Comparing Hercules by Walt Disney and Creating the Myth by Linda Seger

One of the greatest Greek mythological stories portrayed in a movie would be Hercules. Hercules is a well-known hero; he displays a supernatural individual who has to overcome the villain and his bad monsters. In “Creating the Myth” by Linda Seger, she argues that the hero myth as many obstacles (the death experience, the road back, the reborn) that he or she need to overcome to be transformed into a hero. However, these obstacles play a very important role in the hero’s stage of initiation. The movie “Hercules” by Walt Disney and the creator Alan Menken, we encounter the characters of the movie which are Hercules of course, Philoctetes the trainer, Pegasus the horse, loyal companion, Megera the love of Hercules and Hades the villain. All these characters connect strongly with Hercules because they guide him to become a hero. I argue that the movie “Hercules” follows the theory “the Hero Myth “by Seger, because he was a caring person who loved to help others; he evolved to be a strong person because he listened to his mentors that helped him gained strength, and was courageous individual because of all the obstacles he had to overcome.

First of all, the character Hercules was a non-hero who later received the power of strength. As a young boy Hercules wished to overcome any problem and always had in mind to be a strong man and to do the impossible. For example, in the movie , Hercules is a hard working kid who later by his parents gained a valuable power of strength being “introduced in ordinary surrounding in a mundane world, doing mundane things “ (Linda Seger 2) Hercules could not believe where all his strength was coming from because he had become too powerful to believe. Seger also explained that “this is how...

... middle of paper ...

...ero and is well-known because he overcome all challenges and accomplished the mission to become a great hero because he is caring, strong and a courageous individual. Without these three powerful gifts Hercules would have not proven himself a true hero. Although, Hercules was not instantly known as a hero, he had to prove his will of becoming one and he sure did. From my point of view, I liked better the Disney version of Hercules than the real myth of Hercules because the movie includes comedy and is appealing to family and children. Seger explains, that “A myth is more than true because it is lived by all of us, at some level. It’s a story that connects and speaks to us all” (1) and I agree with her because every myth has logic and that logic will last forever.

Works Cited

“Creating the Myth” by Linda Seger

“Hercules” Walt Disney. Creted by Alan Menken