Demetrius is a minor character from Disney's 35th animated movie, Hercules. He is voiced by Wayne Knight, who also voiced Tantor in Tarzan and Al McWhiggin in Toy Story 2.
Role in the film[]
Demetrius is a pottery salesman who ran a small shop at the marketplace near where Hercules grew up. Like the rest of the townsfolk, beside Amphitryon and Alcmene, Demetrius greatly feared and barely tolerated Hercules. Although kindhearted, Hercules was extremely clumsy and prone to accidents. In addition, he had no control over his immense strength. Demetrius' greatest fear was that Hercules would damage his wares. This was demonstrated when Hercules offered to help him carry a big clay pot. Despite clearly struggling under its weight, Demetrius refused this offer, albeit kindly and sent him on his way. Sadly, his fears turned out to be justified, as moments afterwards, Hercules accidentally damaged a pillar, setting off a chain reaction, which destroyed the entire marketplace. Demetrius' attempts to save his wares were all in vain and he ended up with an urn stuck on his head. Wrenching the urn off of his head, Demetrius, whose beard and hair were disheveled turned to face Hercules and his father. Red in the face with anger (and presumably oxygen starvation), the potter threw his last surviving pot to the ground in a rage, snapping at Amphitryon that this incident was the last straw as far as he was concerned.
Although an angry mob had already gathered, the rest of the townsfolk rallied behind Demetrius' leadership. Equally angry, they called Hercules a menace and a danger to society. Coming to his son's defense, Amphitryon insisted that Hercules didn't do it intentionally and just simply could not control his strength was all. Unfortunately, this excuse did not placate anybody, least of all Demetrius. Unappeased, the potter got straight in Amphitryon's face and warned/ordered him to keep "that - that - that - FREAK" away from the town from now on. Point made, Demetrius and the other residents (who likewise despised Hercules) all stormed off.
Legacy[]
Despite his relatively small role, Demetrius' insult had a major impact upon the rest of the story. Agreeing with Demetrius and the others declarations that he was a freak, Hercules questioned his place in the world. This in turn prompted Amphitryon and Alceme to tell Hercules about his origins, which encouraged the latter to travel to the Temple of Zeus. There, Hercules discovered that he was in fact the son of Zeus and began his quest to become a hero. From there, Hercules was able to fulfill his destiny and became a mythical figure, whose name would become the stuff of legend for generations to come.
Trivia[]
- Since Demetrius was not seen or mentioned for the rest of the film, it is not known if his (or the other townsfolk's) opinion of Hercules ever changed following the latter's rise to fame. Hercules however, may have gotten a belated revenge upon his former tormentors. Whilst he was shown to have sent money to his adoptive parents, it is not known if he compensated Demetrius or any of the others for the damages he caused in his youth. If not, then that was probably his way of getting revenge upon them for treating him very poorly.
- It's likely that he, Ithicles, and his friends, and the other townsfolk were ether arrested or banished from Greece forever for calling Hercules a "freak," a "menace," and "dangerous."
- Ironically, as a pottery salesman, Demetrius probably ended up selling urns dedicated to Hercules, which would be completely ironic given his poor treatment of the latter.
- Demetrius was probably named after Demetrius of Alopece, a Greek sculptor from the 4th Century BC, renowned for his life-like work.
- His name is very similar to Dimitri from Anastasia.
- Had he and the townsfolk found out that Hercules was adopted by Amphitryon and Alcmene, and learned that he's actually the son of Zeus, not only that they would stop him, but they would have also tried to have him, and his adoptive parents beheaded by the Greek solders for committing high treason. However, Zeus would have intervened and saved his son and his adoptive parents from being executed, and either banished Demetrius, Ithicles, and the others from Greece, or smite them with his thunderbolts.
- if he and the others had sold their souls to Hades (also Ithicles and his friends would gain eternal youth for selling their souls to Hades), they would have taken their revenge on Hercules for not only destroying the marketplace years ago, but for being rich and famous, leading them to becoming jealous. They would try to kill him, but they would fail, and Hercules would banish them from Greece forever, and orders them to never return.