Eye of the Beholder (Hercules episode)
Encyclopedia
"Eye of the Beholder" is the second episode of the first season of the television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is a television series, filmed in New Zealand and the United States. It was produced from 1995, and was very loosely based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles...

. Written by John Schulian and directed by John T. Kretchmer, it first aired in the United States on January 23, 1995.

Overview

Hercules agrees to aid a town terrorized by a cyclops
Cyclops
A cyclops , in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead...

, but soon learns that the creature's actions may not be entirely unjustified.

Plot synopsis

Hercules is running along a beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

 trying to get away from a large group of young women. Later in a tavern
Tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....

 a man asks Hercules about the women, and he tells him that they are the 50 daughters of the king Thespius
Thespius
Thespius was a legendary founder and king of Thespiae, Boeotia. His life account is considered part of Greek mythology.-Life account:...

. Another man comes over to Hercules' table and asks him what he is going to do about the cyclops which is terrorising Trachis
Trachis
Trachis was a region in ancient Greece. Situated south of the river Spercheios, it was populated by the Malians.Its main town was also called Trachis until 426 BC, when it became Heraclea Trachinia. It is located to the west of Thermopylae. Trachis is located just west of the western-most tip of...

. The cyclops had been chasing people out of their homes to protect Hera
Hera
Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...

's sacred vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...

. Hercules sets off to deal with the cyclops. Elsewhere a man is walking along the road and meets the cyclops. The cyclops picks up the man and kicks him away. Hercules walking through the trees sees the man hanging from a branch. The man introduces himself as Salmoneus, a toga
Toga
The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a cloth of perhaps 20 ft in length which was wrapped around the body and was generally worn over a tunic. The toga was made of wool, and the tunic under it often was made of linen. After the 2nd century BC, the toga was a garment worn...

 salesman. He decides that he will travel with Hercules.

At the riverside three men are attempting to move a rock which had been placed there to divert the river away from their homes and to Hera's vineyard. The cyclops comes and threatens them, one man runs, another stands up to the cyclops and gets smashed into the ground by the cyclops' huge fist, the third man then also runs back to the village. The men who fled from the cyclops tell Hercules that one of their men has just been killed by the cyclops. The villagers throw a party to celebrate that Hercules will rid them of the cyclops. At the party the 50 daughters of Thespius come looking for Hercules, Salmoneus lies and tells them he went to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. The following day a young woman, Scilla, is picking flowers when the cyclops approaches and she runs away frightened. She arrives back at the village and tells the others what happened, Hercules goes looking for the cyclops.

While searching for the cyclops, Hercules is faced with the daughters again, but manages to evade them. He meets with the cyclops and after a brief fight, Hercules realises that the cyclops is not evil, he'd just been hurt in the past by the villagers calling him nasty names. He tells the cyclops that he should work with the villagers and not for Hera. He tells Hercules he works for Castor, who is in charge of the vineyard, not Hera. Hercules convinces the cyclops that he should try to resolve his problems with the villagers. He then goes back to the village and tells the people there that they should give the cyclops some respect and not call him names and treat him like a freak. One man, Atreus, says he won't be nice and some villagers agree, Scilla tells them they are awful for being so mean to the cyclops.

Meanwhile a group of Hera's executioners come looking for Hercules. As Hercules helps the villagers divert the river back to their village, the cyclops comes to help, some people throw rocks at him and call him names, as he retreats, Scilla follows him. Hercules says he know why the cyclops is evil, it wasn't Hera that made him evil, it was the people of the village by always calling him names. At his cave Scilla tries to convince the cyclops that not all the villagers feel the same, he replies that she still fled out of fear when she first saw him. The cyclops offers his help to Hercules and they both fight Hera's men. Some of the villagers say they should help. Atreus says he "I won't die helping a freak, or anyone who side with one, even if it is Hercules." After disposing of all of Hera's men. Atreus asks Hercules how he can repay him, Hercules says that they should just "be nice" to the cyclops. The villagers and the cyclops agree to let each other live in peace. As Hercules and Salmoneus leave the village they are encountered by the 50 daughters again, they say they don't want Hercules and that Salmoneus will do. Salmoneus walks off with the women, leaving Hercules to travel alone to his next adventure.

Trivia

  • This Hercules
    Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
    Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is a television series, filmed in New Zealand and the United States. It was produced from 1995, and was very loosely based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles...

    episode was the first appearance of Robert Trebor as Salmoneus.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK