Disney’s Hercules Adaptation

        Disney’s Hercules (1997)

Hercules 1997 (2)

“A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart”(1).

Summary:

The Disney adaptation of Hercules directed by John Musker and Ron Clements follows the story of teenage Hercules and his journey to finding where he belongs. The film starts with the birth of Hercules, son of Zeus and Hera. While still a young baby, he is taken from his home in Mount Olympus by his uncle Hades servants Pain and Panic. They attempt to poison him with a potion that will take make him mortal but are unsuccessful causing him to still have his God like strength. They lie to Hades telling him they were successful and that Hercules is forever immortal. Hades sent Pain and Panic due to the Fates telling him “In 18 years precisely / The planets will align ever so nicely. The time to act will be at hand / Unleash the Titans, your monstrous band” (5). Hades is given the chance to free the titans and together they can take down Zeus and take over rule of Mount Olympus. Although, The Fates warn him that his biggest threat will be Hercules, as he will try to stop Hades in his overthrow.

Once mortal, baby Hercules is found and taken in by a farming couple who were passing by and found him all alone. They raise him until his teenage years when they come clean about how he came from the gods. Hercules constantly felt different growing up among the mortals therefore when told this he became eager to find his family and prove to the gods that he belongs with them. He travels to the Temple of Zeus in hope that the gods will answer his questions and confusions. His father Zeus converts with Hercules telling him that in order to restore his immortality, he must become a hero. Therefore, Hercules go on a quest with his childhood sidekick Pegasus to find the satyr Philoctetes (Phil) who will know how to properly train him. 

Hercules and Meg (7)

When Hercules and Phil are done with his trainings, they travel to the city of Thebes. They are hoping to find chaos or accidents that Hercules can fix in order to prove that he is a true hero. On their journey to Thebes, they find a woman named Megara who is in a physical altercation with a centaur. Hercules frees her of the centaur and begins to notice Megs beauty completely unaware that she is working for Hades as a slave who gave her soul to save her boyfriend’s life. She reports back to him and tells him about the “wonder boy” who saved her from the centaur. That is when Hades realizes Pain and Panic never finished their job with Hercules. Because Hercules is mortal, Pain and Panic suggest that Hades sends monsters to kill Hercules. After taking the idea into consideration, Hades sends monster after monster but none are able to kill him. Meanwhile, Zeus continues to tell Hercules he is still not yet a “true hero” leaving Hercules confused and annoyed. Hades uses Meg as a distraction for Hercules telling her to make him fall in love with her. 

When the day of the planetary alignment has come, Hades takes Meg into hostage in attempt to get Hercules to surrender to give his strength for her freedom. Once the deal is done, Hercules is told Meg was working for Hades all along. Hades uses this as an advantage, unleashing the titans on the Gods of Olympus and on Hercules. Without his strength the only thing Hercules has left is his smarts, which he uses against the Cyclopes sent to kill him. While fighting, Meg is injured and killed by a falling pillar. This breaks their deal giving Hercules back his strength which he uses to kill the titans and save the Gods. When Hercules discovers of Megs death, he risks his life by going to the underworld to recover her soul and reunite it with her body. While doing so, he defeats Hades and Zeus says to him , “A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart” (1). 

Greek Mythology Representation:

Hercules Greek Mythology (8)

Although the Disney animation of Hercules was very entertaining and informational, the details and events of the movie do not align with Greek Mythology. Starting off, the parents of Hercules in the movie were Zeus and Hera, while according to the true story of Hercules, he was a product of one of Zeus’s many affairs this one being with a mortal Queen, Alcmene. He disguised himself as her husband, sleeping with her and impregnating her (6).

In the film, Hades sends Pain and Panic to take Hercules immortality away through the use of a potion. While in the true story, Hera sent two snakes to kill Hercules in his sleep in jealousy of Zeus’s affair with Alcmene. Hercules takes the snakes and strangles them before the can kill him (6). Although in the film, when Hercules is found as a baby in the mortal world, Pain and Panic do disguise themselves as two snakes and are thrown around by Hercules (3). Therefore, the movie does use a small part of the mythological tale in the use of the two snakes. 

A main similarity throughout the tale and movie is the love interest of Megara. Throughout the film, Meg’s character is known as a deuteragonist because of her working with Hades but also for her love with Hercules. The film ends with Meg and Hercules falling in love and being together (3) which is similar to the tale as well because Megara is Hercules first wife according to legend. She was the daughter of King Creon who offered her to Hercules after a battle he successfully won (8). They married and had 3 children although after Hera put Hercules into a state of delusion, he murdered all of his children and Megara left him for Iolaus (8). 

Throughout the film Hercules (1997) I questioned many of the Greek Mythological references, although for many children and early teens, I find it a very entertaining movie that is very easy to follow along for them. 

Works Cited

Garfield-White, Georgia. “Movie vs Myth: Hercules.” Mythos, 9 Apr. 2021, www.mythosblog.org/post/movie-vs-myth-hercules. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025

“Hercules.” Disney Entertainment Wiki, Fandom, Inc., 2025, disney-entertainment.fandom.com/wiki/Hercules. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.

“Hercules (1997) - Plot - IMDb.” IMDb, 2024, m.imdb.com/title/tt0119282/plotsummary/. Accessed 1 Apr. 20205.

 “Hercules (1997) - Quotes - IMDb.” IMDb, 2025, m.imdb.com/title/tt0119282/quotes/. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.

“Hercules Review .” Wizarddojo.com, 2025, wizarddojo.com/2015/04/19/hercules-review/. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.

N.S Gill. “Everything You Need to Know about Hercules.” ThoughtCo, 27 Feb. 2019, www.thoughtco.com/who-was-hercules-118938. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025

“Super Relatable Quotes from Hercules.” Disney News, 10 Oct. 2013, news.disney.com/10-super-relatable-quotes-from-hercules. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025

Taylor Gmahling. “The Real Story of Hercules - Museum Hack.” Museum Hack, 21 June 2018, museumhack.com/hercules/. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.