Literary Analysis of the Myth Hercules

Since the oral storytelling tradition is valid for legends, too, it is not rare to come across different variations of legends.  The legend of Hercules, for instance, is a very popular myth and thus, it has been told more than any other myths.  And it is known that the more a story is told, the more different it becomes.  As it is going to be explained afterwards, the Disney version Hercules and D'aularies' Book of Greek Myths version are not the same.  In fact, even though they both talk about the same mythical hero, Contradicting details make the stories very different.

To begin with, in the Disney version Hercules, Hercules' mother is Hera, who is his worst enemy in the book.  In the movie, when Hercules is born both his father, Zeus and his mother, Hera is seen very happily, whereas in the book Hera even tries to kill Hercules since he is the child of the woman with whom unfaithful Zeus had an affair.  Although Zeus is the mightiest of all, he does not help his child very much since he is just a mortal.  If it had not been for Hercules' abnormal strength, he would not be as famous as he is now since he would probably be dead at age of one.  Another thing about the family that differs is Hades.  In the book, the Hades is even not mentioned in Hercules' part.  In fact, in the book Hades is not shown as a devil, he is just a god whose duty is to send dead spirits to the underworld.  However, in the movie he is shown as the source of the all demonic and evil acts.  He is held responsible for turning Hercules into a mortal, seducing mortals, and even wrecking havoc upon Olympus.

The one thing which differs greatly is the labors that Hercules does.  In the book, Hercules performs a dozen exhausting labors and, through these, wins fame and glory.  Whereas in the movie the labors are not shown like burdens.  His adviser, who is a satyr and is not mentioned in the book as well, talks to him about labors as if they are the things he does every day and they take just a couple hours to finish.  In the book, Hercules turns back from the labors weary and labors do not take an hour or two to complete.  Also, the reason of labors are not the same, either.  In the book he performs these labors because he gets mad and kills the people around him, and thus he goes to the oracle of Delphi and asks him what he has to do in order to be forgiven.  In the movie, however, he performs labors to get more fame and be accepted to Olympus as a god.

Another theme which is not the same in the book and in the movie is love.  In the book Hercules marries women but the flirting parts are skipped since the book focuses on the labors and the fame of Hercules more.  However, in the movie Hercules becomes love struck when he first sees Megara.  He even brings gifts for her and becomes blind because of his love.  He even risks his life to save her.  It is obvious that in the movie, the love of Hercules is explained elaborately.  Also, in the book when Hera makes Hercules mad and he easily kills his wife, there is no feelings on this part. One more detail about the book is, Hercules dies because of his wife's envy.  His wife doubts that he cheats on her and uses a centaur's blood to make him love her again but the liar centaur's blood kills him.  In the movie version, it seems impossible for Hercules to even think about cheating on Megara since he desists from immortality for her sake.

To sum up, the stories which are affected by oral storytelling may differ in more than one way.  As seen in the Hercules example, even though the main theme can be the same, the details affect the story greatly.  Although the protagonist is the same, their family, lover, and sworn enemy may differ and regarding the oral storytelling tradition it is natural and expected.

Sources
Parin D'aulaire, Ingri & Parin D'aulaire, Edgar. D'aulaires' Book of Greek Myths. New York. Delacorte Press. 2003. Print.

Hercules. Dir. Ron Clemens & John Musker. Disney, 1997. Film.