Introduction
1) Who here is familiar with the Disney movie “Hercules”?
2) Most of us know the story as it has been portrayed in the movie: a sugar coated, G-rated version of a story that is much more realistic in terms of humanity and what it means to be human.
a) As a young girl, Hercules was one of my favorites. The five muses dressed in white singing all throughout as a sort of narration really made the whole film that much more entertaining for me. Dancing around the living room with the sister whenever zero to hero comes on may or may not still be a recurring theme.
b) Ever since watching the Hercules movie, I have been sort of fascinated with Greek mythology and it has always been a favorite subject in my world history classes.
3) Greece is a country with a very rich religious history which can be dated back to ancient times where mythology held a very dominant hold over people. Today, I would like to talk to you guys a little bit about the real Hercules story, the Ancient Greek religion history, as well as the present-day religious practices of Greece.
First, lets get into the real Greek story of Hercules: the not so sugar-coated and a slightly more PG-13 version.
Body
4) Zeus, king of the gods, disguises himself as a man named Amphitryon and sneaks into the bed of Amphitryon’s wife, Alcmene. And thus we get the demi-god Hercules; a young baby with great strengths.
5) Hera, the wife of Zeus, as one could imagine is none too happy about this and sets out to
Greek mythology is one of the coolest things anyone could think of. The ideas of gods and goddesses coming down to earth to interact with the human race, is quite an amazing thing. In many cultures, gods are very important. The ancient greek culture is an example where mythology is very important to the people, the gods are everywhere in daily life. Yet with the made up mythology, they needed a place to begin with and the greeks are no exception, but the story of the gods beginning is very interesting.
Greek Mythology has been known to be one of the footprints left by the civilization of ancient Greece to our history and these mythology somehow shed a light to the culture, life style, religion and history of ancient Greece since the mythology were the primary basis of the origin of the ancient Greeks and they believed that these mythologies explained the origin of why things turned out to be like that.
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 “Greek Mythology in Popular Culture” wikipedia.org describes the everyday items we use or see on T.V were inspired by Greek mythology. From movies to space technology, these things were named from the Greek myths. Like the T.V show/movie Hercules that was made in 1997 makes it clear that we got the idea off of Greek mythology. And also in marketing. Many corporations have used Greek mythology in their wine logos to represent the god of wine, Dionysus.
Ancient Greek society fell over 2000 years ago but despite this, its mythology still continues to influence our western society. References to Greek mythology can be found all through time and in our western culture. The influence of Greek mythology can be found in our science, arts and literature and our language. When Ancient Greece fell to the Roman Empire, Rome adapted its mythologies which still influence us today as they have through history. That is not to say that Greek mythology wasn’t influenced itself – Greek mythology has links with the bible and the early Mycenaean’s. It has also been recognised as one of the earliest forms of paganism.
Authors, poets, and film directors have all used ancient stories to create new pieces of literature and film works for modern times. The animated Disney film Hercules (1997) and the myth of Hercules share the background of audience-driven narratives; however, Disney's aspiration to fill the theaters and earn money results in an unblemished narrative, while the original myth portrays an imperfect model to a flawed humanity.
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece. Modern scholars refer to, and study, the myths, in an attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece, its civilization, and to gain understanding of the nature of myth-making itself.
There are many cultures around the world that value different character qualities. Some of these are expressed through the stories that are passed down from generation to generation. A very popular story many cultures have their own spin on is Hercules. This story originated from Ancient Greece, but many people in American society are more familiar with the Disney version than the original. The basic storylines of these versions are the same, but some of the intricate details that help define the cultures these stories come from, vary. These changes help highlight the differences between American society today and Ancient Greek society in the time this story was written. The most significant changes in these two stories is the childhood of
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.
Mythology was very huge in Ancient Greece. There are so many different folktales and myths
Hercules, or known in Latin as Heracles, was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity. In art, Hercules was portrayed as a powerful, muscular man wearing lion's skin and armed with a huge club. He was also described as being a macho man buffoon, who was very impulsive. Hercules’ home and birthing place is in Thebes, Greece. Thebes is a city in central Greece. It plays as an important setting in many Greek myths, such as the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and many other important roles in Greek Mythology. The demigod, Hercules has an interesting origin, he is most famous for his 12 labors, and leaves a legacy in words and expressions.
If you put in hard work and persevere through difficulties, you will eventually attain success. The more upsetting parts of the actual myth are replaced with happier, more culturally acceptable versions, so the audience can feel good about the world. Instead of having an unfaithful father, Hercules is born as the biological son of Hera and Zeus; his biological mother in the myth becomes his adoptive mother in the story.
Today it’s just myths and stories, but back in the B.C. ’s it was taken very seriously by the Greeks. Greek religion and mythology is important to know about as it has played a large role in history as well as ancient Greece civilizations. It is so important that it is still commonly referenced today in media such as movies and books.
Zeus fell in love with a Greek woman named Alcmene, and impregnated her. When the wife of Zeus, Hera, found out she tried to prevent the birth of the child. Hera could not stop the birth, and the child was named Hercules, which means “glorious gift to Hera” in Greek. Hercules was a demi-god because of one human parent and one god parent. Hera tried to kill the baby by placing snakes in his crib, butt the child strangled the snakes before they could kill him. Hera wanted to get revenge on Zeus by making Hercules life miserable.
In the mythological story, Hercules’s mother, Hera, angered at Zeus for sleeping with other women, drove Hercules insane. In his insanity, he kills his wife and children. After realizing what he has done, he tries to atone for it by completing the Twelve Labors of Hercules. The labors push and make Hercules so famous, yet the movie withdrew the labors from the plot. People watching the movie could absorb the plot and understand everything in Hercules as true to the legend, but the facts prove inaccurate. Disney left out crucial components to the myth that made Hercules well