Disney and the Ancient Greeks

 I think it wise to preface the following commentary with a little background information. I've taken two classes in my college career that have required me to read the Odyssey and the Iliad (in that order), and I'm vaguely familiar with Hesiod already as a result of my mythology class last semester. As such, I'm familiar with invocations of the Muses, and admittedly I have a habit of skipping that part of Greek works, both because it rarely has anything to do with the rest of the story and because it always reminds me of Hercules (yes, the Disney film). For the sake of demonstrating how very distracting that image is, I posted a short video featuring the Disney Muses above. In order to debunk this distracting image, here's a short comparison of the Disney Muses vs. the Hesiod/Homer Muses.

Let's begin with the obvious differences. Disney only portrays 5 Muses; as Hesiod so adeptly points out, there are actually nine, one for every day that Zeus spent with Memory in her bed chamber. In addition, the Disney Muses do not look even remotely Greek, though I rather enjoy Disney's soulful rendition of the Muses and their musical numbers. However, there are some subtleties in the comparison worth noting, as well. In Disney's Hercules, the Muses haven't inspired any of the characters or been invoked for the sake of giving man the capability to write, story-tell, sing or otherwise artistically relate any story to the Greek populous; rather, the Disney Muses are the story tellers. In both Hesiod and Homer, though, the Muses are simply called upon and given credit for the writer's ability to recount, in Hesiod's case, the theogony of the gods and, in Homer's case, the epic account of the Trojan War and of Odysseus's journey home. Another subtlety worth mentioning are the similarity between the stories told by the Disney Muses and Hesiod's and Homer's stories, inspired by the Muses. Both stories revolve around the glory of the gods, such as the Disney Muses recounting Zeus's overpowering of the Titans and "ruling the world while still in his youth," and the actions of great heroes, like Disney's Hercules (or the actual Greek Heracles) and Homer's Odysseus and Achilles. In addition, just like in Homer's epics and in Hesiod's Theogony, the Hercules film opens with the Muses and closes with the Muses. If nothing else, perhaps this comparison serves to show how ancient Greek works are understood, appreciated and interpreted in the context of our modern culture.

And now, here's "Zero to Hero," for your viewing pleasure.