Hercules in popular culture

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Hercules, the Greek mythical hero also known as Heracles, has been an important figure in Western 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 (many of the movie and TV adaptations cast him in this light, especially the 1995-1999 syndicated TV series). 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.

Contents 1 Television 2 Video games 3 Computer game 4 Films 5 Comic books 6 See also

[edit] Television

• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, a television series and several made-for-television movies starring Kevin Sorbo.
  • Young Hercules, a spin-off of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys which aired on Fox Kids from September 12, 1998 to May 12, 1999, staring Ryan Gosling.
• Hercules: The Animated Series, based upon the 1997 Disney film.
• Hercules, a 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.

[edit] Video games

• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, based upon the TV series. The game pits Hercules against his evil half-brother Ares, loosely based on the TV series.
• Games based upon Disney's Hercules film for several platforms. 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-RPG 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 PlayStation 2 game where he must free Pegasus from the clutches of his uncle the evil god Poseidon.
• Hercules is made reference to and is an unlockable skin in the Playstation 2 game God of War II.

[edit] Computer game

• The Return of Hercules is a computer 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. It's design is similar to Smith's earlier game Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

• Heracles (using the Greek name) is featured in the visual novel game and anime series Fate/stay night, as an example of the Berserker class of Servant.

[edit] 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, is a 1997 animated feature film,

[edit] Comic books

Hercules has also appeared in several comic books:

• Hercules (a 1958 Dell comic adapting the film)
• Hercules Unchained (a 1959 Dell comic adapting the Steve Reeves film)
• Hercules (Marvel Comics)
• Hercules (DC Comics)

[edit] See also

• Heracles
• Maciste