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Hollywood has a complicated relationship with the truth... Join us as we explore how films and TV shows misrepresent Greek mythology! From bird-like Sirens to Hades not being evil, we're separating fact from fiction about these ancient tales that get twisted by modern media. Which mythological misconception surprised you most?
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00:00And we are in this together, Hades! Do not weaken now!
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for depictions of Greek myths
00:09and popular mainstream media that differ significantly from the source material.
00:13They say your mother is an immortal goddess.
00:17They say you can't be killed.
00:21Number 10. The Siren's Appearance
00:22When most people hear of the sirens, they imagine young women using their beauty and siren song
00:27to lure unfortunate sailors to their watery demise.
00:30I heard it said a kiss from a mermaid protects a sailor from drowning.
00:33Don't be a fool. Mermaids are all females, son. And lovely is a dream of heaven.
00:40You know, kind of like Deadly Mermaids.
00:41This concept is reinforced by depictions in films such as Pirates of the Caribbean.
00:45They like to wear singing.
00:52My name is Maria.
00:55While talk of their beautiful singing may be faithful to the source material,
00:58depictions of their appearance most certainly are not.
01:01In their original appearance in Greek mythology,
01:03the sirens are endowed with bird-like features rather than aquatic fins.
01:07And some sources indicate it is their song, not their physical appearance,
01:11which is beautiful and alluring.
01:12Number 9. The Muses' Roll
01:25If your only knowledge of the Muses is from Disney's Hercules, you probably think that they are primarily
01:40storytellers and singers. That's because they narrate the film as a gospel quintet.
01:44Although, in fact, there are nine Muses, not five.
01:46We are the Muses, goddesses of the arts, and proclaimers of heroes.
01:52Heroes like Hercules.
01:54Honey, you mean Hunkules!
01:56While their connection to the arts checks out with the source material,
01:59the Muses are also strongly connected to history and the sciences.
02:03And they are definitely not bitplayers or simply narrators.
02:06And that's the gospel truth.
02:10The gospel truth.
02:17They're powerful and important gods.
02:20The musical Xanadu is somewhat more accurate in this regard.
02:23I'm alive and the world shines for me today.
02:30The Muses' Terpsichory is shown exerting great influence after coming alive again.
02:34Despite their important role in mythology, many films utilizing Greek myth ignore them entirely.
02:39This is the first time I've cared about what I painted in a long time.
02:43That's a shame.
02:44It must be frustrating to waste your talents on things that don't really matter to you.
02:49Yeah.
02:49Number 8. Zeus Wasn't Heroic
02:51Zeus frequently comes across as a hero in Hollywood projects.
02:54He's often an all-powerful ruler of the gods, as seen in both Clash of the Titans movies.
03:07Casting Laurence Olivier in the original and Liam Neeson in the remake
03:10reinforces this upright leading man to fiction.
03:12Like children, they need to be reminded of the order of things.
03:17Set an example, brother.
03:19Turn them on each other.
03:20Meanwhile in Disney's Hercules, Zeus is a warm and wise father figure.
03:23You need to look to the MCU and Russell Crowe's somewhat vain and cowardly portrayal
03:28in Thor, Love and Thunder to get closer to the Zeus found in Greek mythology.
03:31Who do you think we are?
03:34The god police?
03:35Every god watches over their own peoples.
03:39Nothing more, nothing less.
03:41The mythological god is all about his own ego,
03:43and quite depraved in how he makes people suffer for it.
03:46He's also a serial womanizer and adulterer.
03:48All in all, not a great role model.
03:50Wait.
03:52Wait, who are you?
03:53Find and fulfill your destiny.
04:00Number 7.
04:01The Chimera's Appearance
04:02Iliad!
04:06Iliad!
04:06Iliad!
04:11Iliad!
04:11Imagine a creature with the body of a lion,
04:13the head of a goat in its middle,
04:15and the tail of a serpent.
04:16That's what Homer did when he wrote about the Chimera in the Iliad.
04:18Things are happening in the world,
04:19as he is, you know that.
04:20You have instincts.
04:22You're the son of a god.
04:26Something for father.
04:28In some versions, the Chimera is more like a three-headed beast
04:30with the goat head breathing fire.
04:32This multifaceted creature is not always presented cinematically
04:35in such an interesting configuration.
04:37For example, in Wrath of the Titans,
04:45we get a beast with the body of a lion and two lion heads.
04:48One of the heads still breathes fire,
04:50and it has wings,
04:50but aside from that,
04:51it's essentially a large two-headed lion.
04:53Number 6.
04:54Persephone's Abduction
04:55The Broadway musical Hadestown isn't a movie yet,
05:06but it is likely to make its way to the big screen someday.
05:08When it does,
05:09it'll continue the trend of romanticizing
05:11and softening the depiction
05:12of Persephone's Abduction by Hades.
05:22There's even one version
05:23where it unfolds in front of modern Japanese tourists.
05:26Often when Hades and Persephone
05:27are characters in a project,
05:29they seem to be a regular couple
05:30with no hint of their true backstory.
05:32You will never have to leave us again.
05:37When two souls are meant to be together.
05:40In the source material, though,
05:41Hades' kidnapping of Persephone
05:43is a violent, non-consensual act.
05:45While the abduction isn't shown in the best light,
05:47their relationship is still reciprocal
05:48in TV's Blood of Zeus.
05:50And he's part giant, is he not?
05:53We can use his help.
05:57Does he have passage to the underworld?
06:00A truly faithful rendition of their story
06:02would be hard for modern audiences
06:03to take in its original form.
06:05Number 5.
06:06The Minotaur's Role
06:07The Minotaur has the head and tail
06:09of a bull with a human body
06:10and so technically can be considered a monster.
06:12Send the beast to Kropos.
06:15We will go to Tartarus.
06:19Mondragun.
06:19Sire.
06:21You stay here.
06:22And yes, even in its original Greek origins,
06:24it's presented as a beast
06:25that ate humans to survive.
06:26But modern media representations of the creature
06:29tend to stop there without giving the backstory.
06:31I don't believe the way you killed him.
06:34Yes.
06:35But it has to be done sometimes.
06:38No.
06:38I mean, it's such a good shot.
06:40He was born from the union of a bull
06:42and a human woman as punishment
06:43for her husband's insult to the god Poseidon.
06:45As such, he's more of a pitiable creature,
06:47a victim of circumstance
06:48who is condemned to live trapped in the labyrinth.
06:51You saved my life, remember?
06:56The enemy of the people he's dead!
06:58By accentuating its bull-like features,
07:00some filmmakers have cast the Minotaur
07:02as a black and white antagonist
07:03and a creature undeserving his sympathy and understanding.
07:06Number 4.
07:07Hercules Labors.
07:08Phil, what do you call that thing?
07:11Two words!
07:14And scream!
07:16The 12 labors of Hercules
07:17are integral to the ancient hero's story.
07:19They have been depicted in countless works of art
07:21over the centuries,
07:22so it only makes sense that Disney
07:24would have to include them
07:24in their animated Hercules movie.
07:26Like, I'm supposed to be...
07:28someplace else.
07:31Hercules, son.
07:33I know it doesn't make any sense.
07:35While the House of Mouse
07:36doesn't go into detail on all of them,
07:37we do get Hercules defeating Hydra and other beasts.
07:40Hades sends to him,
07:41all part of a quest for him
07:42to regain his true status as a hero.
07:44All right! All right!
07:46You bad! Okay!
07:47See, Phil?
07:48Huh?
07:49That wasn't so hard.
07:51Kick! Kick! Kick!
07:52What Disney doesn't show
07:54is the cause of the tasks
07:55given in the source material.
07:56In Greek mythology,
07:57Hera drove Hercules mad
07:59to the point where he killed
08:00his wife and children.
08:01Once he reached manhood,
08:02the gods commanded him
08:03to perform 12 labors,
08:0512 dangerous missions.
08:07The 12 labors are his penance
08:09for and redemption from this.
08:11Number 3.
08:11Medusa's Appearance.
08:12Doesn't really inspire confidence.
08:15Quiet.
08:16Listen.
08:18Eusebius.
08:19Keep your eyes down.
08:20Medusa started out as a beautiful maiden,
08:22but Athena turned her into a Gorgon,
08:23a hideous-looking creature
08:24with snakes for hair
08:25that turned anyone
08:26who looked at her into stone.
08:27That's directly out of Greek mythology,
08:29and Hollywood usually gets
08:30most of it right.
08:31Where are you?
08:32Where are you?
08:35Where are you?
08:36However, they frequently,
08:38and some might say conveniently,
08:39forget the hideous part.
08:40In Clash of the Titans, for example,
08:42we get a full-on serpent Medusa
08:43with snakes for hair,
08:44but the face and upper body
08:45of a conventionally
08:46quite attractive woman.
08:47Let no men do this.
08:55This combination of beauty
08:56and danger is common now,
08:58but not true to the original myth.
08:59Number 2.
09:00The Trojan War
09:01If you asked someone
09:02whose knowledge of Greek mythology
09:03was largely gleaned through pop culture
09:05to explain the Trojan War,
09:07they probably could,
09:08at least superficially.
09:09She left with the Trojans.
09:13The fishermen here
09:15saw her board their ship.
09:18The Trojans.
09:19Most likely, they'd say
09:20it was a conflict between two cities
09:21that started with a kidnapping
09:22and ended with the gift
09:23of a giant wooden horse
09:25that had enemy troops in its belly.
09:26You get that framework,
09:27plus more detail
09:28in big-budget films like Troy.
09:29Hector commands
09:30the finest army in the East.
09:32I'll attack them
09:33with the greatest force
09:34the world has ever seen.
09:36I want all the kings of Greece
09:37and their armies.
09:39But you also get the basics
09:40depicted in countless parodies,
09:42such as one by the Simpsons.
09:43In the original Odyssey, though,
09:44this is a many-sided conflict
09:46involving various gods and heroes.
09:48We need you back.
09:50Greece needs you.
09:53Greece got along fine
09:54before I was born.
09:55Greece will be Greece long
09:56after I'm dead.
09:57There are layers,
09:58and it's not just about
09:59Sparta versus Troy.
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10:16Number one,
10:17Hades wasn't a villain.
10:18Endless years
10:20I've watched from the underworld
10:23and saw your wrath
10:26tempered.
10:28If you're known as the god of death
10:30and the underworld,
10:30you can see why some may equate you
10:32with the Christian devil.
10:33Quite a few Hollywood directors
10:34and writers have done just that
10:35and cast Hades simply
10:36as Greek mythology Satan.
10:38You have insulted powers
10:39beyond your comprehension.
10:42Who are you?
10:44I am Hades.
10:45In films like Disney's Hercules
10:48and Clash of the Titans
10:49and series like Xeno Warrior Princess,
10:51he's depicted as a classic villain.
10:52Frequently,
10:53the underworld is also analogous to hell,
10:55shown simply as a fiery realm.
10:57Father Hades,
10:58you've come to your domain
11:01as agreed.
11:04Show yourself to us.
11:06In the source material, though,
11:07it has several regions
11:08and it's a rather complex place.
11:10Hades is its administrator.
11:11He's a god doing a job
11:12and a necessary one at that.
11:14Are you becoming weak?
11:15You're in the underworld, Ares,
11:17where it's wise to obey me.
11:22We forget our father
11:24once tried to kill us.
11:25It hardly makes him evil.
11:26Do you agree with our list?
11:27Can you think of other parts
11:28of Greek mythology
11:29Hollywood just doesn't get right?
11:30Let us know in the comments.
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