Meanwhile Hercules arrives to Thebes and tries to prove himself a hero, though a group of citizens doubt and ridicule him as an amateur. When Hades learns that Hercules is alive, he is enraged and plots to murder him again.

A smitten Hercules barely succeeds and Meg returns to the forest, where she is revealed to be a minion for Hades, having sold her soul in order to save her lover's life her lover abandoned her and now Meg must do favors for Hades in order to avoid an eternity in the underworld. Along with his flying horse Pegasus, Hercules goes to Philoctetes, an unhappy satyr who has failed to train a true hero yet he decides to take on Hercules as his final attempt.ДЄfter training with Phil, the three of them attempt to save the beautiful Megara, a damsel in distress, from a centaur named Nessus. Zeus tells him that he must prove himself a true hero before he can join the other gods on Mount Olympus. Lightning comes down bringing the statue of Zeus to life and tells Hercules that he is his father and someone stole him from his parents (Hera and Zeus). Hercules then decides to travel to the temple of Zeus. Shortly after, his adoptive parents finally tell Hercules that he is adopted, and they found a medal with his name on it when they found him. Years later, Hercules grows up to be a misfit, having difficulty being accepted by others, due to not being able to control his own strength and his clumsiness which leads to him accidentally destroying a marketplace. He sends his minions, Pain and Panic, to kidnap Hercules and feed him a potion that will strip him of his immortality however, they are interrupted by Amphitryon and Alcmene and, while Hercules becomes mortal, he retains his god-like strength (for the potion to fully work, Hercules had to drink every last drop, but missed one when they were interrupted).

This leads to the day Hercules is born to Zeus and Hera, much to the pleasure of the other gods except Hades, who receives word from the Fates that Hercules will one day rise to power and prevent him from taking control of the world. The film begins with the five muses, 'Goddesses of the arts and pro-claimers of heroes', telling the story of how Zeus came to power and prevented the monstrous Titans from ruling the world.

Hercules 1997 full movie