1. Determine a theme or central idea of the movie and analyze it in detail (5-7 sentences).

a. Give examples of how this theme emerges throughout the story

One of the main themes in this movie is strength. Hercules is strong in multiple ways, even though
the main one people focus on is his physical strength, which while massive, is not where he shines
the most. A great deal of what Hercules does comes from a desire to do the right thing, which is a
great moral strength. At one point, he purposely weakens himself so that Hades will free Megara,
showing his firm dedication to helping other people. Eventually, this moral strength leads to
Hercules having the opportunity to become a god.

2. Analyze the Disney representation of Hercules as compared to the Greek Myth (5-7 sentences).
a. What is emphasized in each story (similarities and differences)?
In the Greek Myth, Hercules’ desire and ability to do the right, honorable thing as
penance for his past deeds was a central focus. In the Disney version, he does good
things because he wants to become a god, or wants to get the girl. The Disney version
makes Hercules a lot more selfish right up until the end of the movie, where he finally
does something for someone that isn’t him. This is really different from the myths,
where he’s just a guy with incredible strength that Hera gets mad at.
b. What is absent from the Disney representation other than the killing his family part?
The “Hera being horrible” part, him actually ascending to godhood, a good deal of his 12
labors, helping Prometheus, Hera wasn’t his mother, Pegasus wasn’t created out of
clouds, getting the Nieman Lion skin, Megara was made up for this movie, Hades wasn’t
pure evil in the Myths and didn’t really care that much about Hercules, gods don’t have
to stay on Olympus and have affairs with mortals all the time, and his Greek name,
Heracles

Honor Analysis

3. The definition of honor can be seen both as a person’s obtainment of high respect or a person’s
adherence to what is right. Using the idea of honor, how does Hercules (Disney) obtain honor in
his heroism?
Hercules has a superhuman adherence to doing the right thing, and he was even willing to give
up the main thing that made him a hero to do a good deed.
4. (Greek Mythology) Of the stories we have read, what hero is the most honorable and why
[Hercules, Perseus, Theseus, Prometheus]?
Hercules, he was the most willing to do something good without hurting someone else in the
process, and the only time he ever got “revenge” on someone was through a financial channel
instead of a violent one. Even then, he used that money to be a patron of the Olympic Games.
5. How do heroes reflect the honor, values, and morals of a society/culture (5-7 sentences)?
Often, heroes show the better, idealized side of society. Superman is morally impervious, Spider-
man has time to be a starving student and a Super-hero, and Hercules is the honorable demigod
paragon of humanity the Greeks aspired to be. People create heroes to show what they want to
become, both as individuals and as a society. They have a way to show someone who has the
ideal amounts of honor, the right values for the time period, and the morals that people want to
see in a person. Heroes also evolve, with Superhero characters like Batman going from a guy
who used to kill criminals in his stories to a different version that people now can agree and
identify more with, or mythical figures like Hercules being made to be more selfish and more
human, so that people can resonate more with him.