Brett Ratner’s Hercules was based on the adventures of the Greek demigod, Hercules (Dwayne Johnson). According to the film, Hercules was born on a stormy night to the almighty Zeus, a god, and human mother. At this point of his life, Hercules had already completed his legendary twelve labors that followed as a punishment for murdering his own family. Unable to deal with such emotional trauma that resulted from the death of his family, Hercules resorted “to seeking employment as a mercenary”(Gustafson). He, along with a group of six warriors who share their love for battle, end up working as mercenaries for the King of Thrace and “train his men to become the greatest army of all time” (Hercules). By raising the greatest army of all time, the
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According to Infoplease, “For twelve years, he traveled all over to complete these incredible tasks” (The Twelve). The twelve labors as mentioned on Infoplease were to kill the Nemean Lion, kill the Lernean Hydra, capture the Ceryneian Hind, capture the Erymanthian Boar, clean the Augean Stables, kill the Stymphalian Birds, capture the Cretan Bull, capture the Horses of Diomedes, take the Girdle of the Amazon Queen Hippolyte, capture the Cattle of Geryon, take the Golden Apples of the Hesperides, and finally, capture Cerberus. Each of these twelve labors were supposedly nearly impossible to …show more content…
So the entire movie was not very historically accurate. According to An Historian Goes to the Movies, the historical inaccuracy starts with the demigod’s name. “Despite being set in ancient Greece, the film chooses to use not his Greek name, Heracles, but the Roman form, Hercules” (Aelarsen). Aelarsen explained that it was most likely because of people’s familiarity with the Roman form. Also, according to Aelarsen, “A bigger problem comes with the historical setting. Trying to date the events of Greek myth is a problem, not least because the events didn’t happen, at least not in the form they’ve come down to us. But the closest thing to a date we can point to in Greek myth is the Trojan War” (Aelarsen). Just because Troy actually existed, doesn’t mean that the Trojan War actually happened. There is yet to be proof of its occurrence. Also, it appears that the film is “confused about historical chronology” (Aelarsen). “In 358 BC, Athens was a declining democracy, and yet in this film it is ruled by the weasley King Eurystheus, with no hint of democracy; the real Athens abandoned its monarchy more than half a millennium earlier” (Aelarsen). I don’t think that this film really focused on
According to Infoplease, “For twelve years, he traveled all over to complete these incredible tasks” (The Twelve). The twelve labors as mentioned on Infoplease were to kill the Nemean Lion, kill the Lernean Hydra, capture the Ceryneian Hind, capture the Erymanthian Boar, clean the Augean Stables, kill the Stymphalian Birds, capture the Cretan Bull, capture the Horses of Diomedes, take the Girdle of the Amazon Queen Hippolyte, capture the Cattle of Geryon, take the Golden Apples of the Hesperides, and finally, capture Cerberus. Each of these twelve labors were supposedly nearly impossible to …show more content…
So the entire movie was not very historically accurate. According to An Historian Goes to the Movies, the historical inaccuracy starts with the demigod’s name. “Despite being set in ancient Greece, the film chooses to use not his Greek name, Heracles, but the Roman form, Hercules” (Aelarsen). Aelarsen explained that it was most likely because of people’s familiarity with the Roman form. Also, according to Aelarsen, “A bigger problem comes with the historical setting. Trying to date the events of Greek myth is a problem, not least because the events didn’t happen, at least not in the form they’ve come down to us. But the closest thing to a date we can point to in Greek myth is the Trojan War” (Aelarsen). Just because Troy actually existed, doesn’t mean that the Trojan War actually happened. There is yet to be proof of its occurrence. Also, it appears that the film is “confused about historical chronology” (Aelarsen). “In 358 BC, Athens was a declining democracy, and yet in this film it is ruled by the weasley King Eurystheus, with no hint of democracy; the real Athens abandoned its monarchy more than half a millennium earlier” (Aelarsen). I don’t think that this film really focused on