Disney's Hercules

The myth of Hercules as Disney revealed it was one of good versus evil, where good prevailed. In order to determine what parts of Disney?s Hercules were true according to Greek mythology one must know both stories. First, the plot of Disney?s Hercules should be understood, next the writings of the ancient Greeks should be examined. Assuming the writings of the ancient Greeks to be factual, the Disney movie should then be compared to facts.

The plot of the Disney movie was a simple one. In the beginning Zeus locked up his archenemies, the Titans. With these warriors away from harm Zeus was able to rule Mt. Olympus safely. Zeus was happily married to his wife Hera, and they had a baby boy named Hercules. Hercules? gift was strength. As a present, Zeus gave Hercules a flying hoarse named Pegasus.

Once Hades knew that Hercules was no threat to him, he unleashed all the Titans. He sent the majority after Zeus, and the Cyclops after Hercules. Even without his powers Hercules defeated the Cyclops. Meg noticed that a column was about to fall on top of Hercules so she pushed him out of the way. The column ended up killing Meg. This meant that Hades broke his promise, so Hercules immediately received his powers back. With his strength back Hercules freed everyone and beat the rest of the Titans. Next Hercules went to the underworld to get Meg back. This proved that he was a Hero because he wouldn?t be able to come back from the underworld if he was a human. Hercules was able to live in Mt. Olympus but decided to live with Meg on Earth.

In the Disney version Hercules went to Zeus to find out where he came from. Zeus then sent him on a mission to prove himself. Through his travels he meet Megra. In the ?real? story, Heracles always knew who his true parents were and he didn?t meet Megra by chance. Heracles received Megra from Creon to reward him for his courage in a war that involved the Thebans. Heracles had three children with Megra, which he later killed because Hera made him go crazy. As punishment Heracles was sent to serve Eurystheus for twelve years by having to perform ten labors (Apollodorus, 92). These labors can be compared to the tasks that Disney?s Hercules had to perform in order to live in Mt. Olympus. Although they are comparable, the labors weren?t the same in both cases and they weren?t performed for the same reasons.

The plot summarized above describes the Disney movie Hercules. Next one should compare the events of the movie to the ?facts? of the ancient Greek mythology. The first thing that should be pointed out is that the name Hercules is the Roman name for the hero Heracles. The other gods, however, were referred to by their Greek names in the m

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