As someone who has read the myths but did not see the movie when I was younger, I'm happy with what they managed to do with the myths. The movie itself is self-aware that it does not strictly follow the story, as evidenced by Thalia's exclamation of, "He's making this sound like some Greek tragedy or somethin'!" Which, ironically, it is. However, I completely understand why they changed the vast majority of the myth because I don't think that Disney is going to focus on a hero who is born of adultery and prone to bouts of goddess-induced madness that drove him to murder his wife and kids and several others who eventually committed suicide thanks to a poisoned shirt given to him by his third wife. Try explaining that one to kids!
And even though Hades did not try to take over Olympus in any of the myths (I've read at least), I understand why Disney made him the villain. Mother can't be the villain? Let's go to the god of the dead! To be honest, it's a logical choice. I also loved how they did his character. Clever, sassy, sarcastic, and prone to bouts of rage (sort of like Hercules in the original myth), he does a lot of the work himself, and is almost completely victorious until Hercules shows up.
I like your point about the logic in making Hades the villain. In our society we already have an evil connotation with the underworld and it is very easy to utilize that in this movie.
ReplyDeleteIn the Greek myth, however, Hera is not the only villain opposing Herakles. Why couldn't the Disney People do something with King Eurystheus?
ReplyDeleteI know it's late but I've been wondering myself. It would have been possible to mention him in passing, like how they mention Augeus and his stables. Maybe it would've sidetracked the main plot too much?
ReplyDeleteEurystheus as the villain, as in the original myths themselves, could only have worked without also having Hades as a super-villain, I think. As you say, to bring him in as well would have detracted from the main plot as the film has it now.
DeleteI assume that Hades had better name-recognition than Eurystheus, and the Disney people probably preferred a simple binary conflict between Heaven and Hell (Olympus v. the Underworld) to a conflict between relatives (Eurystheus and Hercules are both descended from Zeus, Eurystheus via Perseus, whose grandson he is).