Recap / Atlantis S 1 E 6 The Song Of The Sirens

Hercules is preparing for a wrestling match against a man known as “the Destroyer.” Jason and Pythagoras help him prepare but can’t come up with a good wrestling name for him.When Hercules loses the match, the Destroyer celebrates by sweeping Medusa off her feet, to Hercules’ dismay.

As Pythagoras attends to Hercules’ injuries, Jason tells Hercules that he shouldn’t have to put himself in danger just to impress Medusa. Hercules insists that impressing Medusa had nothing to do with it and that he’s just a great fighter.That night, Jason and Pythagoras worry that Medusa might not feel for Hercules the same way he does for her, and question what he has to offer her. Unbeknownst to them, Hercules hears every word disparaging him.

The next morning, Jason goes to see the Oracle. The Oracle warns Jason of an unclear vision of a dangerous woman in the shadows seeking Jason.Hercules leaves burnt offerings at the temple of Aphrodite, but Elias, a man in the marketplace, warns Hercules that the goddess of love is fickle, and he recommends that Hercules try using an enchantment. Elias tells Hercules that a Colchian witch can be found in the mountains, and the only payment she would demand for her services is “his most prized possession.”

Hercules investigates the mountains and meets Circe, the witch. He gives her a gift his father gave him: a tooth of Cerberus.Circe offers Hercules a jar containing the song of the Sirens, which will make him irresistible to Medusa, but she warns him to think carefully before he uses it.

Hercules returns to Atlantis and accepts Jason and Pythagoras’ apologies. With Korinna’s help, Hercules visits Medusa in the palace kitchens. When Hercules takes the lid off of the jar, Medusa hears the song of the Sirens. Hercules asks her out, and Medusa agrees to meet him later.Hercules and Medusa have a romantic evening together that ends with a kiss.

The next morning, Medusa brings breakfast to the household of the heroes, and Hercules notices a burn mark on her hand. As they go about their day, Medusa suddenly faints and has to be carried to a bed, while the burn marks expand across her body. Pythagoras tries to heal her, but her condition continues to worsen. Pythagoras tells Jason that he thinks Medusa’s problem might be magical, in which case only another enchantment can cure her.Hercules realizes that he caused this by using enchantment, and tells Jason and Pythagoras everything.

Hercules: It’s all my fault. I was desperate. I thought about her day and night. Thought about her and knew I could never be with her. You don’t know what it’s like. (To Jason) No woman would refuse you. (To Pythagoras) And all you love is your triangles.

Desperate to save Medusa’s life, Hercules resolves to set out and find Circe again, but Jason dissuades him from this, as that might well end in Hercules’ death too. But the next day, Medusa’s burn marks have extended all the way to her face, and it’s clear she isn’t going to live much longer.Hercules confronts Circe, but she effortlessly defeats him with her magic. Circe tells Hercules that she had a vision of Hercules’ friends, and she pretended to help him to lure them to her.

Jason and Pythagoras head out after Hercules, while Korinna stays at the house to take care of Medusa.In the forest, Jason and Pythagoras encounter a pig that keeps following them on their journey. Jason tells Pythagoras that the oracle had warned him about a mysterious woman. Though they realize that she must have had a vision of Circe, there’s not much they can do about that now.

The next morning, the heroes awake to see that the pig has eaten all of their food except for the black olives. Pythagoras realizes that Circe must have turned Hercules into a pig.

Jason: Don’t worry friend, we’ll save your bacon.

Circe summons a flying monster that attacks Pythagoras. Jason slays it, but Pythagoras is wounded and must stay behind. Jason goes on alone to confront Circe, which is exactly what she wanted all along. Circe offers to cure Jason’s friends, but only if he will help her. She tells Jason that she once had a home and a husband she loved, but her life was ruined, and her face was scarred by someone on whom she wishes revenge. Jason refuses to be Circe’s personal assassin, but Circe asks if he can live with the consequences. Jason talks to Pythagoras about what to do, and decides that letting Medusa die and Hercules remain a pig is something he cannot do. Returning to Circe, Jason agrees to help her and Circe tells him that the person she wants dead is her sister: Queen Pasiphae.

Back in Atlantis, Medusa is healed, and Hercules is returned to his human form. Hercules nervously asks Pythagoras if Medusa had anything to say when she heard about what happened.

Pythagoras: She said that a pig was too good for you.

Hercules: Right. Well, she could have said worse I suppose.

Pythagoras: …And that if she had known she would have caught you, roasted you, and fed you to the birds.

Hercules: Uh, she knows I don’t like birds. Perhaps I’ll leave it for awhile. She’ll come around.

Jason tells the Oracle what happened, and she is aghast when she hears what Jason has promised to do for Circe.

Tropes

• Forced Transformation: Hercules is transformed into a pig.
• Mythology Gag: Hercules boasts that when he was a baby he strangled a snake with his bare hands, which is actually true in Classical mythology, though Jason and Pythagoras don’t believe it.
  • Hercules’ most valued possession is a tooth that his father gave him, claiming it was plucked from the jaws of Cerberus. The mythological Hercules brought Cerberus up from the underworld during one of his labors.
  • Circe turns Hercules into a pig. In The Odyssey, she turned Odysseus’ crew into pigs.
• Rewatch Bonus: The Oracle is horrified when she learns that Jason promised Circe that he would kill Pasiphae. While promising to murder anyone is awful enough, the Oracle’s horror becomes even more understandable later as it is revealed that Pasiphae is Jason’s mother.
• Rhetorical Question Blunder: When asked if they’re doing the right thing, Jason asks “are the Gods Greek?”
  Pythagoras: Well, they have a variety of complex roots…
• Two-Faced: The right side of Circe’s face is horribly scarred.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Pythagoras and Jason’s criticism of Hercules leads to Hercules enlisting Circe’s help, which leads to Circe compelling Jason to kill Pasiphae on her behalf.