King Amphitryon of Tiryns invades Argos in ancient Greece, in 1200 BC. Eventually Amphitryon fights rival King Galenus in personal battle, killing Galenus and seizing his kingdom. Queen Alcmene is indignant at the thirst for power and warmongering of her husband.She prays to Hera for guidance and Hera, Zeus' wife, tells her to allow Zeus to impregnate Alcemene with her people's savior, a demi-god son to be named Hercules. The only other testimony to this is Chiron, the loyal adviser to the queen. Amphitryon names his new "son" Alcides, although Alcmene secretly acknowledges Hercules as his true name.

Twenty years later Prince Alcides (Hercules) became Princess Hebe of Crete 's lover. A Nemean lion attacks Hercules and his older brother, Prince Iphicles, which Iphicles says can not be killed, and their spears literally bounce off his hide. Hercules, not with spear anymore, straddles the lion from behind and wrestles it until the giant cat has choked his life.Iphicles takes all the credit and gets to a royal banquet wearing a lion's pelt as a cloak and calls his brother a coward, but Hebe sees this lie right through. At the banquet, Amphitryon announces Hebe and Iphicles' engagement, while Hercules is sent away to an Egyptian military campaign.

He is told by Alcemene of his true lineage and that his name is Hercules, not Alcides. In three moons, before her impending nuptials, Alcides vows to return to Hebe. He joins Captain Sotiris' command in the Egyptian desert, where they ambush their small company, leaving Alcides and Sotiris as last survivors.When the ambush leader demands to know where the prince is, Sotiris gestures to a slain soldier 's body, while Hercules ends up using his god-given name to conceal his prince identity. Amphitryon is revealed to have arranged the ambush to eliminate Hercules. The two are sold off to Lucius, a promoter of fights in the gladiator style, where they excel.The two are asking the promoter to take them to Greece to fight in an arena battle, where they will fight six undefeated gladiators and potentially turn the promoter into a wildly rich man.
Before leaving for Greece, when Sotiris is injured in a battle, Hercules convinces the promoter to set Sotiris free, and he will fight all six gladiators himself.Sotiris follows him secretly on to Greece.

Alcmene and Hebe are mourning Alcides / Hercules' death. When Alcmene seeks guidance from Hera, she is discovered by Amphitryon, who learns the truth of Hercules' parentage and is destined to overthrow him. Amphitryon stabs Alcmene with her own dagger, then tells Chiron that, in her grief, the Queen committed suicide.In the meantime, Hercules arrives in Greece and beats the six gladiators in battle with ease. The people are celebrating his victory and Amphitryon Army deserters join him and Sotiris.

After Alcides' death, Hebe is in anguish and dreads her pending marriage to Iphicles. She tries to leap off the palace roof but is rescued by Chiron, who takes her to Hercules. The army of Amphitryon begins to desert him, forcing him to hire foreign mercenaries when Hercules and Sotiris commence a fight against the tyranny campaign of Amphitryon.Iphicles threatens the life of Sotiris' son, forcing Sotiris to drive him to Hercules. Iphicles is surprised to discover Alcides is Hercules. Hercules is chained and publicly flogged, then watches in horror as Chiron is murdered by Iphicles under orders from Amphitryon. In anguish he recognizes Zeus as his father and calls for strength from him.Hercules breaks free from his chains and kills the guard of Amphitryon, though Amphitryon and Iphicles flee.

Hercules and Sotiris elevate the palace of an Amphitryon army and storm. The palace guard of Amphitryon joins Hercules and his army, and is fighting mercenaries of Amphitryon.
Hercules invokes the power of lightning on his father who infuses his sword. With his lightning sword, Hercules defeats the mercenaries, and then he meets Amphitryon in personal combat.Hercules almost defeats Amphitryon but Iphicles holds Hebe hostage and threatens to kill her if Amphitryon is not let go by Hercules. Hercules hesitates, but Hebe pushes through her shoulder the dagger and kills Iphicles. Finally, Hercules avenges the death of Alcmene and kills Amphitryon with the same blade that killed his mum.Hercules rushes to the side of Hebe as she drifts slowly into unconsciousness. Nearly a year later, a baby's cry is heard, the baby boy Hercules and Hebe. He watches over his kingdom that night and at last fulfills his destiny.