"This film is not for Greece, it is not for Athens," says Yiannis Tzedakis, the director of antiquities at the Culture Ministry. "It is a distorted portrayal of the Herculean myth. And we Greeks, you know, have a thing about myths. We take them very seriously."
The Greeks saw Herakles as a role model. He accomplished many great deeds throughout his lifetime, the best known of which are the twelve labors. In addition to the twelve labors, Herakles fought other deadly monsters. His traditional role was that of civilizing barbarians and liberating the oppressed.
The ancient Greeks celebrated the festival of the Heracleia, which commemorated the death of Heracles, on the second day of the month of Metageitnion (which would fall in late July or early August).
The story is very loosely based on the Greek myth of Heracles. The story is inaccurate in many aspects of his life, from his parents, to his name, and more. While the movie is great, many of the details in the actual myth are less than accurate.
Hercules is a 1997 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. It is loosely based on the legendary hero Heracles (known in the film by his Roman name, Hercules), the son of Zeus, in Greek mythology.
To ensure that Greek viewers were aware that Disney's “Hercules” was a loose interpretation of the sacred myth and not a historically accurate endeavor, the film was retitled “Beyond the Myth of Heracles,” returning the hero to his Greek name.
Hera hates Heracles because he is a living reminder of her husband's infidelity. Because of this she is cruel to him. She could bring about Herakles' death but instead she wants him to suffer. She sends Madness to drive Heracles to murder his wife and progeny.
Only people that have read greek mythology knows that such hero's name is Heracles and Hercules is just the same hero under interpretatio romana. But the majority of the people don't know anything about greek mythology, but the name “Hercules" is part of our culture. So they called like that instead of the real name.
As much as Hollywood portrayals like to suggest, Hades is never the villain in any Greek myth. On the contrary, Hades assists heroes when they come to him for aid. For one of his Twelve Labours, Hercules comes to take Cerberus, Hades' three-headed watchdog, to the land of the living.
In medieval mythography, Hercules was one of the heroes seen as a strong role model who demonstrated both valor and wisdom, while the monsters he battles were regarded as moral obstacles. One glossator noted that when Hercules became a constellation, he showed that strength was necessary to gain entrance to Heaven.
He had superhuman strength—he was strong enough to carry two building columns! He was known for fighting ferocious animals and monsters. Hercules is often shown wearing or carrying the skin of a great lion he killed. He may also be shown fighting off mythical creatures like the Hydra, a many-headed snake.
Hades Kidnapped Hercules from heaven to gain power over Zeus and also took Hercule's immortality, which didn't happen in the myth. The real villain was Hera and she sent snakes to kill Hercules in the myth. In the movie, Hades sends the snakes to kill Hercules.
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Hercules was venerated as a divinized hero and incorporated into the legends of Rome's founding. The Romans adapted Greek myths and the iconography of Heracles into their own literature and art, but the hero developed distinctly Roman characteristics.
Hercules (known in Greek mythology as Heracles or Herakles) is one of the best-known heroes in ancient mythology. His life was not easy—he endured many trials and completed many daunting tasks—but the reward for his suffering was a promise that he would live forever among the gods at Mount Olympus.
The relationship between Zeus and Herakles is not like any other father-son relationship; they both acknowledge each other with the respect due but they do not closely communicate or function as a family.
Hercules' sacrifice for Meg proves himself a true hero, becoming a god in the process and finally allowing him to return to Mount Olympus. However, Hercules chooses to relinquish his immortality so that he can remain on Earth with Meg.
While the Disney adaptation shows the gods Zeus and Hera as the parents of Hercules, Zeus was actually the only divine parent in the actual myth. His real mother was Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon. Zeus had disguised himself as Amphitryon and tricked Alcmene into bearing his son, who would become the hero, Heracles.
Disney not only physically presents him as an embodiment of the Christian devil, by depicting him with 'hellish' characteristics, but also with typical villainous qualities – greedy, feared and ruthless. However, this framing is far from true by Greek mythological standards.
Hercules then asked for help from the gods to end his life, and he received it. The Greek god Zeus sent lightning to consume Hercules' mortal body and took him to live with the gods on Mount Olympus.
Hera, queen of the gods, was Zeus' wife, and the patron of marriage. She greatly affected the course of Hercules' life, for reasons mentioned in the biography section. She hated the hero so much that she caused him problems at every opportunity.
The fire burned away Heracles' mortal flesh and he became immortal. He was taken up to Olympus to live with the other gods and he married his half-sister, Hebe. And Hera finally put aside her anger against him. It seems that Heracles could only find peace after his death.
The next biggest age gap is between Hercules and Meg, with Hercules thought to be 18 and Meg 28 in the 1997 film. Although Meg continually rejects Hercules throughout the film, she relents at the end!
Hercules is a Disney media franchise comprising a film series and additional merchandise, starting with the 1997 animated Disney feature of the same name, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker.
Realizing that Meg is Hercules' weakness, Hades uses her to make a deal with Hercules in which he must give up his powers for an entire day in exchange for Meg's safety, using this time to free the Titans and take over Olympus, while Hercules is crushed by Meg's deception and loses the will to fight.
