Hercules: Looking Backward--Seeing Now
Kevin Sorbo, the actor who brings Hercules to life in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, quipped that "we had to go back over two thousand years to find a hero for the '90s" (Inside Hercules and Xena, E! Entertainment Television). However, the character that Sorbo plays is little like the Hercules of Greek mythology. To help make Hercules acceptable for present day audiences, the filmmakers remade the character in a present day image.
In the original tales from Greek mythology, Hercules was temperamental and adulterous. He definitely didn't fit the modern version of noble. Why should he? He was the ideal hero of that age and that allowed foibles to be included in the package. Anger in particular was necessary because it often provided the driving force for attaining glory. Glory was very important to a hero because it helped to ensure immortality. In Hercules' case, anger cost him his wives and children and more than a few acquaintances. Adultery and monogamy were not considerations, for women were prizes of war and who could resist the honor of fathering fifty children by fifty women in a night? But where is the modern hero in all of this? While the old stories would certainly make for interesting prime-time viewing, they didn't provide the hero the '90s audience wanted.