Top Films in Greek Mythology
A list of the best films covering the greatest stories, monsters heroes from greek mythology. Find these films on Netflix and other streaming services now!
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
After saving the life of his royal father’s usurper, Pelias (Douglas Wilmer), whom he fails to recognize, Jason (Todd Armstrong) is encouraged by the conniving murderer to begin a quest in search of the Golden Fleece. In doing so, Pelias hopes for Jason’s death to thwart the prophecy that he will reclaim the throne. Along the journey, Jason is protected by the goddess Hera (Honor Blackman), and his crew includes Hercules (Nigel Green) and Acastus (Gary Raymond), a saboteur planted by Pelias.
Hercules (1997)
Disney tackles Greek mythology in this animated feature. Hercules (Tate Donovan), a son of gods, was snatched as a baby by Hades (James Woods) and forced to live among mortals as a half-man, half-god. Now a teenager, Hercules needs to perform a rite of passage on Earth to prove himself worthy of living with the gods on Mount Olympus. With his plucky satyr sidekick, Philoctetes (Danny DeVito), along for the ride, Hercules must learn how to use his strength to defeat a series of evil creatures.
Read about the twelve labours of Hercules here!
Hercules (2014)
Though he is famous across the ancient world for his larger-than-life exploits, Hercules (Dwayne Johnson), the son of Zeus and a human woman, is haunted by his tragic past. Now, he fights only for gold as a traveling mercenary, accompanied by a band of loyal followers, including Amphiarus (Ian McShane) and Autolycus. However, when the benevolent ruler of Thrace and his daughter seek his help in defeating a savage warlord, Hercules must find the true hero within himself once again.
Read about the twelve labours of Hercules here!
Alexander (2004)
The story is an epic that is as daring and ambitious as its subject, a relentless conqueror who by the age of 32 had amassed the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Past and present collide to form the puzzle of the protagonist, a tapestry of triumphs and tragedies in which childhood memories and Alexander’s rise to power unfold side by side with the later day expansion of his empire, and its ultimate downfall.
Clash of the Titans (2010)
Perseus (Sam Worthington), the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), is caught in a war between gods and is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), the god of the underworld. With nothing left to lose, Perseus leads a band of warriors on a dangerous quest to prevent Hades from overthrowing the king of the gods and laying waste to Earth.
Read about Pegasus and Cerberus here!
Wrath of the Titans (2012)
Ten years after defeating the Kraken, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is living a quieter life as a fisherman and sole parent to his young son. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing on Mount Olympus: The gods are weakened by mankind’s lack of devotion, and they are losing control of the Titans and their leader, Kronos, whom they imprisoned in Tartarus long ago. When Zeus is betrayed by Ares and Hades and captured by the Titans, Perseus leads a group to rescue him and save mankind from the ancient beings.
Read bout Perseus’ encounter with Medusa here!
Troy (2004)
Based on Homer’s “Iliad,” this epic portrays the battle between the ancient kingdoms of Troy and Sparta. While visiting Spartan King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) falls for Menelaus’ wife, Helen (Diane Kruger), and takes her back to Troy. Menelaus’ brother, King Agamemnon (Brian Cox), having already defeated every army in Greece, uses his brother’s fury as a pretext to declare war against Troy, the last kingdom preventing his control over the Aegean Sea.
Read about the Trojan Horse here!
300 (2006)
In 480 B.C. a state of war exists between Persia, led by King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), and Greece. At the Battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas (Gerard Butler), king of the Greek city state of Sparta, leads his badly outnumbered warriors against the massive Persian army. Though certain death awaits the Spartans, their sacrifice inspires all of Greece to unite against their common enemy.
300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
While King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans have their date with destiny at Thermopylae, another battle against the Persians is brewing, this time at sea. Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton), a Greek general, sees the threat posed by the God-King Xerxes of Persia. He knows that he must unite all of Greece if he is to stand any chance of repelling the Persian invasion. Even if he accomplishes his mission, Themistocles must still face Artemisia (Eva Green), the ruthless leader of the Persian armada.
Immortals (2011)
Plot. The film is loosely based on the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur and the Titanomachy. Before the dawn of man and beast, Immortals waged war against each other in Heaven. The victors declared themselves gods while the vanquished were renamed the Titans and imprisoned beneath Mount Tartarus.
Read about Theseus and the Minotaur here!
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (2010)
Always trouble-prone, the life of teenager Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) gets a lot more complicated when he learns he’s the son of the Greek god Poseidon. At a training ground for the children of deities, Percy learns to harness his divine powers and prepare for the adventure of a lifetime: he must prevent a feud among the Olympians from erupting into a devastating war on Earth, and rescue his mother from the clutches of Hades, god of the underworld.
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)
Though Percy (Logan Lerman), the half-human son of Greek god Poseidon, once saved the world, lately he’s been feeling less than heroic. However, he doesn’t have much time to brood — the enchanted borders that protect Camp Half-Blood are dissolving, and a horde of mythical beasts threatens the demigods’ sanctuary. In order to save Camp Half-Blood, Percy and his friends embark on a journey to the Sea of Monsters — aka the Bermuda Triangle — to find the magical Golden Fleece.
Minotaur (2006)
During the Iron Age, a small village worships a bull as their god, with the village queen going so far as to mate with the beast. Her half-human, half-bull child — named the Minotaur — is imprisoned in an underground labyrinth, and every three years the village is forced to sacrifice eight people to him as penance. Theo (Tom Hardy) is devastated when his girlfriend is chosen. But, when he learns she may be alive inside the labyrinth, he asks the king (Tony Todd) for a chance to save her.
Medea (1969)
The powerful sorceress (Maria Callas) helps Jason (Giuseppi Gentile) steal the Golden Fleece and reclaim his throne, then enacts a gruesome revenge after he spurns her.
Ulysses (1967)
It’s a day in the life of Leopold Bloom (Milo O’Shea), his wife, Molly (Barbara Jefford), and Stephen Dedalus (Maurice Roëves) in 1904 Dublin, based on the James Joyce novel.
Black Orpheus
Young lovers Orfeu (Breno Mello) and Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn) run through the favelas of Rio during Carnaval, on the lam from a hitman dressed like Death (Ademar Da Silva) and Orfeu’s vengeful fiancée Mira (Lourdes de Oliveira) and passing between moments of fantasy and stark reality. This impressionistic retelling of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice introduced bossa nova to the world with its soundtrack by young Brazilian composers Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Carlos Jobim.