Hercules, Samson and Ulysses

In Ithaca, off the coast of Greece, Hercules is living with his wife Iole and his little son at the court of King Laertes. A delegation of fishermen comes to ask Laertes to do something about a sea monster that is killing some of them. Hercules volunteers to slay the monster, and Laertes provides him with a ship and crew. Ulysses, Laertes's young son, goes along with them, taking homing pigeons at his parents' insistence. Hercules eventually spears the sea monster, but a violent storm then appears. The monster dies, and the ship is wrecked. Only six men, including Hercules and Ulysses, are left to float on a fragment of it. They come aground on the coast of Judea, and walk to the village of the Danites, who are tyrannized by the Philistines. The travelers get horses from a Philistine dealer and ride to Gaza, where the Philistine King, or "Seren", may give them a ship. En route, the Greeks' party is attacked by a lion, which Hercules strangles. This makes the Philistine horse-owner think that Hercules is the Danite fugitive Samson, and so reports to the Seren. Philistine soldiers enter the Danite village to look for Samson. They find a second strangled lion, kill the children, burn the village and capture the able-bodied adults to sell as slaves. While saving a woman, Samson kills all the soldiers. Furious, Samson thinks that the Greek sailors are Philistine spies and were behind the attack. In Gaza, the Seren has the Greeks barred in and challenges Hercules to prove that he is not Samson. If Hercules brings Samson to the Seren in the next three days, the Greeks will be let go and receive a ship to sail home. Delilah, the Seren's girlfriend, decides to help Hercules. She dresses like a poor woman, plotting to lure Samson out by pretending that Hercules is dragging her off as a Danite prisoner. This plan succeeds; Samson appears and challenges Hercules. They settle in for a battle, hurling boulders at each other, knocking down pillars and archways, and fighting with iron poles. They eventually realize that they are both for Danite freedom and against the Seren. Delilah tries to flee and warn the Seren, but they bring her down. She then uses her wiles on Samson to get him to let her go in aid of a plan to have Hercules pretend to bring Samson in, then trust Samson to flee after the hostages are freed and the ship sailed. Meanwhile, Iole and the others at home receive the pigeons, and learn that the Greek sailors are in Judea. Laertes provides Iole with his best ship and crew to go bring them home. Hercules and Samson approach Gaza and wait to see Ulysses and the other Greeks put onto the ship before fake-tying Samson up for the pretend delivery. But Delilah told the Seren their plan, and appears beside him in armour as he directs soldiers to close in on the two, while Philistine soldiers are also concealed on the ship to kill the other Greeks. Ulysses notices this and alerts the others, who subdue them, then swims ashore to warn Hercules and Samson. They are on a hill below the temple of Dagon, and fight off the soldiers by hurling boulders down on them; they then collaborate to raise the iron beam on which the temple rests, bringing it down in an avalanche of stone on the army. They run for the ship, but the Seren's men fire flaming arrows and burn it (the other Greeks dive overboard). Iole's ship then appears, and the men on board shoot a multi-spear contraption that disposes of all the remaining Philistines. The Seren wounds Ulysses from the shore, and Samson hurls a spear which kills him. On board the rescue ship, Samson hails Iole as a saviour, and Hercules warns Samson against Delilah. He dives overboard to swim ashore while the Greeks sail away. ==Cast==