Examples Of Stereotypes In Hercules

In current society today, technology is advancing at a rapid rate and with so much exposure to the media it is difficult to control what is being seen by children. Disney is one of the largest and most successful companies in the film industry. From children 4 years old to adults and every age in between, Disney has found a way to create films that entertain all ages. The seemingly innocent content of Disney movies are enjoyed from a very young age; however, behind the colorful and lighthearted storylines of many Disney films lies many unreasonable social ideologies that children may be subconsciously becoming accustomed to. In her work, “Where Do the Mermaids Stand,” Laura Sells discusses the hidden messages in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Sells explains how this movie expresses a hierarchy of gender and exaggerated femininity by demeaning the role of women in society. Susan Jeffords, author of “The Curse of Masculinity,” discusses similar ideologies in her article. This article looks at Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and focuses primarily the role of men and the how they perform to fit into this white male system by means of upholding hegemonic masculinity. The two articles “Where do the Mermaids stand” and “The curse of Masculinity,” bring to attention the reinforcement of the white male system, the racialization in the white male system, and the reinforcement of hegemonic masculinity in beloved childhood Disney movies.

The hero often finds help from a supernatural aid or a mentor. The hero must go through many tests and trails some of which include temptresses and tricksters. Ultimately, there is always a final test or supreme ordeal. In the movie Hercules, the former god must now find a way to become a hero. He enlists the help of Philoctetes, a trainer of the heroes, to help. During his training Hercules must save a girl named Megara. After Hercules saves Meg she goes to Hades domain where she is working for the god. She tells him about the boy who saved her and Hades quickly realizes that Hercules is not dead. He sends Meg, Pain, and Panic to destroy him before it is too late. Meanwhile, Hercules is feeling more than slightly discouraged when people refuse to believe that he is trying to become a real hero. When Meg shows up at his house he is elated and they go out on a date of sorts. During said date, Meg realizes that she is in love with Hercules. After Hades finds this out he strikes up a plan to get Hercules to give up his power. Soon after he goes to Hercules’ training center and makes a deal with him, he won’t hurt Meg as long as Hercules gives up his power. The boy agrees and Meg is let go, but not before Hades lets the secret of her ties to him out. Without his power Hercules is helpless as Hades lets the titans go and they wreak havoc among the gods. Because Meg

More clearly than the Bible, Greek/Roman mythology helps outline the life cycle that almost always applies to the traditional archetypal hero. With basic knowledge of the Bible we can determine right from wrong and its influence in real life when reading mythology. As the reader we experience this when seeing the actions the hero takes, as explained by Frye when he states, "... the central myth of the hero whose mysterious birth, triumph and marriage, death and betrayal and eventual rebirth..." (Frye, 67), explaining the archetypical story outline of the tragic hero. As an example of the archetype, the story of Hercules starts with the mysterious birth of a being that is half god and half man, with his father famously being Zeus. Following Hercules' diverse birth we also know he triumphed over the leader of the underworld named Hades, while also

In countless stories where males give birth, gods use humans for their own pleasure, and fathers swallow their children, it’s impossible to lose oneself in the soap-opera-esque reminiscence. With a glorious name that is known to this day, Hercules is seen as a hero because of his great strength and courage. He has multiple archetypes, but the question is, which one is more predominant? Hercules is different in each story. In the myth he is considered one archetype and in the Disney animation he is considered a completely different archetype.

Greek mythology has been passed on and retold over generations. Literature and movies have been created to entertain as well as provide specific themes based off of myths. There are many heroes that mythology talks about and each one has lived an epic life, but there is one famous hero that has been immortalized throughout history. Hercules is the son of Zeus and a mortal named Alcmene. Zeus impregnated her while her husband was away and this is where his story began. Zeus' wife, Hera, found out about the affair and was outrageous about his careless actions. She tried to prevent Hercules' birth; however, when that didn't work she sent snakes to kill the baby. Hercules was too mighty for the snakes and strangled them before they could even hurt him. As stated in this source, "Hera remained angry. How could she get even? Hera knew that she would lose in a fight, and that she wasn't powerful enough to prevent Zeus from having his way. Hera decided to pay Zeus back for his infidelity by making the rest of Hercules' life as miserable as she could" (Crane WEB). Hercules grew up to be a great young warrior and was all around. With this god-like strength, also came an uncontrollable temper that made him react at times without thinking, but later made him realize the wrongdoings of his violence. He later then married a woman named Megara and had two beautiful children. But one day, Hera instilled a fit of rage into Hercules and made him slaughter his family with his very own hands. He was shocked by his actions and asked Apollo for assistance since he was drowning in guilt. Apollo later then gave him specific tasks to help Hercules redeem himself for the bloodshed he caused. The hero was sent to Eurystheus, and under his strict hand, he was to accomplish twelve labors over the next twelve years.

The Disney Hercules is born of the Olympian gods, Zeus and Hera, after which he is kidnapped by Hades, the ruler of the underworld, who wishes to overthrow Zeus and usurp this throne. However, he needs Hercules out of the way first. Although Hades' plan to kill Hercules in infancy fails, Hercules is turned into a mortal on earth, where he is left feeling like an outcast. After Hercules leaves his (unbeknownst to him) adoptive parents to find his destiny, he discovers his true origins and strives to return to Olympus by becoming a true hero. But to do this, he must first learn what it means to be a "true hero" while overcoming the obstacles that Hades throws his way. Although this plot is entertaining to younger audiences, it deviates from the original myth, according to which Heracles was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman (a demi-god). In addition, neither was Heracles kidnapped by Hades, nor did Hades want to overthrow Zeus; he submitted to Zeus and sought pleasure in ruling the Underworld. Accordingly, Disney chose to represent Hades as the antagonist in this movie due to his role as leading the Underworld. Although the Underworld was not correlated to Hell in any way, the stereotypical idea of the Underworld being a symbol of evil was still present. Therefore, Disney's choice of casting Hades as the evil character in this movie is justified as a Hercules has to defeat some kind of evil before emerging as a

In the book The Odyssey, gender roles and stereotypes are broken, but at the same time are used to the advantage of those whom the cliché applies. One example of this is the character Circe. In the time period, women were typically viewed as the inferior gender.

In Homer’s famous series of books, The Odyssey, our godlike Odysseus goes on a remarkable adventure. Throughout the journey, he does not only meet new places, but he also gets to know mortals, immortals, and its stories. These anecdotes all present similar gender expressions, which are not very different from the ones we have set in the modern society. Many of the stereotypes seen in the book can still be seen in the 2000’s, but in the book the examples of the men being represented as the powerful and dominant figure, and women being showed as passive and obedient towards the males are way more obvious .

Disney’s Hercules depicts the classic mythical tale of the infamous demi god. Evil Hades, Hercules grows up on Earth but has godly strength from which he doesn't know originates. When he discovers his immortal heritage, Zeus calls him to return to Mount Olympus to become the champion he is destined to be. Eventually, Hercules evolves to be a famous hero with the help of Pegasus and Phil the satyr. Through his journey he takes on mythical monsters, Titans, and Hades. In the end it is his sacrifice that make him a true hero.

Throughout the Odyssey, by Homer (translated by W.H.D Rouse) it is clear that he uses stereotypes to show that men and women are not equal. In the beginning of Book 1, the minstrel begins to play a song, and Penelopeia complains that it is too sad. Telemachos responds, “My dear mother, why won’t you let the worthy minstrel entertain us as he likes? Go to your room and see about your own business, loom and distaff, and keep the servants to their work; talking is always the man’s part, and mine in particular, for the man rules the house”(12). This statement makes it very clear that women are the ones taking care of household jobs, and that they have no power in society. It also makes it clear the men always have the power over the women, and

She died saving him and he's the only one who can save her. In Hercules, he goes from zero to hero. He goes from a dorky kid that everyone avoids to a hero, a son of a God. He finally finds where he belongs and feels like he has a purpose.

Throughout his journey, Odysseus meets a variety of people, some of them are human while others are simply inhabitants of the land they possess. These people assist in displaying the diversity within this this epic poem because the reader is able to explore how they differ from normal Greek practices. We are able to compare their agricultural labor, diet, and most importantly, how they married. The views on women in Ancient Greek was not a great one and that is something that I will discuss in this essay because Anne Carson believed that back then, women adhered to a stereotype in which they were seen as dirt. However, these stereotypes not only define women but also men and can be used throughout the game of Mythos Unbound.

In her illuminating commentary, “The Temple of Zeus at Olympia, Heroes, and Athletes,” Judith M. Barringer introduces Olympia and sets the scene of the famous ruins in ancient times. She forces you to imagine the reverence one would feel by simply visiting the Temple of Zeus.   When peering into the temple, many would have first focused on the labors of Herakles that were portrayed before turning their attention to the magnificent, gold and ivory adorned statue of zeus, implying that these representations were quite exceptional for their time. When viewed, they gave off a sense of being larger than life.

Then, he is suddenly forced into an unknown environment; a huge difference between his regular circumstances and his new one is established (Vogler). Hercules, who is the hero of the film Hercules, is presented as the baby of loving parents and Greek gods Zeus and Hera, who reside on Mount Olympus. Zeus creates a winged horse named Pegasus, since he wants Hercules to have a friend. Everything in their life is perfect. However, baby Hercules is unexpectedly stolen in the middle of the night by Pain and Panic, the devious minions of the wicked Hades (Hercules). They almost take Hercules’ powers after they give him a mystical potion. A loving couple, Amphytryon and Alcmene, discover Hercules all alone and decides to adopt him. Hercules grows to be a young man, but the citizens of his town despise him and call him a freak because of his strange power. Hercules’ ordinary world is composed of all these events.

Hercules dreams of becoming a god in the movie, and he does everything in his power to achieve that. He knows that he has to become a hero first, so he searches for Philoctetes most commonly referred to as Phil, a trainer. Hercules trained and worked nonstop to become a hero, so he could become a god. With his hard work ethic and perseverance, he made his dream of becoming a god reality. Phil also promoted working to accomplish dreams and goals. He wanted to be the trainer that created the best hero. When Hercules first came to him, Phil was reluctant to help him and had nearly given up on his dream. Eventually, Herc convinced him; Phil was then focussed and gave his best effort to train Hercules to become the hero he strived to be. By the end of the movie, Phil was famous for being the trainer of Hercules, the renowned hero. Although he almost gave up on ever achieving his dream, Phil stuck through it and at last he had become famous for training the best hero. Oppositely from the movie, Phil was not a character in the myth. American culture changed the myth to invigorate strong work ethic and