Will we ever see the true Hercules depicted?

You can always write fanfic based on the ancient Hercules myth, or you can write uber fanfic where you stray from it however far you'd like. You can even publish it, since the stories were written so long ago they're now in the public domain.











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[deleted]

Umm...no. The Hercules of myth had his flaws, but he was not a bad guy the way you paint it. He was not a rapist. I have never read any version of a story in any book where he rapped anyone. The DC Hercules was a rapist, but that is not true to myth. In the myths he either seduced women or they wanted to sleep with him.

Yes, he had a tendency to hold grudges and sack cities when he was wronged. However, nothing he did was considered out of line with the morality of the time for Greece or most of the world throughout human history.

It also ignores the fact that whenever he did truly commit a wrong he willingly accepted punishment. The 12 labors were punishment/cleansing for a crime modern people would say he was not guilty of. When he killed his friend Iphitus in a fit of rage he allowed himself to become a slave as punishment. This one was especially humiliating because he was required to wear women's clothing. Another time later in life he murdered the servant of a king in a fit of rage. The king was willing to pardon him, but Hercules insisted he be exiled from the city as required by law. No one could force Hercules to undergo punishment. He was the strongest man on Earth. Yet when he did transgress the morals/laws of the time he lived in he willingly allowed himself to be punished.

Hercules did have serious anger management problems. Some of the traits that were considered acceptable at the time are looked down upon in modern day. But he was hardly a villain. He kept his word and for good or ill repaid his debts. He would risk his life for a friend on a moment's notice. Several of his rampages would due to kings breaking their word after Hercules' put his life on the line to help them. They thought being a king that there was nothing Hercules could do to them. Hercules held them accountable when an average man could not.

[deleted]

I think I did see a more accurate representation of that on a smaller "made for tv" movie. It didnt show him murdering his family but sort of showed him in an uncontrollable drunken rage and then he is beside himself with grief the next day day when he realizes what he had done and begins his labors for atonement.

I do not believe the movie focused on his death but it was definitely darker and the primary focus was his labors.



"Freedom and morality do not go hand in hand. In fact, they are usually devoid of one another."

There will never be a true depiction of Greek/Roman myths for the same reason you never see a mainstream movie of Adam and Eve after the Garden of Eden or Noah's Ark movies end when the water is gone. Incest which lets face it permeates Greek/Roman mythology even if it's consensual does not sit well with people. In Greek mythology Iolaus was Hercules's nephew and they were celebrated lovers, so much so that male couples made marriage like vows in front of their shrines. I highly doubt today's audience would be so happy about an uncle boinking his nephew especially his kid nephew which technically makes Hercules in today's law a pedophile. I doubt this depiction of Hercules is going to make it into the next multi-million dollar action blockbuster. Don't get me wrong audiences do love characters that challange them but there is point where they become too challanging they are completely unrelatable and that's not good for the box office.

The fact is there really is no true depiction of any mythology. Mythology by it's nature is ever changing. Most Greek myths have multple versions of the same story as it is and when the Romans adopted Greek mythology they adapted the stories to fit their own ideology. For exapmle Greek mythology has Ares representing all the greed and blood lust of war whereas Mars represents all the nobility and braveness of a good warrior. The story of Ares and Aphrodite is a moral story of humility and shame whereas the Romans ignored the adultury and turned it into an epic romance that should inspire Roman couples. And don't get me started on how the middles Ages ands Renaissance completely re wrote the Greek/Roman mythologies. For one thing all the homosexual characters mysteriously and conveniently disappeared and somehow Dionysus/Bacchus became an incarnation of Satan.

The true depiction of Hercules is what we want him to be. That is the essence of mythology, it's job is to represent and judge the ideology and behaviours that society agrees or disagrees with.