Hercules

Hercules born to the Greek God Zeus. Hercules was then turned half-god, half-mortal by Hades, God of the Underworld. Through out this movie you see the importance of mentorship, and the differences and similarities between a Hero and a Leader.

Hades, the outsider to the Gods, who held a lot of anger in his heart toward Zeus and his family. After seeing baby Hercules as a threat Hades drew up with a plan to kill Zeus and make Hercules mortal. This plan could not be carried out without Hades’s bad mentorship with pain and panic being the mentees.

Key Scenes

The bridge between Philoctetes and Hercules mentor/mentee relationship has been put to the test. Hades is watching, the members of the community Hercules needs to prove he is a hero to those who is watching and Meg the girl he is falling for is watching. Everything that they both worked hard for up until this moment is detrimental to Hercules’s succession of defeating Hades. Hercules is not only doing this for those who is watching but to become a God again since it was taken from him. Hercules was proving he was a hero to be somewhere he feels he fit in.

Hercules was blinded by his love for Meg, which caused him to feel that it was okay to let go of Philoctetes. But It is evident that there is nothing wrong with having a mentor by your side through times no matter how strong-minded you may be. Hercules let his love for Meg distract him in a sort from being a hero. Even though in the end his love for is what mad him a God again, he loved her so much that being a God didn’t matter if she couldn’t be there with him. No matter how strong you think you are, you should never let go of your mentor because they are here to help guide you through the unknown to you.

Hercules was no easy mentee for Philoctetes however, through his strong hand in guidance, Hercules was able to reach his goal of becoming a God. His selflessness however, couldn’t be taught. Philoctetes just pushed him to be the best he could be and with that support, Hercules’ found his leadership skills and gained the confidence he needed to be a hero and do what he did in this scene. Philoctetes was a great example as a mentor because he didn’t spoon feed Hercules, he let him go through somethings on his own so he can learn from his mistakes.

Character Comparison

Benjamin Otālara & Hades

Throughout the film, it is evident that Hades has narcissistic traits. We see this throughout the film, especially when he discusses his plan to overthrow Zeus and Mount Olympus with the help of the monsters from the underworld . As Hades moves forward with his plan after recognizing that Hercules was still alive, he was willing to do anything to kill him so he could claim his seat in Mount Olympus. This is similar to how Benjamin came off emotionless and did whatever he could to take on Azevedo’s leadership role. He also was not afraid of death or harming anyone in his path just like Hades. Otālara was doing the exact same thing Hades was doing, trying to overthrow someone over them so they can be leaders. Both characters took advantage of another person to get where they wanted to be. However, both ended up being backstabbed by those they tried to use. This demonstrates what we should not do as leaders.

Hercules and Telemachus

Both of them are strong characters have big shoes to fill with such famous fathers. Hercules being the son of Zeus, he had to live up to the expectation of becoming a valiant God while Telemachus being the son of Odysseus, he had to become the man of the house and step into his father’s leadership role. These big shoes aren’t the only thing they have in common though. Both Hercules and Telemachus used a woman to gain credibility and power. Telemachus put his mother in her place to assert dominance when speaking with the men of his city and making his move to grab the power. Hercules on the other hand used Meg as a “damsel in distress” to make his first attempt at heroism against a sentar that held her captive in his grip. This valiant effort gave him one fight under his belt to build his credibility as a hero to be.