A Musical Journey in 3 Acts

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Written By: Tinonas, Alena Rys. III-2 BEE

Hercules is well known for his 12 long labors in order to fulfill his prophecy regarding the consequence he did (but we can learn about that in a bit). Since we won’t have a full 2 hour Disney movie filled with song breaks, let’s break down Hercules’ Hero’s Journey into 3 main acts that encompass Joseph Campbell’s 12 stages. And we do have the time for a musical interlude in between.
Not every hero’s journey starts with the sweet melody of success, well Hercules did have a Disney movie that started with a song. Let’s instead focus on the man and myth during his early days in Thebes, due to his mother, Alcmena, being tricked by Zeus in the form of her husband, Amphitryon. She conceived Hercules alongside his brother Iphicles, and their difference can be told almost immediately as they look exactly like their fathers. And the danger starts the night Hera sent two snakes to attack Hercules however to everyone’s surprised, the two snakes were already found dead with a laughing Hercules beside them. 
But Hera’s will to kill Hercules doesn’t stop there as she sent a fit of madness to Hercules and as a result, killed his wife, Megara, and their three children. After slaughtering his family, his sanity returned and he saw his blood-stained actions, but he was not sure why. Amphitryon saw the scene as well and told Hercules to fled from there and do something about his guilty conscience.
Although the musical interlude have us a hopeful mind that Hercules will overcome his guilty conscience, well he’ll only face a much more difficult task (12 to be exact) ahead. 
In order to overcome Hercules’ guilty conscience, he went to his cousin Eurytheus, King of Mycenae, and have him devise a series of tasks for Hercules to accomplish. It was truly almost impossible to accomplish each task but Hercules made it possible, as he has some help along the way. Although it was rather difficult and tedious for Hercules to do the tasks he was given, his sheer determination and strength made him work for these tasks for years.
It’s quite weird for Megara to appear in the musical interlude but that’s Disney’s interpretation of our great myth. It can be a symbolism of relief and satisfaction now that we are at the last stage. 
At this point, we know that after those hardships, there is an internal transformation. As such, after Hercules completed all the tasks, he earned a sense of ease and tranquility for the rest of his life. Although after this particular stage of his life, he will still encounter many more conflicts and hardships. But in the end, he will ascend to Olympus with peace and reconciliation of his eventful life. 


References 
Brozite, D. (2021). The Hero's Journey - Mythic Structure of Joseph Campbell's Monomyth. Movieoutline.com. Retrieved 16 March 2021, from http://www.movieoutline.com/articles/the-hero-journey-mythic-structure-of-joseph-campbell-monomyth.html. 
Hamilton, E. (1942). Mythology. Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. Grand Central Publishing. Hachette Book Group USA. pp. 166 - 179. 
Jeffrey, S. (2021). Hero’s Journey Steps: 10 Stages to Joseph Campbell's Monomyth. Scott Jeffrey. Retrieved 16 March 2021, from https://scottjeffrey.com/heros-journey-steps/?fbclid=IwAR2x8-l7ZbBmOC28Ykwpr-y8nFSfUZQXlFkoCexOFTb6V-6EqN5LxvHVTp4#The_3_Main_Stages_of_the_Heros_Journey.

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