The movie Immortals borrows some of the myth of Theseus for its plot. A lot of the film seems to be a modern attempt at creating a Greek myth. Altogether this film fails to follow the myth of Theseus although it does bring some parts of the myth into it.
There are few similarities between the film and the myth. Rewrites are in abundance in the film. At least they placed Theseus with his mother for the opening of the tale. In an obvious rewrite in the film, Theseus finds the Epirus bow in a rock instead of the sword and shoes left by his father. (Hamilton 209)
There is a scene in the movie where Theseus and his motley crew are about to steal a boat for their travels, which is very unlike the myth for Theseus to take a boat on his first adventure. Conveniently the boat is destroyed and they are left to travel on foot. They never state it as clearly as in the book, “…Theseus refused to go by water, because the voyage was safe and easy.” (Hamilton 209) However, at one point in the film Theseus states, “We march to the monastery.” (Immortals 2011)
The Parlapanides brothers, writers of the script for Immortals, incorporate the Minotaur’s labyrinth up to the middle of the film. They even have Theseus slay a version of the Minotaur, and find his way back out of the labyrinth. This is where the Minotaur’s portion of the tale ends. In the film there is no mention of Ariadne. The labyrinth is a place of worship and the minotaur is a man who was killed in a fight with Theseus instead of being slain in his sleep. Theseus followed wet footprints to find the exit instead of thread as in Hamilton’s version. (Hamilton 211-213)
Theseus gains a friend who starts off by stealing to get his attention in the myth, whereas in the m...
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...rtal” since Gods in their film were killed. Finally, the film does a poor job of staying true to its theme. To borrow from Deburge, he states that the movie was created “… to justify staging a fight scene for the ages.” (Deburge)
Works Cited
Deburge, Peter. "Variety Reviews - Immortals - Film Reviews - - Review by Peter Debruge." Entertainment news, film reviews, awards, film festivals, box office, entertainment industry conferences - Variety. Reed Elsevier Inc., 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 18 Feb. 2012. .
Hamilton, Edith. "Theseus." Mythology. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1942. 208-223. Print.
Hamilton, Edith. "The Adventures of Odysseus." Mythology. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1942. 291-319. Print.
Immortals. Dir. Tarsem Singh. Perf. Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, John Hurt. Relativity Media, 2011. Film.
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Ingri and Edgar Parin D’alaure’s. Book of Greek Myths. New York: Bantam Dowbleday Dell Publishing Group, 1962.
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