Hercules Hero's Journey

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“A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart” - Zeus, King of the gods. Hercules, a mortal, is revealed to be the son of Zeus and Hera but must prove himself to the gods. Hades is determined to take over Olympus but Hercules keeps stopping him, so in this manner, apotheosis is achieved. Now crowned a god, Hercules is overjoyed but recognizes that he is happier living with Meg in the human world. The movie Hercules, perfectly follows the Hero’s Journey by hitting all the major events shown in Campbell’s version of the Hero’s Journey. Hercules, once a son of the gods, now a mortal, desires to live on Mount Olympus with his parents but must prove that he is a hero. Hercules feels he doesn’t fit into …show more content…

Hades stages an accident with the disguised Pain and Panic to lure Hercules into a fight with the Hydra. Hades stages a canyon cave-in to draw Hercules towards him. Meg comes running, crying for help. Hercules jumps at the opportunity and runs toward the “accident”, making this his belly of the whale. He helps with Pain and Panic but uncovers the Hydra as well. He deals with one and believes the ordeal to be over, but more and more appear. Hercules defeats all of them, much to the joy of the Thebans watching the brawl take place. In this way, Hercules became a celebrated hero throughout Greece. Hades uses Meg to manipulate Hercules into revealing his weakness so he can take advantage of it. Even after defeating the monsters, Zeus tells Hercules that he isn’t a hero. To cope with this, Hercules spends a day with Meg. Unbeknownst to Hercules, Meg is a double agent, using Hercules to help Hades and his mission. They fall in love with each other, making Meg a temptress of sorts. Hades approaches the lovebirds and holds Meg hostage. Hercules agrees to give up his strength in return for her release, as long as she doesn’t get hurt. Hades unleashes the Titans on mount Olympus and the Cyclops on Hercules which he then conquers, but Meg is left mortally injured. This is a turning point in Hercules' journey as he proves that he can defeat these forces by himself. He then

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