Hercules Teaches Greek Mythology His Way

Hercules The Legendary Journeys – Seasons 1-6 Bundle (1995-1999) was a well made series.  Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) shows amazing strength. Especially during the battle scenes when one single hand swipe sends an enemy flying.  It was even more incredible when he fought that group of enemies while juggling a woman.  But what really works is that there’s a lot of action, but not a lot of gore.

 Although Iolaus (Michael Hurst) was never mentioned in the actual Greek Myths like Hercules and Jason of the Argonauts, I thought it was a great idea for Hercules to have a sidekick.  Iolaus isn’t with Hercules on every adventure, like Gabrielle is with Xena.  Yet he made a big difference fighting by Hercules’ side.  That would explain why Iolaus was brought back from the dead… several times.

Bruce Campbell was one of my favorites after seeing him in Army of Darkness.  On this show, he played Autolycus the king of thieves.  This role was just as memorable to me.  I wonder if he did any of his own stunts.  Other classic characters include Salmoneus (Robert Trebor) the fast-talking salesman and Falafel (Paul Norell) the chef, who makes food that’s highly popular in the modern age like hotdogs, tacos, and of course, falafel.

Some of the characters based on the Gods of Olympus, like Ares (Kevin Smith) and Aphrodite (Alexandra Tydings) , were cleverly portrayed as humans who are immortal and powerful.  Others, like Poseidon and Hera, are merely computer animated, but just as good.

I’m glad that I go to meet Hercules star, Kevin Sorbo at Dragon-Con in 2008.  It was amazing to find that he was close to the same height as me.  Most actors I meet are much shorter.

Overall this was a great series.  Whoever thought that Greek Mythology would be so fun to learn.