Release the Kraken

I just did some reading up on the “Kraken” sea monster, probably most famous for its appearance in the “Clash of the Titans” movie and was quite surprised to learn that it was NOT a Greek myth at all but a Norse one. In the original Greek myth, Perseus rescues the princess from a sea monster named Cetus but the makers of the film decided to swap in the Kraken instead (presumably because it was a better known, generally more badass sea monster). In the Norse myth, the kraken was a sort of super cephalopod (squid/octopus mashup) but in both versions of the film it’s reimagined as more of a giant, humanoid ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’ with serpentine features. But I digress…what everyone most remembers from the film is the line, “Release the Kraken!” In this context, it is understood to be the gods releasing a force of mass destruction onto mankind (in the Greek myth, Poseidon released Cetus but in the film, Zeus released the Kraken).