18 comments:
I LOVED Clash of the Titans! I had a crush on Harry Hamlin *long* before L.A. Law was around. :-)
Lezlie
PS Happy Anniversary!
Ok, A.) happy anniversary! And B.) I'm studying Greek and Roman mythology right now and my sister and I used to watch Xena ALL THE TIME when we were wee and now when we talk about Ares in class I can't get Kevin Smith (who is, unfortunately, dead) out of my head. Also, I just accidentally found a mash-up of Ares and Xena on youtube set to 'Broken' and even though I have NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON, I almost died laughing and had to turn it off.
Happy Anniversary!!! Never saw Clash of the Titans but was a huge fan of both Xena and Hercules - just pure fun comedy!!
I haven't seen Clash of the Titans. It looks good! And you know how much I loved The Iliad, so sounds like I should give it a try.
A very happy Wedding Anniversary.
Lezlie - I KNOW, right?!
Raych - Every time I read about Ares in THE ILIAD I'm having that same problem. :)
SuziQoregon - CLASH isn't funny like XENA but it IS a great movie. You can watch the entire thing (in 12 parts) on YouTube.
Rebecca - Other than the out-of-date effects I think you'd really like it!
Violet - thanks!
Happy Anniversary!
I loved Clash of the Titans when I was a kid too. I came across it on TV not too long ago and was shocked by the quality of the special effects, and not in a good way. LOL! The ones in the clips you posted are actually pretty good though.
Happy Anniversary :) yes i loved Clash of the titans when i was young, such a great movie.
Freedom Debt Relief
Dreamybee - Those special effects are SO outdated, which is why I'm looking forward to the remake. :) But I love this movie anyway!
Justin - Thanks!
Oh as kids I LOVED Clash of the Titans. It was so scary yet funny at the same time. I always wanted the owl. And my dad and I used to always watch Xena and Hercules. Ahhh...good times.
Oh!! And happy Anniversary!!!
Amanda - Such good memories! ~LOL~
Happy anniversary! Never really watched Xena. Or Clash of the Titans!
Michelle - Oh, but you really SHOULD! Xena for the sheer stupid humor of it all and Clash for the epic story. :)
Yep, "Clash of the Titans" was great fun. Didn't like Xena, though -- I hated the overt objectification of women, even though, in many cases, the show's omnipresent porn-star atmosphere was actually meant to satirize society's sexualization of women.
Thus spake, chartroose, the cranky old fartroose!!!
Happy anniversary!
Chartroose - It's true (about Xena) but at the same time the show was a huge draw for the lesbian community so SOMEONE was getting something out of it! :)
Happy anniversary!
We have Clash of the Titans upcoming in our Netflix queue, and I'm looking forward to re-watching it and seeing what the kids think. They'll poke fun at the special effects, I'm sure! But I think they'll enjoy it.
Darla D - I hope that enjoy it!
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