Hercules in popular culture
Hercules, the Greek mythical hero also known as Heracles, has been an important figure in popular culture from the Renaissance to today.
Since the Renaissance, Hercules has rarely been distinguished from Heracles, the Roman figure overshadowing the Greek. Later interpretations of Hercules' legend cast him as a wise leader and a good friend. The legend of Hercules endures, though often co-opted to suit the political fashion of the day. Hercules has also had an undeniable influence on modern pop culture characters such as He-Man. The legend of Hercules has been described in many movie and television adaptations.
Television
- Hercules: The Animated Series, a TV series based upon the 1997 Disney film.
- Hercules (1995 film), based upon Hercules's fufillment of the twelve labours.
- Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, a TV series and several made-for-television movies in 1995–1999 starring Kevin Sorbo.
- Hercules (TV miniseries), a 2005 television mini-series done by Hallmark Entertainment.
- The Mighty Hercules, an animated series produced in 1963 by Adventure Cartoon Productions in connection with Trans-Lux Television.
- The Sons of Hercules, a 1970s television series
- Young Hercules, a spin-off of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys which aired on Fox Kids from September 12, 1998 to May 12, 1999, starring Ryan Gosling.
- Hercules is the mentor and ancestor of Herry Hercules from Class of the Titans.
Video games
- Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, based upon the TV series Released to Nintendo 64. The game pits Hercules against his evil half-brother Ares, loosely based on the TV series.
- Disney's Hercules, based on the animated film. The Disney version of the character also appears in the games Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II.
- Herc's Adventures is a tongue-in-cheek adventure-role-playing video game on the PlayStation where you must complete many tasks, many of which are not actually credited to Hercules anywhere else (such as slaying Medusa).
- Heracles: Battle with the Gods is a Nintendo DS & PlayStation 2 game where he must free Pegasus from the clutches of his uncle the evil god Poseidon.
- Hercules is the title character of the Hercules no Eikō series
- Hercules (as Heracles) is a hero character in Age of Mythology and Age of Empires: Mythologies for the Nintendo DS.
- Empire Earth features a character named Hierakles in the first mission of the Greek campaign, where he is the chieftain of an Anatolian tribe who must lead his people to Thessaly before the winter season sets in.
- The game Dragonfable by Artix Entertainment features a parody of the 12 labours in the form of a quest chain set by a chicken/cow god named Zeuster.
- Rise of the Argonauts, a video game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Hercules appears as one of Jason's Argonauts during the game, as a NPC party character.
- God of War III, Hercules is a boss and half-brother of the main character Kratos. He is portrayed as sinister and jealous of Kratos (possibly a result of being infected by the evils of Pandora's box) believing Kratos was the son of choice (both being sons of Zeus). Also, Hercules is a willing pawn of Hera. Hercules wants to claim the throne as God of War (which Kratos was made after killing Ares but lost his powers by the betrayal of Zeus) after killing Kratos as his thirteenth unofficial and final labour. Kratos, however, kills him and acquires the Nemean Cestus, a pair of fist gauntlets that Hercules acquired from the Nemean Lion.
- Glory of Heracles, a video game for the Nintendo DS, in which you play a boy who lost his memories but is believed to be Heracles. Along his journey, he finds that others have also lost their memories and also believes they are Heracles. The game's story plot does not reflect the actual story of the mythology.
- The Return of Hercules is a video game designed by Stuart Smith and released for Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64 computers. It is a turn-based adventure/rpg designed around the Twelve Labours of Heracles, though you could play as any or all of several characters including Pegasus and Achilles. Its design is similar to Smith's earlier game Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
- "Kingdom Hearts" is a role-playing video game for Playstation 2, Playstation Portable, & Nintendo DS where you travel to different Disney worlds, defeating creatures called Heartless. Hercules is featured in all games.
Films
- A series of nineteen Hercules "beefcake" movies of the "Sword and sandal" film genre were made in Italy during the late 50s and early 60s, starring Steve Reeves, Reg Park, and others. The first and most successful of these was Hercules, starring Reeves. See Sword and sandal#Hercules series (1957–1965).
- The Three Stooges Meet Hercules, is a 1961 American comedy film.
- Hercules in New York, is a 1970 American film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- The Adventures of Hercules, is a 1985 sequel to the 1983 film.
- Hercules, was a 1997 American animated musical feature film, produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation featuring an animated Hercules
- In the Japanese visual novel Fate/stay night as well as its anime adaptation, Hercules appears as one of seven heroic spirits summoned to fight in the Holy Grail War. He has twelve lives to represent the twelve labors he underwent for immortality.
- Jason and the Argonauts, 1963. Hercules appeared as a member of crew of the Argo, searching for the golden fleece but leaving before they get there.
- Hercules also appears in the 2000 film, Jason and the Argonauts. In this film, Hercules travels all the way to Colchis with Argonauts.
Books
In the book The Titan's Curse in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, it is shown that Hercules got most of his help with the getting the Golden Apples from Zoe Nightshade, one of the Hunters of Artemis and a former Hesperid. Here, he is shown in a negative aspect, giving her no credit in the myths and leaving her to the wrath of her siblings and father alone. This is what started Zoe's hatred of heroes and men. She later states Percy Jackson is not like Hercules as she dies, and says she is honored that he wields the sword she crafted, Riptide.
Comic books
See also