Philoctetes (better known as Phil) is the tritagonist of Disney's 1997 animated feature film, Hercules. He is a crotchety, old Satyr (half-man, half-goat) who served as a trainer of heroes in Ancient Greece—most notably Achilles and the powerful demigod, Hercules.
Philoctetes (Phil for short), is a satyr who is a trainer of aspiring heroes who has often been disappointed by his trainees' shortcomings. He has long-since retired after failing to train a successful hero, but is convinced to train the callow young Hercules.
It is therefore unlikely that the Philoctetes of myth, and the Phil of 'Hercules' were intended to be the same person – the only thing they have in common is the name. In the myths, Hercules was actually trained by Chiron, a centaur who was widely known for his superior wisdom and intelligence.
Accidentally pierced by a poisoned arrow shot by Heracles, he renounced his immortality in favour of Prometheus and was placed among the stars as the constellation Centaurus.
Phil is based heavily on Chiron, the centaur who trained many heroes, such as Heracles/Hercules. There is a scene where Phil quotes the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy; when a biker speeds by, Phil shouts, "Hey! I'm walkin' here!"
The action of the play occurs after Heracles performed the 12 labours. Temporarily driven mad by the goddess Hera, Heracles kills his wife and children. When he recovers his reason, he fights suicidal despair and then is taken to spend an honourable retirement at Athens.
Regardless, Hercules and Iphicles are twins, and it seems that Hercules was always a little more well-known because of the powers he obtained from Zeus, unlike Iphicles, who was a demigod.
Those who have seen the 1997 Disney animated film Hercules might be tempted to say that Hercules fell in love with a woman named Megara. Well, you'd be right. In Greek mythology, Megara was the wife of Hercules.
Release. Lou Ferrigno received negative reviews for his performance although some critics thought he seemed like a perfect choice for Hercules, because of his musculature. Hercules was released in the United States on 26 August 1983 with a 98-minute running time.
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.
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!
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.
Deianeira, realizing that Iole was a dangerous rival, sent Heracles a garment smeared with the blood of Nessus. The blood proved to be a powerful poison, and Heracles died.
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.
How does Achilles die? Achilles is killed by an arrow, shot by the Trojan prince Paris. In most versions of the story, the god Apollo is said to have guided the arrow into his vulnerable spot, his heel. In one version of the myth Achilles is scaling the walls of Troy and about to sack the city when he is shot.
During the course of his life, Heracles married four times. Heracles waged a victorious war against the kingdom of Orchomenus in Boeotia and married his first wife Megara, daughter of Creon, king of Thebes.
Hercules was not a god but was born a mortal, although, like many mythic heroes, he had a complicated family tree. According to legend, his father was Zeus, ruler of all the Greek gods on Mount Olympus and all the mortals on earth, and his mother was Alcmene, the granddaughter of the hero Perseus.
Anyway, at the tail end of the movie when Hercules saves the day and he, Meg, Phil and Pegasus are on Mt. Olympus, Phil tries to put his moves on Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, sex, etc, she then kisses him.
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.
Ironically, Chiron, the master of the healing arts, could not heal himself and willingly gave up his immortality. For this reason, his half-brother Zeus took pity on him and thus placed him among the stars in the sky to be honored. The Greeks identified him as the constellation Centaurus.
