1.01 - Treasure of Zeus

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Title Treasure of Zeus Episode # Season 1, Episode 1 First aired September 12, 1998 Directed by Chris Graves Written by Mark Edens Robert Tapert Liz Friedman Summary Strife goes undercover. Hercules, Iolaus, and Jason go after Zeus' Chalice. Ep 1 of 3.

FoxKids Spoilers

• Strife, Ares' nephew, convinces Hercules to retrieve a chalice of Zeus's from a cave which belongs to Hera, hoping the traps within will kill the young hero.
• Strife (Joel Tobeck) masquerades as an academy cadet and coerces Hercules into mounting a quest to find a chalice that once belonged to Zeus, but is now in the possession of Hera, who hates Hercules.

TV Guide Promo

• God of Mischief, Strife disguises himself as a cadet (Nysus Gaius) and tricks our hero, Hercules, and his best friends, Iolaus and Jason, into removing a beautiful vase (chalice) from Hera’s cave. Hercules’ mission - to take the chalice to his father, Zeus - turns deadly when a wooden Phoenix comes to life and attacks our heroes.
• Strife gets some help from Ares and poses as a student at the Academy. Ares and Strife have a plan to trap Hercules by giving him the location of a chalice that once belonged to his father.

Synopsis

      Inside an impressive throne room with swords and shields on the walls, Ares practices sword fighting with a suit of armor that moves by itself, while Strife lounges in front of the throne and complains that he's tired of being a nobody. Ares suggests that he kill a mortal son of Zeus, and Strife replies, "You mean Hercules." Ares has an obvious deep-seated hatred for Hercules, and claims that Hera wants him gone too. Strife is wary of the protection order Zeus has on Hercules, that any god who disobeys will spend eternity in Tartarus. Ares replies that obviously they can't attack him directly, but "sometimes a little strife can lead to a major catastrophe."

      Hercules is tossing hay in a barn when he is attacked by an unknown assailant. They fight with no clear winner. Alcmene breaks up the fight with a bucket of water, and the assailant is revealed to be Iolaus, who claims to have been testing Hercules's reflexes. Alcmene gives Hercules a mop and Herc uses it to knock Iolaus on his butt. "Expect the unexpected."

      Alcmene bids Hercules a safe trip back to the Academy, and Hercules gripes about how Zeus has never been there for either of them. Alcmene wishes that Hercules wasn't always trying to impress Zeus. Herc and Iolaus leave for Cheiron's Academy.

      Night has fallen and they stop at an Inn for some food. Inside, a pair of Satyrs are eating. Hercules and Iolaus reunite with Jason, who is glad to be back at the Academy where he's just another student and not the Crown Prince of Corinth. Kora arrives to take their order, and Jason is suddenly happy to mention that he's a prince and he could give her a tour of the palace if she wants. Iolaus tries to put their food on his tab, claiming to be tight with the Inn's owner, and Kora reveals that she is the owner.

      Strife enters in disguise and, per obvious arrangement, the satyrs trip him. Hercules, Iolaus, and Jason are about to face-off against the satyrs when Kora notices and kicks the satyrs out. Strife introduces himself as 'Nysus Gaius'.

      At the Academy, the cadets are training with many different weapons. Hercules is sparring with Nysus, and knocks him to the ground. Cheiron, their centaur mentor, watches their training and offers advice. Nysus and Hercules spar again, but this time Nysus starts talking about Zeus and a chalice he made that is hidden in a nearby cave, and Hercules is obviously distracted by the mention of his father.

      After sparring, Hercules approaches Nysus, wanting more information about the cave and the chalice. After he leaves, Ares's face shows up in a bucket of water, asking if the plan went smoothly. Nysus confirms that Hercules is hooked "like a little fish, waiting for Hera to fry."

      Hercules sneaks out of the Academy after curfew, and Iolaus and Jason catch him. Herc tells them about the chalice. Iolaus and Jason are skeptical, but they tag along. Iolaus calls dibs on any gold that might be in the cave.

      On the way to Hera's Cave, Hercules, Iolaus, and Jason find and pick up spears. Over the cave is a huge phoenix, and the guys throw their spears at it to prove that it isn't alive. Hercules leads the way into the cave, lighting a torch with his gauntlets, and both Iolaus and Hercules almost get hurt by traps.

      At the end of Hera's Cave there is a red chalice sitting on a rock, lit from above. Hercules picks it up and, assuming it's holding rain water from a leaky cave, Iolaus dumps the contents out on the rock. The rock bursts into fire, and the fire quickly grows. The boys stare in shock for a moment, and then run for the entrance of the cave as a huge fireball chases them out. They barely make it outside before the fireball explodes from the cave, burning the phoenix statue, and the boys reminisce about that time they were served beans in the Academy for a week.

      The sun comes up, and the charred phoenix statue cracks, revealing a live Phoenix.

      The boys are about to sneak back into the Academy when the Phoenix attacks from above, snatching up the chalice and Iolaus. Hercules lassos the phoenix, and it drops Iolaus and begins to fly away with the chalice and Hercules hanging from a rope around its neck. Strife watches.

      Continues in 1.02 Between Friends.

Characters (in order of appearance)

• Strife (a.k.a. Nysus Gaius)
• Ares
• Zeus - (mention only)
• Hera - (mention only)
• Hercules
• Hooded Attacker
• Alcmene
• Iolaus
• Jason
• Kora
• Cheiron
• Custodian

Places

• Ares's Temple
• Olympus - (mention only)
• Alcmene's Home
• Cheiron's Academy
• Kora's Inn
• Hera's Cave

Items

• Floating Suit of Armor
• Zeus's Chalice
• Ares's Throne
• Ares's Lamps
• Ares's Sword
• Ares's Sword and Shield Decoration

Mythology

• Satyrs
• Centaurs
• Phoenix

Plot Arcs

• Herc's Obsession with Zeus
• Cheiron's Advice
• Pop Culture References & Greekisms
• Zeus's Protection Order on Herc
• Ares's Desire To Kill Hercules
• When Good Plans Go Bad

Other Pages

• Property Damage

Quotes

Strife: I'm tired of being a nobody, Ares. I mean - 'Strife, the god of war's nephew' - What does it say to anybody? I mean, I’m ready for the big time. Why can't I be, uh, ‘Disaster’, or, uh, ‘Catastrophe’? Okay, well, that’s hard to spell.

Iolaus: All right, all right. We’ll come with you. But, if there’s anything in the chalice - like gold - we split it three ways.

Hercules: Two ways - all I want is the chalice.
Jason: One way - I'm just coming along to keep you jerks out of trouble.

Iolaus: I love you guys.

Iolaus: Remember that time when they served us beans in the dining hall for a whole week straight?
Jason: We had a blast!

Trivia & References

New Guy - This episode is the first time Kora is introduced.

Recycling - The plot of Hercules stealing a chalice made by Zeus is echoed from the Young Hercules (Movie Pilot), where Hercules broke into Ares's treasure vault and stole a green urn made by Zeus. That urn held a cyclone inside.

Nod to HtLJ - Jason's remark to Hercules, ("How's your mother?"), is an inside joke, considering in HtLJ "2.21 - The Wedding of Alcmene", Jason and Alcmene eventually marry.

Continuity Warning - In all the flashbacks in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Jason has been the King of Corinth - but for most of the series he's still the crown prince.

Guides, Scripts, Transcripts, & Reviews

• The Treasure of Zeus Shooting Draft
• The Treasure of Zeus Transcript
• Whoosh.org's transcript.
• Whoosh.org's Episode Guide
• IMDB's Episode Guide
• TV.com's Episode Guide
• ShareTV's Episode Guide
• Watch the full episode online at Hulu.com.

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