Probably a daft question, but was Hylas meant to be gay? He seemed rather taken with Hercules, especially in the first scene that he appears in. He has a peice of straw in his mouth, as soon as he spots Hercules he says "Ah Hercules, yes!" Or something like that. That scene has always intrigued me.
shareNever thought about that before. Could be. Hylas was an intellectual and Hercules was mostly all-brawn. Now I'm a straight man and always thought Steve Reeves was so cool as Hercules but I never realized that he was so idolized by gay men. Makes perfect sense to me now. I think however, straight men are always fascinated by powerful men. Many a straight man fiercely admire professional athletes and I think most of that "hero-worship" is non-sexual. They just wish they could be out there making the touchdowns themselves.
shareThank you for a well thought out explanation of that scene.
shareWasn't Hylas one Herc's illegitimate children?
Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?
Possibly but perhaps only as an adopted son: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/hylas.html
shareIt could also be that they were legitimately just close friends. During the time the movie was set, it was probably a little more acceptable for two men to have that style of affection for each other even if they weren't gay.
share"During the time the movie was set, it was probably a little more acceptable for two men to have that style of affection for each other even if they weren't gay."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromance#Film
Plenty of bromances out there these days but they tend to only be in comedies.
Sure, but given the time period that this movie was set, nobody would have bat an eyelid about two guys being close. I mean, even during the nineteenth century after photography was invented, there were quite a few pictures of guys being a lot more physically affectionate with each other than we'd generally consider acceptable today.
shareYes, but wouldn't you like a nickel for every time over the centuries that old chestnut excuse "I must've blacked out from too much (wine, whiskey, mead, absinthe, booze, beer), 'cause I don't remember a thing," was used...?!
;9)B
"Come, Theseus, we've been wrestling all day. Let's relax a bit with some wine, then oil up and wrestle some more."
Not really. I've never been close enough to anyone for that to be the case.
shareI've seen this movie hundreds of times since I've made multiple movie dvds that I sleep to... playing while I sleep... movies that I love and not meaning boring. Jason & Argonauts starts out my "sleep" dvd then goes into the Mouse That Roared, 7 Faces Of Dr Lao, then Casino Royale.... all movies from the 1960's. Anyways, I never thought the Hylas/Hercules bond was anything gay... just a brains/muscules thing.... Hercules was just so surprised at being bested at something that they formed a bond and became friends. Nothing gay about that. I doubt the movie meant to imply anything sexual. And being a friend of Hylas, Hercules stayed till he could find the body.
shareI would like to add that Hercules probably felt guilty for Hylas' death since he didn't listen when Hylas asked Hercules to leave the javelin(broach pin).
shareEven as a kid, I think, I always assumed Hercules and Hylas were a couple. (It's a Greek story, after all!) The two fitted the characteristics and types of at least two gay couples I knew in real life, so it seemed pretty natural to me.
You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.
The real Hercules in the myths was a homosexual who had a young male lover ... it may have been Hylas, but can't remember my Greek mythology all that well.
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