For Aleteia last week I had the dubious pleasure of taking in 300: Rise of an Empire. Between that, Son of God and Pompeii, it feels like I’ve spent most of the last month sitting back in sword and sandal times. I haven’t been around this many people in togas since Latin club in high school. I don’t mind, though, as Greek & Roman myths were always a favorite of mine as a child. Maybe that’s why I developed a soft spot for The Mighty Hercules even though it’s generally considered one of the cheapest animated features to ever hit television. Take this episode, for instance, in which Herc tangles with a giant bug monster so sorry looking that Roger Corman wouldn’t even be caught dead using it (that’s a lie). And just for the heck of it, let’s watch it in glorious black and white, just like I first saw it…
How about that Daedalus, Sea Witch, and Mask of Vulcan, huh? No final impenitence on their part, was there? What’s that? Final impenitence? Oh, that’s just one of those old school Catholic phrases that refers to a person’s resisting of God’s grace all the way to their last breath. The Catechism tells us that “there are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.” No such tragedy existed on the part of the three villains in this episode, however. Like an atheist in a foxhole, as soon as the giant bug turned their way, they were crying out for their god to save them with all their hearts. Oh well, anytime the call comes, it’s music to God’s ears.
Speaking of music, just in case you can’t live without it, here’s the show’s original opening theme sung by Johnny Nash, the same guy who would go on to record that perennial staple of oldies radio, I Can See Clearly Now. Go on, you know you want to hear it…
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