Hercules Compare And Contrast

Pietro Francisci's Hercules is a film which, although hearkening back to the original Greek myth of Heracles, does not faithfully relate any of the events presented in the the ancient version of the life of the fabled demi-god. Rather, it presents a light-hearted storyline filled with action and romance which incorporates very few elements of the myth while avoiding the darker, more violent aspects of the events, no doubt broadening its appeal to American movie-goers in the fifties.

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

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

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.

Family values is a very large difference between Hercules and “Heraclês”. In the very beginning of the movie, it is shown that Hera was Zeus’ only wife and the father of Hercules. However, in the myth, Zeus has many wives, and his child Heraclês

Similarities and differences between our 2 favorite heroes. There are three things that are so similar to both stories is that they both got the strength that can lift many heavy things cause they're so powerful. They both got some evil guy who wants to rule and conquer their planet but they have to first kill the sons of governor Hercules and

These labors were designated to him through King Eurystheus because of the unspeakable acts he committed. Hercules sought out many prophets, only in the end to return to King Eurystheus to complete his 12 suicidal labors. One of the last 6 labors completed was to capture the Cretan Bull. Minos promised Poseidon that he would sacrifice whatever the god sent to him. Poseidon sent a great bull, but Minos thought it was too beautiful to kill. So he killed another bull, and Poseidon grew angry so he made it rampage through the city of Crete. Hercules wrestled the bull to the ground. He carried the bull back to Eurystheus, but it could not be tamed so Eurystheus set it free. The 8th labor Hercules had to complete was stealing the Mares of Diomedes. Diomedes’ Mares are 4 men eating horses with terrible tempers. Diomedes kept the horses chained to a golden post to keep them from escaping. Hercules snuck behind the golden post taming the horses, and right before he could release them Diomedes soldiers began attacking Hercules. From hearing all the commotion Diomedes awakens. He is informed that Hercules is trying to steal the mares from a random foot soldier. Diomedes is irate and attacks Hercules.

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.

Hercules is thought to be one of the world’s greatest hero. There are children’s movies about him, but they all have a happy ending. Hercules, originally born “Heracles” lived a short cruel, yet heroic life. “The 12 Herculean tasks he performed over a period of 12 years have been immortalized in everything from classical poetry to Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion.” (French 1). Hercules, in Greek mythology, was a hero known for his strength and courage and for his legendary adventures. Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek hero Heracles. He was the son of the god Zeus and a human mother Alcmene, wife of the Theban general Amphitryon. Hera, Zeus' jealous wife, was determined to kill Hercules, and after Hercules was born, she

Zeus’ different roles in the two stories lead to his contrasting personality traits, as both authors try to find reasons for the audience to sympathize with the tale’s main character, they have to inevitably change Zeus’ character

Hercules is not the hero that greek mythology glorifies him to be. His ruthless acts to “purify” himself from killing his family, are nothing but him following commands of robbery, whether it be of a life or possession. He is less of a hero and more of a modern day hired ‘hitman’. Hercules agreed to completing the twelve tedious labours, however bad they might be. If he was ordered to steal something, he would. If he was told to kill something, he would do it. His actions are more alike the ones of an assassin or hitman rather than a selfless hero.

Take a minute to look at the world around you. Notice how different people are. Notice how lucky some people are. Notice how unlucky some people are. Notice the amount of people who are so famous or popular. Then notice those who are nobodies. Disney’s Hercules is a film about a young hero, Hercules, who was born a God, but was forcefully taken of everything but his strength. He was taken of this by Hades, the God of the underworld, who is out to destroy the other Gods of the world and destroy Olympus forever. Throughout the movie Hades is faced with the fact that Hercules may return to stop him from pursuing his evil plan. Hades goal is then to defeat Hercules and finish his scheme . In the film Hercules, the writers use the evil genius to reveal, that humanity will use many resources in order to make themselves seem better than others because they fear that since they may be less fortunate than them, they may be overlooked by the society around them.

Greek hero Heracles. Hercules's mother was Alcmena or Alcmene, the wife of King Amphitryon of Troezen. His father was none other than Zeus, the king of the gods, who disguised himself as Amphitryon and visited Alcmena on a night that lasted as long as three ordinary nights. Hera, Zeus' jealous wife, was determined

     The inhabitants of different cities had their fears put to rest when Heracles came to town. Many of the twelve tasks that Heracles endured involved killing things that had the people living in fear. The people of the cities as well as continued generations following considered Heracles to the greatest of heroes. The Disney version, Hercules, the Latin name for Heracles, was a completely different version. Its portrayal of the story was inaccurate in a lot of ways. It painted the picture as Hercules’ enemy being Hades. It depicted Hercules through the eyes of what society considers a hero now.

The myth of the Greek hero Hercules and the one seen in the Disney movie have a lot of differences, but also some similarities. For example, one difference is in the Disney movie Hercules only performed 7 labors, but in the Greek myth Hercules had to complete 12 labors. However, a similarity is that in both versions Hercules had to endure the hero’s journey. There are many other differences and similarities worth mentioning.