Hercules vs Heracles essay

Have you ever wondered what is the real story of Hercules and not the Disney version? After studying about

the Greek Gods, looking at their family tree, and at their map, we have a good idea of what the real story is. I’ll

be talking about Hercules, the Disney version and Heracles, from the original story. The purpose of this

essay is to show the difference between the original Hercules story and the

Disney film version and to explain why Disney made changes.

One clear difference is in the character of Hercules himself. In the original story, Heracles has supreme self-

confidence. He never doubts himself, he always goes into battle knowing he’s going to win. No earthly

creature or object can beat him. But on the other hand, the Disney Hercules is full of doubt. As a kid, everyone

else makes fun of him by calling him a freak and “Jerkules”. He doesn’t fit in because of his super strength. He

doesn’t mean any harm; he just doesn’t know how to control his strength. In the Cyclops scene, he shows that

he still has doubt, even as a hero. He is very close to giving up because he has no strength. But the original

Heracles is not very smart. He thought that when he was too hot, all he had to do was threaten Apollo to get

him to lower the sun. But you should never threaten a god. In addition, the Disney version, Hercules was

actually quite clever. When he lost his super strength he figured out how to kill the Cyclops without any

powers. He burned the Cyclops’ eye, tied his feet up, and pushed him over the cliff. However, Heracles is very

violent and has a violent temper. When he doesn’t get what he wants, he kills people instead of talking to the

people. When his music teacher was complaining about Heracles’ work, Heracles, instead of trying harder,

decided to kill the teacher by hitting him in the head with a lyre. He also kills his wife and kids. But the Disney

Hercules is a really nice guy. The only time he lost his temper was when he hit Phil. And the only reason why

hit Phil was because Phil was saying bad things about Megara, the person Hercules loved loved. And right after

he hit Phil, he regretted it right away.

 Not only has Hercules’ character changed, the plot has changed as well. In the original story, Heracles was

born in Thebes, his parents were Zeus and Alcmene, and he was mortal. While Hercules, was born in Mount

Olympus, his parents were Zeus and Hera, and he was a god. Heracles’ biggest enemy was Hera. Since

Heracles was proof that Zeus had cheated, she wanted to end him. In the Disney version, Hades is Hercules’

biggest enemy. Since Hercules is the only one who can defeat Hades and end his evil plan, Hades wants him

dead. In the original story, Heracles kills his wife and children and has to do the 12 labours. These 12 labours

are: Kill the Nemean lion, kill Hydra in the marshes of Lerna, capture the Ceryneian hind, capture the Erythian

boar, clean king Augeas’ filthy cattle yard in a day, free the stymphalion marsh of its man eating birds, capture

a bull, capture the four savage mares of the Thracian king Diomedes, get a famous golden girdle from

Hippolyte, steal a heard of red cows from king Geryon. Fetch golden apples of the Hesperides, and capture

Cerberus and drag him up from Tartarus. If this wasn’t enough, he also created the first Olympics and the

winning wreaths. Since he never received payment while doing the labours, the prize would be a wreath,

which is now a medal. In the Disney version, his quest is to prove himself a true hero. He wants to return to his

family and the gods. By proving he is a true hero, he will be granted his god powers again. In the Heracles

ending, he is poisoned by his second wife Deianeira when she thinks he is off and marrying Lole. He truly

wasn’t he was just going to an event with Zeus. The pain of the poison was too strong so Heracles burned

himself to death. Deianeira later kills herself because of the guilt. Hercules on the other hand, he finally proves

himself a true hero when he sacrifices himself for Megara. He is granted his god powers again but he decides

to be a mortal and be with Meg, since she can’t live with him in Mount Olympus.