Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

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Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

Kevin Sorbo as Hercules
Genre Supernatural Drama
Creator(s) Christian Williams
Starring Kevin Sorbo
Michael Hurst
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
No. of episodes 111, plus 5 pilot TV movies (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 41–44 min.
Broadcast
Original channel Syndication / USA Network
Original run January 16, 1995 – November 22, 1999
Chronology
Related shows
Links

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys was an American television series produced from 1995 to 1999, very loosely based on the tales of the classical culture hero Hercules. It ran for six seasons, producing action figures and other memorabilia as it became one of the highest rated syndicated shows in television history.

It had been preceded by several TV movies with the same major characters in 1994 as part of the The Action Pack: in order, Hercules and the Amazon Women, Hercules and the Lost Kingdom, Hercules and the Circle of Fire, Hercules in the Underworld, and Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur, the last of which served mostly as a "clip show" of the previous movies as a lead up to the series.

Contents

[edit] Description

Set in a fantasy version of ancient Greece not precisely located in historic time, the show starred Kevin Sorbo as Hercules and regularly featured Michael Hurst as his sidekick Iolaus. Typical plot lines involved Hercules and Iolaus saving rustic villagers from monsters, evil warlords or the often selfish whims of the gods. In the earlier episodes (and mentioned in the show's opening title) Hercules' main nemesis is his evil stepmother Hera, who seeks to destroy Hercules using various monsters because he is a reminder of her husband Zeus' infidelity. Later in the series, the malicious god of war, Ares replaces Hera as the show's primary antagonist. Towards the end of the series Ares is himself replaced by the god of evil, Dahak, who is the main villain in the show's fifth season and sets off a story arc that has Hercules traveling to Sumeria, Norseland and Éire. Although Zeus, Hercules' father, is frequently cited by Hercules as a neglectful father, Zeus' love for Hercules is well documented in the show. Indeed, Hercules is often referred to as "the favorite son of Zeus". Zeus makes several appearances on the show, even saving his son's life and restoring his superhuman strength on one occasion when he needed it the most. Hercules, for his own part, was always there for Zeus when his father needed him, and in the end, Hercules reconciled with his father and buried whatever issues he had with the father he had come to understand and love.

The show had a successful spinoff, Xena: Warrior Princess, with which it shared recurring characters such as Ares (Kevin Smith), Autolycus (Bruce Campbell), Salmoneus (Robert Trebor), and Aphrodite (Alexandra Tydings). Both shows, although produced in New Zealand using mostly local actors, who strove for American accents (with varying degrees of success), were syndicated worldwide.

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episodes

[edit] Main characters

[edit] Recurring characters

[edit] International

  • In Brazil, the show was previously shown on SBT, and reruns are currently being shown on Rede Record.
  • In France, the show was shown on TF1.
  • In the United Kingdom, the show was broadcast by subscription service Sky, who also ran Xena: Warrior Princess. It was also run by terrestrial Channel 5 (who also broadcast Xena), but abruptly disappeared from their schedules mid-way through the show's run, leaving several seasons unbroadcast (although they have since repeated the earlier episodes several times, edited (often quite heavily) for a Saturday morning youth-aimed slot).
  • In Egypt, the show was previously shown on El Kana Thania (Channel 2) and also received reruns due to its huge popularity among Egyptian viewers.
  • In Sweden, the show was shown along with Xena: Warrior Princess on TV3, together they were branded Äventyrssöndag (Adventure Sunday).
  • In Dominican Republic, the show was shown along with Xena: Warrior Princess on Telesistema 11, and its female-oriented brother channel Coral 39.
  • In Greece, it was shown along with Xena: Warrior Princess on Star Channel.
  • In Malaysia, it was shown along with Xena: Warrior Princess on nt7 in 1999.

[edit] Deviations from the myth

  • Hercules is shown to be a younger half-brother (on the mother's side) to Iphicles when the myth states that Hercules was born a fraternal twin but half-brother to Iphicles since both Zeus and Amphitryon impregnated Alcmene at the same time (superfetation).
  • It was never stated that Hera hated Hercules even more, since the Greek meaning of Hercules is Heracles or Hera's Glory, which is an insult to her, due to the fact that Hercules is an illegitimate child of Zeus, which is stated in the mythology.
  • Jason is pictured here to be older than Hercules and marries Alcmene which never happens in the myth. The mythical Jason dies when a part of Argos falls on him. Also, Jason and Hercules are somewhat the same age in the myth.
  • Atalanta and Hercules never went together in the myths nor did Hercules and Daedelus.
  • Salmoneus was supposed to be the name of a person who tried to impersonate Zeus.
  • Hercules was sent to Persephone by Demeter. In the myth, it was Hermes who was sent to rescue Persephone from Hades and Persephone's stay was a result of eating the pomegranate seeds while staying in the Underworld.
  • Hercules is supposed to be a royal member from the House of Perseus. No mention of Perseus (his legal ancestor and half-brother of so many generations, or ancestor and half-brother, depending on which source) is ever made in the story.
  • Iolaus in the mythology is supposed to be a son of Iphicles, and also his eromenos, not Hercules' best friend.
  • Arachne didn't become a dangerous spider monster as depicted in the show. She simply kept weaving after Athena turned her into a spider.
  • Hercules never fell in love with Psyche due to a love arrow by accident nor did Hera curse her grandson Cupid to become a green-eyed monster.
  • Apollo is pictured to be an arrogant god. In the myth, Apollo is who Hercules consults on the purification after Hercules killed his first wife Megara when he was under Hera's madness.
  • Hercules fights the Minotaur in the series. In the myth, it was Theseus who slays the Minotaur.
  • The mythical Hercules killed his first wife, Megara and their children after Hera struck him with madness. In the series, Hercules' first wife is Deianeira, and Hera kills her directly with a fireball; this story does not exist in the myth. Deineira was his second wife who accidentally tricked him into his death. Hercules was later ascended by Zeus into Mt. Olympus with Hera's consent and married one of his half-sisters Hebe, a daughter of Zeus and Hera.
  • Hades looks younger than Zeus when he is supposed to be the older brother of Zeus even before Poseidon. He and Hercules are shown to be allies, when in the myth, Hades rarely worked with Hercules aside from that of a framed-up death. Hades never had an alliance with Hercules in the mythology, although the two are not enemies. Also Hades had his own infidelities with two nymphs whom his niece/wife Persephone turned into plants.
  • Aphrodite and Ares' relationship is not very emphasized, though flirtations between them are shown. Ares' paternity to Cupid isn't stated clearly. Also, it should be emphasized that Aphrodite never had a happy relationship with Hephaestus nor did they reconcile and frequently cheated on him with Ares.
  • Echidna never turned good nor befriended Hercules in the mythologies. Also in the myth she has the body of a serpent and the head of a woman, not an octopus-like creature as she is portrayed in the show. She is also a titan herself. In the myth in some sources, she mated with Hercules to produce three children who are all human.
  • Here Hercules runs away from the offer to impregnate the fifty daughters of King Thespios which he did in the myth.
  • The Hydra, Cerberus, Ladon, Medusa, Minotaur are specific, not generic monsters in mythology. Also Hydra, Cereberus, Orthus, Chimera, Nemean Lion, Sphinx and Ladon are siblings to each other, sons and daughters of Echidna and Typhos.
  • Hercules fought with Antaeus while on the way to recover fire from Hera.
  • Typhon is just plain violent in the mythologies and no myth ever has it that Hera locked Typhon away as punishment to Echidna until she could kill Hercules, it was Zeus who locked away Typhon to separate him from Echidna to avoid them from conceiving any more monsters after the war with the titans was over.
  • There are no accounts in most Greek Myths that Hercules met with Zoroaster, fought with somebody who seems to be Michael (or maybe just an agent of Odin, posing to bring Ragnarok, some viewed the episode as a deviation to the old script), helped Thor and all. Dahak is of Persian myth from the god Ahriman Dahaka, the evil god of darkness and sworn enemy to Allah or in some, Ahura Mazda. The idea of helping Thor came from the Marvel Comics incarnation.
  • Ares was also supposed to be rejected by his own refined mother Hera but in here, the two seem to get along and Hera seems to be unrefined like Ares. Ares is also pictured here to be much of a Satan-like character in the later episodes, that is until Dahak came.
  • Hera is portrayed to be quite evil in some ways, though in the Greek Myth she only wanted to inflict harm on Hercules/Heracles and only did evil as the last resort - unlike her son Ares who harmed many people. Also in the myths, Hera asked for Hercules' forgiveness when Hercules saved her from being raped by a titan Portheryon (who appeared in the cartoon movie as an ally of Hera but turned his back on her) and performed all labors required of him, thanked her and all that she allowed her daughter Hebe to marry Hercules when he became a full god. In the series, after Hercules reunited Zeus and Hera in the television series, Hera stopped hating Hercules, and even helped him stop Zeus from killing Xena's unborn child.
  • Hercules became a full god by Zeus, only to defeat Hera and Hercules later denounced his position. In the Greek Myth, Hercules became a full god because of Zeus' decision that his heroism surpassed the other demigods. When he meets Hera on Mt. Olympus, he is already in peace with Hera. No mention of Hebe is made in the TV series.
  • Hephaestus is supposed to be a lame and ugly god, but in here he's quite good-looking. Also, he has reunited with Aphrodite after the many times she has cheated on him presumably on Ares, Hermes, Dionysius and even Adonis which never happened in the myth.
  • No mention of Hippolyte to be Ares' daughter is ever made in the movie Hercules and The Amazon Women.
  • Hermes is pictured to be big and chubby when most myths portray him to be slim and short.
  • Hera appears as a pair of eyes for many episodes, which in the mythology never happened nor was Hera ever imprisoned in Tartarus, freed by Evander. Also, if she appeared in the sky, she always showed her full face or a part of her. Also Hera's blue monks never took over Troy.
  • Hercules never had a mission to retrieve fire from Hera, who took it away from Prometheus. In the myth, Zeus wanted to get fire away from man, not Hera and Prometheus was condemned by Zeus to be chained for giving fire to man.
  • Hera turned Atlas into stone. In Greek mythology, however, it was Perseus who turned Atlas to stone with the Medusa's head.
  • Hera never banished Nemesis into a mortal for not wanting to kill Hercules.
  • Evander is NOT a son of Ares but of Hermes and Nemesis.
  • Also, Hera never fell in love with Adonis. Adonis wasn't killed by Zeus but by the jealous Ares who was somewhat still in love with Aphrodite.

[edit] DVD releases

Anchor Bay Entertainment has released all 6 Seasons of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys as well as all TV-Movies on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.

DVD Name Ep # Release Date Additional Information
Season 1 18 June 24, 2003 Includes all 5 TV-Movies that led to the TV series
Season 2 24 October 21, 2003
Season 3 22 March 23, 2004
Season 4 22 July 13, 2004
Season 5 22 January 11, 2005
Season 6 8 July 12, 2005

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Xenaverse
v • d • e
TV Movies Hercules and the Amazon Women | Hercules and the Lost Kingdom | Hercules and the Circle of Fire | Hercules in the Underworld | Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur
TV Series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Xena: Warrior Princess | Young Hercules
Animated Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus
Video Games Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Xena: Warrior Princess | Xena: Warrior Princess: The Talisman of Fate
Characters
Shared Hercules | Iolaus | Xena | Gabrielle

Aphrodite | Ares | Autolycus | Callisto | Dahak | Discord | Ephiny | Hope | Salmoneus | Zeus
Hercules Alcmene | Atalanta | Deianeira | Hades | Hera | Iphicles | Jason | Nebula | Morrigan | Nemesis | Serena | Strife
Xena Alti | Amarice | Athena | Borias | Julius Caesar | Cyrene | Eli | Eve | Furies | Joxer | Lao Ma | M'Lila | Mephistopheles | Najara | Seraphin | Solari | Varia | Velasca | Virgil
Fictional universe
Listings Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episodes | Xena: Warrior Princess episodes | Hercules and Xena characters | Xena: Warrior Princess minor characters
Misc. Uberfic
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