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The heroic characteristics of Hercules
The heroic characteristics of Hercules
The heroic characteristics of Hercules
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Hercules: Myth vs. Movie
Hercules is one of the most famous heroes in history. Almost everyone today recognizes his name and can recall his god-like strength. Hercules’ original story is very tragic, so when it was made into a Disney movie, portions of the myth were omitted and warped. Major differences between the myth and the Disney movie include Hercules’ identity, his family and lovers, his labors, and the antagonist in each version of the two stories.
According to the myth, Alcaeus was Hercules’ birth name. He was born a demigod, and his Greek name is Herakles. Alcmene was his mother, and she was married to a man named Amphitryon, who was not Hercules’ real father. The myth states that Zeus, king of the gods and Olympus, disguised
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himself as Amphitryon, which led Alcmene being oblivious to the fact that she had a child with Zeus. Disney made Hercules the son of Zeus and Hera. This made the infant Hercules a full god. All was well until Hercules was kidnapped, brought down from Olympus to earth by Hades, and then turned into a mortal. When Hercules grows up, he journeys to a temple of Zeus and finds out that Zeus is his real father. Zeus tells Hercules that in order to come back to Olympus as a god, he must become a true hero. As stated in the original myth, Megara, daughter of Creon, the King of Crete, had three sons with Hercules.
Even though Meg was a gift to Hercules from her father, the two had a great marriage. Eventually, Hera sent Hercules into madness, and he killed his wife and three children, then fell into a deep sleep. When Hercules awoke, he felt ashamed, so he visited the Oracle of Delphi. In return, he was told that to make up for his sins, he must complete the labors commanded by his cousin Eurytheus, King of Tiryns and Mycenae. At first, Hercules was assigned 10 labors, but this number was changed to 12 later on. The reason Eurytheus assigned these was because if Hercules died while trying to complete them, that was just karma for killing his entire family. Hercules could not back down from these seemingly impossible deeds, though. If he did, he would die a coward and his death would not be noble. The 12 Labors commanded by Eurtheus included: killing the Nemean Lion, killing the Hydra, capturing the Cerynitian Hind, capturing the Erymanthian Boar, cleaning the stable of Augeius in a day, driving away the Stymphalian Birds, bringing back the Cretean Bull from Knossos, bringing back the Mares of Diomedes, bringing back Hippolyte’s Girdle, bringing back the Cattle of Geryon, bringing back the Golden Apples of the Hesperides, and then finally bringing back Cerberus …show more content…
alive. Eventually, Hercules met Princess Deianira and fell in love with her. According to the myth, when Hercules and Deianira reached the Evenus River, a centaur named Nessus offered to carry the two over the river. Nessus carried Deianira over first, and then tried to rape her. He was shot down by Hercules with an arrow dipped in Hydra’s blood. In the Disney movie, Hercules first met Megara when she was captured by Nessus. Because he felt like he had to prove his worth, he rescued her, “the damsel in distress.” The movie later showed that the only reason Meg flirted with Hercules was because she had sold her soul to Hades, and Hades wanted to capture Hercules. Hercules and Megara did fall in love towards the end. Since Hercules never killed Meg in the movie, he was never assigned the 12 Labors. But, the audience does see Hercules complete some tasks when he is trying to prove himself a true hero. One of these is when he kills the Hydra, which reflects the 2nd Labor. Also in the movie, Hercules helps the gods defeat the Titans—something the myth Hercules does after completing his 12 Labors. Furthermore, a major difference between the myth and movie is the antagonist in each.
In the myth, Hera is always trying to kill Hercules. She is the wife of Zeus and the goddess of marriage, so of course she is annoyed that her husband cheated on her (again). For example, when Hercules was an infant, Hera sent two snakes to attack him. He strangled these snakes to death. Then, when Hercules and Meg were happily married, Hera put Hercules into a madness in which he was overcome with rage and was unaware of his actions. As stated earlier, Hercules killed his family, even though it was completely Hera’s fault. A while later, Hera drove Hercules mad again. Hercules ended up killing Prince Iphitus of Oechalia, and was forced to become a slave as
penance. Disney portrayed Hera as the polar opposite in comparison to the myth, because in the movie she was loving, caring, and sparkling with happiness. Disney chose to make Hades the antagonist in the movie. Hades is the god of the Underworld and brother of Zeus and Poseidon. A big part of the plot of the movie was about how Hades was trying to overthrow the gods and rule the cosmos. His plan would take action when the planets aligned, but would fail if Hercules was able to fight. Hades used Meg throughout the movie as a way to get close to Hercules and keep him from becoming a god. Since Disney movies always have a happy ending, Hades plan fails. The mythology version of Hades isn’t as interesting. Hades seemed to know his place and he didn’t interfere with Olympus most of the time. Instead, he ruled the Underworld with supreme power. Hercules’ 12th Labor was to bring back Cerberus, who is the guard dog of the Underworld. Hades let Hercules take Cerberus, making Hercules promise to bring him back safely—which he did. In conclusion, there are many significant differences between the myth of the demigod Hercules and the movie created by Disney about this demigod’s life. The mythology can be summed up as very tragic, whereas the movie was watered-down and inaccurate so that it could be rated G. But, both are eventful and exciting. No matter what version you read about or watch on screen, there are many lessons taught by the legacy of Hercules.
The 12th labor that Eurystheus would give Hercules would be to do 100 push-ups, 200 pull-ups, 300 sit-ups, and 400 body-squats. Hercules did the work out in sets of 10. He would do 10 push-ups, 20 pull-ups, 30 sit-ups, and 40 body-squats 10 times. It took Hercules one hour to finish the work out. Hercules threw up after finishing the workout. Eurystheus congratulated Hercules for finishing the 12 labors and told him that he was forgiven for the murder of his wife and children. Eurystheus asked Hercules what he was going to do since he was finished with all the labors and Hercules replied back saying that he was going to Disney World.
Another Greek myth that can be compared to the movie Iron Man is the myth of Hercules, these two stories can be compared using a motifs of the Iron Man armour, and the physical appearance of Hercules. The most common motif that appears in the movie Iron Man is the armoured suit. It is the most common thing you see in almost every scene. Although the suit may change in appearance throughout the movie it is almost always visible and present in the movie itself, it is also very vibrant, and outstanding with a gold, and bronze paint job all this together makes the Iron Man armour the best example of a motif from the movie Iron Man. In the Greek myth Hercules who is the son of Zeus, a motif that is similar, and present in this story is the physical appearance of Hercules himself. Hercules in his story is portrayed as being physically massive tall muscular extremely fit person who has a physique similar to a god.
Hercules of 1997 got put together by one of the popular Disney directors, Ron Clements and John Musker. Their earlier works include “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” and “The Great Mouse Detective,” which were movies that were astoundingly successful Disney movies that almost everyone enjoyed watching. Hercules without a doubt is one of my top Disney favourite movies, because of its really pop and melodious songs, and its simple yet very intricate plotline.
William Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers of all time, uses Hercules as a persona of excellence throughout his play, "Much Ado About Nothing". Hercules, in Greek mythology, is a hero known for his strength, courage and legendary adventures. This gives the impression that Shakespeare liked the tales of Hercules.
The conflict between Hercules and Cacus in The Aeneid illustrates their characterizations, contrasting them through their moral stances. The epic’s portrayal of Hercules’ as a moral individual appeals to the audience’s view of him as the hero of the passage. Hercules’ moral character is exhibited when King Evander introduces the story of Hercules and Cacus, stating, “Here . . . was / once a cave which the rays of the sun never reached. This was / the home of the foul-featured, half-human monster by the name of Cacus . . . Long did we pray and in / the end we too were granted the help and the presence of a god” (Virgil 8.193-6, 199-200). Further to Evander’s story, he also illustrates the morality of Hercules’ heroism by stressing the fear of Cacus: “Never before had our / people seen Cacus afraid. Never before had there been terror in / these eyes” (8.222-4). Evander delineates the morality of Hercules by showcasing his heroic element, as well as recognizing his divinity; these attributes, as well as his act of striking fear into Cacus, solidify his morality. Hercules’ virtues appeal to the audience, allowing them to...
Disney's version of Hercules revolves around a plot of paramount importance because it contrasts significantly with the original myth. To begin with, the Disney movie is named "Hercules" because it was based on the Roman version of the myth, rather than the Greek version. In addition, the original myth and animated movie are tailored towards very different audiences, therefore, the two versions contrast in quite a few ways. The first prominent difference is that the original myth of Heracles focuses on his great achieveme...
Hera did not stop there, though. Once Hercules was born, she sent two serpents to kill him. Yet, this didn’t go as Hera had planned. Even as a baby, Hercules had enough strength to strangle the serpents and cast them aside. After that, Hera left Hercules without disturbances for a few years.
Heracles VS Hercules The legend of Hercules has been told and retold thousands of times; it is by far one of the best known Greek myths of all time. In fact, it was so well known that Disney made it into a movie. Like any story that’s adapted into a movie, there are some differences and similarities between the myth and the movie. This paper will go over the main differences and similarities between the two versions of the same myth.
The biggest inaccuracy of Disney's depiction of the epic of Hercules is their portrayal of Hades, god of the underworld. In the film, "Hades is an evil force revolting against the established order(Hercules vs. Heracles)" who is bitter towards his brother Zeus for putting him in the underworld and how busy he is there while the rest of the gods lounge around on Mount Olympus. He crafts an evil plan how he is going to free the Titans from their prison in the deepest part of the underworld so they may unite and attack Zeus and the gods and Hades will be the supreme ruler. In his meeting with the Fates he is told that Hercules is destined to defeat Hades in his plan and Hades quickly makes plans to turn Hercules mortal and kill him to ensure his plan succeeds. At the end of the movie Hercules does defeat Hades who
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.
Hercules was about to kill himself. But he was told by the oracle at Delphi
Disney’s 1997 film, Hercules, begins as the newborn Hercules, son of gods Zeus and Hera, is beheld in celebration by many Greek gods in the city of Olympus. Zeus and Hera are enamoured with their newborn son, and gift him a flying horse known as Pegasus. While many of the gods are enjoying the festivities, Hades, the jealous brother of Zeus, wants to overthrow Zeus and take Olympus as his own. Hades, in desperation, turns to the Fates in order to gain insight of the future. The Fates tell Hades that, in eighteen years, a planetary alignment will occur which will allow him to free the titans and take over Olympus, but only if Hercules does not interfere. Perturbed by this news, Hades orders his minions, Pain and Panic, to capture Hercules and remove his powers with a magic potion. The two succeed in their heist, but fail to give Hercules the whole potion, which turns him mortal, but fails to remove his strength. Two farmers stumble across baby Hercules and decide to adopt him, naming him hercules due to the name on his necklace.
Hercules was adventurous manly because of what he was sentenced to do. Hercules was driven mad by the goddess Hera, and in frenzy he killed his own children. To atone for his crime he was sentenced to perform a series of tasks or labors for his cousin Eurytheus, the king of Mycenae.
In Greek mythology, the children of the gods are heroes known for their dedication and their accomplishments. Hercules and Jason are two very well known heroes in Greek mythology. There are many similarities between them because they both show great strength and courage; however, they are different by their accomplishments and life ending.