Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The Mighty Hercules (1963–1965), 128 cartoons, each 5½ minutes long, led to compressed, simple narratives featuring a recurring cast of characters. Ostensibly set in the area of Calydon, the narratives center on the adventures of Hercules and his pals who often face recurring villains: Daedalus and the invented Murtis and Elvira. While mythological content is present, it is superficial. The narratives are aggressively structured in a chaste heteronormative romantic frame through the presence of Hercules’s girlfriend, Helena. This chapter examines recurrent narrative features of the series, which demonstrate the continued iterability of the brief format. Given the narrative constraints, it is perhaps surprising that anything informed by classical material might emerge: what, if anything, is classical for the modern viewer?</jats:p>