Comparing Hercules And The Greek Hero In Disney Films

Hercules has always inspiration to people since the days of mythological origin to the origin of pop culture. There have been many mythological stories that have been changed and presented to the newer generation. Some of these stories have been significantly changed so that the audience in the newer generation deems them entertainment worthy. Today we are going to compare Hercules’s journey from the mythological hero to his depiction in modern day film. Mainly the similarities and differences between the Greek hero and the character that is portrayed of Hercules in the Disney film Hercules.

Fundamentally there are few similarities between the two versions, on the other hand the differences are prominent between the mythological stories of

Hercules and Disney’s Hercules. These differences have helped the modern-day audiences relate easier to the characters in the stories. Disney’s goal was to tailor and make alterations to enable a new aspect of heroism, their depiction of the myth of Hercules was geared the youth who can seek a valuable lesson from the animated movie. Disney’s choices through these alterations can be determined by focusing on the main plot, the characters presented in the movie, and the notion of being a “true hero” that is presented by Disney.
Disney’s version of Hercules included songs and lively characters, in contrast to the original story of Hercules.

The original story cuts out the added humor and creativity, but does not lack in the description. Some of the biggest differences occur between the mythological version and the movie have to do with Hercules’s upbringing. In both versions, Hercules/Heracles is the son of Zeus, the head god of Greek myth. In Disney’s version Hera is Hercules’s mother, and Hera and Zeus are portrayed as loving parents. He becomes a demigod when Pain and Panic try to kill him with a potion, but he does not drink the final drop. In the mythological version the wife of Zeus, Hera, hates Hercules, because Zeus was sleeping with Amplitron’s spouse, Alcmene. Hercules being borne from a mortal mother and a god makes him a demigod. Hera is reminded of her husband’s unfaithfulness every time she sees Hercules, she even goes as far to send snakes to kill

Hercules.
In both versions of the stories he does not fit in due to his unusual strength, this causes him to be removed from the others.

In the movie, teenage Hercules goes to Olympus to talk to Zeus when he finds out he is half-god, Zeus tells him he will have to earn his godhood before he is admitted to Olympus. In the original story, Hercules is a shepherd and he rids the area of threatening beasts the came into the area, he was proclaimed as a hero, and was given a bride and they had children. In the original story, Hera had enough of Heracles success and popularity so she struck him down with insanity, and he killed his children unwittingly. To pay for his crimes he was made a slave to his cousin who hated him due to his strength, Hera gave his cousin orders to put Heracles through the most demeaning laborious and dangerous tasks ever. In the movie version, young Hercules found the satyr named Philoctetes, who at first refuses to train him but then reluctantly agree after a persuasive lightning bolt from

Zeus.
Hercules in both the film and story perform many similar tasks such as the killing of a dangerous boar, the slaying of a head-regenerating Hydra, and others, but some of the tasks from the mythological story were geared towards humility and intelligence, rather than brute force and the quest for heroism. The part that is not talked about in the movie is after he has completed the tasks and is free is when Hera made him insane again, causing him to kill more people, resulting in him being a slave once again this time for Queen Omphale. She makes him dress like a lady while she dressed in his lion skin, he served for three years until he learned his humbling lesson. The next biggest difference is the endings of the Disney movie and the mythological story. In the story Heracles, after he had volunteered to get back Queen Alcestis from the Underworld and confronted Hades, he decided that he would like a wife and marries Princess Deianira, whom he fought for over with the shape shifting river god Achelous, and won. In the Disney movie, after he achieved godhood, he goes to Olympus, where the gods and goddesses there welcome him with open arms. He is embraced by his mother and father, Zeus tells him he did well and says “Welcome home, son” but Hercules decides he wants to stay on Earth with Meg, Phil, and his flying horse, Pegasus. And they all live happily ever after.
Disney tries to accurately portray the ancient myth as much as possible, but fails to do so in several ways. Disney’s portrayal of Hercules of a humble person, always with good intentions which do not always go the way he wants them to. The mythological version depicted Heracles as an honor-bound madman, who made it his goal to avenge any previous insults to his honor. The movie did capture the message that Hercules embodies, although our definition of a hero is different from the Greeks it still carries the traits that people come to value, honor, integrity, and respect.