"Release the Kraken!" What is it?

I'm back with my first post since April Fools Day (I'd love to say I got you, but it's true).

"Clash of the Titans" has just been released. In the trailers, Zeus (played by Liam Neeson) says the infamous words: "Release the Kraken!"

Now, what does Zeus have against mortals? What did they ever do?

The answer is everything. They declared war on the gods. They tore down their statues and desecrated their temples!

Thrilling plot, isn't it? Yes, but I must get back to this "Kraken" thingy that a highly-paid actor is going to unleash on mankind (in 3-D!)...

The Kraken is mentioned in manuscripts dating back to Viking times. Scandinavians claimed that its body appeared to be thousands of tiny islands that, when sailors took them for land and docked their ships there, grabbed everything and everyone aboard and dragged them to the bottom of the ocean. This creature's body, which is like an octopus-squid hybrid, probably came from sightings of the real-life Colossal squid.

Did Perseus really stand up to this thing in myth? The answer is no. The true monster was called Ceto, who was turned into a constellation translated as "the Whale". Frighting and gruesome, huh? In the 1981 version of "Clash of the Titans", this Kraken (which is really the brainchild of Scandinavian mythology) is a humanoid that's 50-feet tall, covered with scales, and has four arms. Perseus turns this beast into stone with Medusa's head to keep it from wreaking havoc on coastal cities in Greece. The newer version looks a lot like a worm body with two huge eyes close together and a mouth like a sinkhole filled with a gazillion teeth.

What happens in the 2010 remake? You'll have to watch to find out.

And that's just another average Kraken history lesson for ya!