Sat, Jan 9, 1999
The young gods Prometheus and Epimetheus are sent by Zeus to endow Earth with some new creatures. While Epimetheus uses his godly powers to create "birds" and "horses", Prometheus stumbles upon primitive man. Seeing these intelligent beings toiling against the harsh environment, Prometheus decides to give them the gift of fire so that they can create a great civilization. When Zeus refuses Prometheus' request to give fire, Prometheus disobeys, steals fire from the gods and gives it to man. Using the fire, man begins to flourish. But Zeus finds out that Prometheus disobeyed him and chains the young god to a cliff leaving eagles to peck at his body. Then, to punish man, Zeus creates Pandora and gives her a box that she is never to open. Hearing voices calling to her from inside the box, Pandora is overcome with curiosity and opens it, unleashing all the ills of mankind upon civilization. But just when it looks like Zeus has proven that man is not deserving of the gifts of gods, a despairing Pandora discovers one last "tiny voice" emanating from inside the box, claiming to be "hope". Pandora conquers her fear and releases "hope" from the box, and "hope" fills the hearts of man so that they can conquer all the "ills" that Pandora had released before. Seeing Pandora's selfless act, Zeus realizes that mortal man is deserving after all and frees Prometheus from his chains.
Sat, Nov 7, 1998
Andromeda, the daughter of King Cepheus, longs to be a warrior in her father's army, but women are not allowed to fight, and so the king forbids her. Instead, the king obliges the Queen's wishes to marry Andromeda off to a wealthy prince. Desperate to make her dream come true, Andromeda appeals to the goddess, Athena, who gives her a spectacular suit of armor to hide her identity. Now disguised as the "Silver Warrior", Andromeda challenges the best warriors in the kingdom and beats them all - that is until she meets the hero, Perseus, and falls in love with him. But conflicts of love are nothing compared to conflicts with the gods. For when the Queen brags that Andromeda is more beautiful than Poseidon's daughters, the sea god unleashes the sea monster, Cetus, upon the kingdom. Only the "Silver Warrior" is brave enough to fight the beast, and with the help of Perseus, defeats the monster. The Silver Warrior reveals his true identity and when the king sees it's his daughter that has saved the kingdom, he is more than glad to have this warrior princess in his army.
Sat, Jan 15, 2000
King Midas was a wealthy Grecian merchant and a popular king with a loving wife and a young daughter, until the day that his beloved wife died while tending to the poor peasants on a winter night. Blaming her death on her foolish charity, Midas looked upon the poor with disdain, and dedicated his life to the one thing he could love that would not perish -- his fortune! But a local outlaw threatens to undo Midas' fortune, and when he steals his golden sword, Midas becomes obsessed with capturing this rogue who gives his gold away to the poor. Wanting more than anything to protect his fortune, Midas wishes for unlimited wealth and is visited in a dream by Dionysus, god of revelry, who answers the King's wish by giving Midas the "golden touch". Overtaken by greed, Midas turns all around him into gold, even the very creatures in the garden that his wife had so lovingly tended to. But his dream of wealth soon becomes his worst nightmare, when he captures the masked outlaw and turns him into a gold statue only to discover it's his daughter.
Sat, Dec 19, 1998
Daedalus, the greatest inventor of the ancient world, designed sailing ships, the wheel, the loom and the plow. But though he was a man of great talent, he was also an ambitious man who sought fame and fortune above all this. His son, Icarus, idolized his father and followed in his shoes, becoming just as talented and just as much of a glory seeker. Blinded by his ambition, Daedalus fails to honor his promises to the goddess, Athena, who helped the inventor become successful. In punishment, the goddess causes the great museum that Daedalus built to crumble to the ground, accidentally killing Talos, Daedalus' apprentice. Blamed for the boy's death, Daedalus is imprisoned. But Icarus helps his father escape to Crete where they hope to once again be appreciated for their talent. King Minos of Crete offers Daedalus and Icarus fame and glory like never before, but in return he demands that the great inventor build him weapons of war. Giving in to temptation, Daedalus agrees, only to see his incredible weapons used to defeat the Athenians, and his labyrinth (the inescapable underground maze) used to imprison them. All this violence against Daedalus' own people causes great regret in the inventor, but when he voices this to Minos, he and Icarus are imprisoned in the very labyrinth they built. Desperate to escape, father and son make two pairs of wings from the feathers of birds. But though Daedalus has learned his lesson about the pitfalls of fame and glory, Icarus has not. Determined to fly higher than the gods, Icarus fails to heed his father's warning to not fly too close to the sun. The wax holding together Icarus' wings melts away and the boy falls into the sea.
Sat, Dec 5, 1998
When the evil King Pelias usurps the throne of Jason's father, young Jason is sent to the centaur, Chiron, to learn the ways of a warrior and a leader. After his long training, Jason is finally ready to win his father's throne back. Jason soon discovers that Pelias has ruled with a wicked hand, and that the people rejoice at Jason's return. Seeing Jason as a real threat to his throne, the cunning King reminds Jason that if he fights him there will be much bloodshed -- then offers a way to avoid it. If Jason will travel to the ends of the earth and bring Pelias the "Golden Fleece", Pelias will gladly take the valuable prize and step down from his throne. Determined to do what's best for his people, Jason accepts the challenge. Jason recruits the heroes, Hercules, Atalanta, Orpheus and Zetes and Calais (gods of the wind) for his crew, and with the help of the goddess Athena, builds the Argo, the greatest sailing ship ever. But soon the inexperienced Jason's leadership skills are tested to the limit when his Argonauts (great heroes who have never failed before) find the challenges of this journey beyond their abilities. It's up to Jason to get the nearly defeated heroes to work together as a team in order to get past the deadly "Clashing Rocks" and to defeat the giant Harpie Birds. The Argonauts work together and succeed, and once again set sail for the island of Colchis where the Golden Fleece resides.
Sat, Sep 25, 1999
Psyche, the most beautiful princess in all of Greece, far outshining her two sisters, is sought by every suitor who lavish her with gifts and offer her marriage, caring not for who she truly is inside. All this attention to a mortal angers Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Out of vengeance, she sends her son Eros to fire one of his golden "love arrows" at Psyche to get her to fall in love with a mule. But instead Eros falls in love with Psyche, not for her beauty, but for her kind and caring nature. Determined to prove to his mother that Psyche will love him for who he really is -- and not because he's a god, Eros sees to it that Psyche is delivered to his magnificent palace, and then turning himself invisible, courts the beautiful princess. Soon Psyche falls in love with her invisible host, who will not reveal his identity. But Psych becomes lonely and convinces Eros to let her sisters visit her just once. When the jealous sisters fill Psyche's mind with the idea that her invisible lover might just be a monster preparing to devour her, Psyche's trust falters and she sneaks into Eros' bedroom and discovers his human form. But Eros is awoken, and angered over Psyche's lack of trust, sends her away. Begging to have a second chance, Psyche goes to Aphrodite who tells her if she wants Eros' forgiveness, she must journey to the underworld to fetch a box of beauty from Hades' Queen, Persephone, but warns her she must not open it. Psyche survives her underworld journey only to discover that it has made her grow old and gray. But having learned a lesson about true beauty, Psyche resists opening the box of beauty to restore her youth. In the end, she is reunited with Eros and his kiss brings back her beauty and their love for each other.
Sat, Nov 6, 1999
Damon and Pythias were two fast friends, always faithful to each other. As young boys, they anger the lonely and friendless Prince Dionus who under the influence of his court adviser, has been brought up to believe that no one can be trusted and that true friendship does not exist. When one day, a stray spear thrown by Pythias nearly kills the Prince, Pythias is blamed and sentenced to death for his deed. Pythias begs for a chance to say good-bye to his parents, but Prince Dionus is sure he will just run off, and so Damon offers to be executed in Pythias' place if his faithful friend does not return in time. Meanwhile, we discover the "Three Fates", old hags who meddle in the destinies of mortals, have been following these affairs and are determined to make Pythias' journey back nearly impossible. While Pythias must battle the magical beasts unleashed upon them by the Fates, Damon remains certain that his friend will return to him, no matter how hard Prince Dionus tries to convince him otherwise.
Sat, Nov 28, 1998
Young Perseus is a demi-god, his mother being mortal, his father being Zeus, king of all the gods. But Zeus being too busy with the affairs of Mount Olympus to pay attention to his mortal son, left Perseus to grow up alone to take care of his mother. Later, the evil King Polydectes, having fallen in love with Perseus' mother, tries to force her to marry him. Perseus tries to stop Polydectes, but the cunning king goads Perseus into proving he is really the son of a god by bringing back the head of the monster Medusa. When Zeus learns of this, he suddenly pays attention to his mortal son, sending the god, Hermes, to talk Perseus out of this futile quest. But Perseus resents his father's help -- he was never there before when Perseus needed him. Determined to defeat Medusa on his own terms, Perseus visits the "Grey Sisters", three ghastly witches, who offer him a choice of weapons or wisdom. The rash Perseus takes the weapons and is nearly turned to stone by the snake-haired Medusa. A desperate Perseus finally realizes that he does need the help of others. Reconciling things with Zeus and returning to the "Grey Sisters", Perseus is given advice along with a polished shield, and using both, tricks and defeats Medusa. Then he returns to King Polydectes with Medusa's head and turns the King and his soldiers to stone, thus freeing his mother.
Sat, Dec 18, 1999
Androcles was a Greek slave who spent his days caring for the very lions that his fellow slaves were thrown to please the sadistic whims of a tyrannical Emperor. Androcles' friend Lycopheus dreams of escaping to freedom, but Androcles is too frightened to try -- until one day when Androcles (with the advice of the god Hermes) decides to enter the cage of a sickly lion to try to help the poor creature. When the lion escapes, the chaos that follows allows Androcles and Lycopheus to escape. As they are pursued by soldiers into the forest, Lycopheus is bitten by a snake, and Androcles finds himself alone, facing the gaping jaws of the very lion that escaped. But instead of attacking Androcles, the beast collapses in his arms. Androcles discovers a huge thorn in its paw and removes it freeing the lion from his suffering. Soon after, Androcles is re-united with Lycopheus who is near death from the snakebite. To save his friend, Androcles must overcome his fears and learn to survive in the dangerous woods. Following the ways of the lion, he gains newfound confidence and skill and is able to nurse his friend back to health. But then the soldiers return and Lycopheus is recaptured. Now it's up to Androcles alone to free his fellow slaves. And he succeeds with help from a most unexpected ally. For in the end, when Androcles is thrown to the lions, the beast he faces turns out to be the very lion Androcles saved. Returning the favor, the lion submits to Androcles and licks his hand. Seeing this, the people become fearful that it is an omen from the gods and Androcles is able to convince the Emperor to free his fellow slaves.