Hercules, the 1997 Disney animated movie, depicts the titular character as the beloved son of the chief Olympian god Zeus, and his wife the goddess Hera. Disney strayed quite a bit from the source material. For one thing, as seen below, Hera in ancient Greek mythology was not a loving mother to Hercules: she was nonstop trying to murder, starting from when he was still a baby in the crib.

Disney’s Hercules

Disney’s Hercules has Zeus’ evil brother Hades, god of the dead and king of the underworld, hatch a plot to overthrow his sibling and take his place as the head of Olympian gods. In the animated musical comedy, Hades’ plan depends on Hercules’ noninterference, so the god of the dead and the underworld sends his minions to kidnap and murder him while he was still a baby. He is kidnapped, but survives the murder attempt, and the rest of the movie revolves around his growing up to eventually thwart Hades. According to ancient Greek mythology, however, Heracles as the Greeks called him, was anything but Hera’s beloved son.

In the original source material, Hera hated Hercules with a passion. Zeus cheated on her constantly, and Hercules was Zeus’ son with a mortal woman named Alcmene. As seen below, rather than dote upon the baby, Zeus’ wife went out of her way to mess him up whenever she could. And since she was a goddess, with divine powers, she often messed him up good. Unlike the Hera of Disney’s Hercules, who doted upon her son the famous Greek hero, the Hera of ancient Greek mythology could not stand her stepson. Indeed, as seen below, she tried to murder him before he was even born.

In Greek Mythology, Hera Couldn’t Stand Hercules

In Greek mythology, when Hera learned that her husband had impregnated Alcmene, she forced Ilithya, the goddess of childbirth, to keep Hercules trapped in his mother’s womb. That plan was eventually foiled when a servant surprised Ilithya, and got her to lose her concentration long enough for the baby to get born. Hera did not give up, however. A few months later, when he was still a baby, she sent giant snakes to kill him. However, the supernaturally strong baby grabbed one in each hand and strangled them to death. Hera did not give up, though, and throughout her stepson’s life she continued to do all she could to do him in.

When he grew up, Hera inflicted upon an adult Hercules a divine fit of madness. In the grip of insanity, he grabbed a bow and slew his wife and children. When he regained his sanity and realized what he had done, he fled to the Oracle of Delphi, to find out what he could do to wash away his sin. Unfortunately, Hera controlled the Oracle. She got it to saddle her detested stepson with a series of seemingly impossible tasks as a condition for cleansing him – what became the Twelve Labors of Hercules. In sum, if Disney had stayed faithful to ancient Greek mythology, Hera in Hercules would not be a loving and caring mother, but the movie’s villain.

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Some Sources & Further Reading

Bulfinch, Thomas – Bulfinch’s Mythology (1998)

Fry, Stephen – Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined (2018)

Greek Mythology – Hercules: The Life of the Greek Hero

History Halls – Folklore and Mythology: The Origins of Mermaids