A band of war-weary refugees wandering in search of a safe place to settle come upon the ghost town of Parthus. Broteas (John Sumner), their leader, decrees it a gift from the gods and ordains the town as their new home. That night, a mysterious figure moves through the shadows to the dilapidated temple of Hera, creeps inside and extracts a shining jewel-encrusted chalice. As the magnificent cup is removed, thunder roars angrily in the heavens unleashing a storm of unparalleled fury.
Not far from the town, Hercules takes shelter from the raging storm in a small ruin. Inside, he is startled when the seer Tiresias (Norman Forsey) emerges from the shadows. The blind old man tells Hercules that this is no ordinary storm, but in fact the evil rage of the almighty Hera.
Unable to conceive why his father, the great Zeus, has allowed such a thing to happen, Hercules renounces his love for him and sets out on a path of destruction. Possessed by an unbridled hatred, he burns his own home to the ground and turns his back on the pleas of a desperate farmer, Lycus of Ister, to save the men of his village who are being turned to stone by a she-demon. Unbeknownst to Hercules, Iolaus agrees to help Lycus and the two set out for Ister while Hercules pays a visit to his mother and vows to take personal revenge on Hera by destroying each of her seven temples.
The next morning, Hercules continues his journey, accompanied by the seer. Coming upon Parthus, they find the bedraggled settlers recovering from the storm. The seer has a strong premonition that the town is cursed, and they soon discover the food has gone bad and the water in the well has turned to blood. That night, the seer enters Hera?temple and as he lays his hands upon the very spot where the beautiful chalice sat, images start flooding his mind. Later he reveals to Hercules that Zeus gave a young maiden of the town a golden chalice and when Hera learned of her husband's gift, she turned the maiden into a mangy dog and inflicted a curse on the town forever.
Hercules persuades the travelers that they must move on to the protected city of Calydon despite the strong objections of their leader Broteas. Along the way, they are besieged by a terrible rockstorm and attacked by evil bounty hunters sent by Hera. Throughout the journey, Hercules valiantly defends the travelers, including Jana (Portia Dawson), a compassionate and beautiful young woman who watches over feisty nine-year-old orphan Ixion (Christopher Saunoa). The seer finally reveals that one of the travelers is the thief who took the chalice from Hera's temple and is carrying the curse with them as they travel. Unable to expose the guilty party, the travelers press on, with Broteas relentlessly challenging Hercules' leadership the whole way.
As the exhausted group begins to trek across the dangerous Stymphalian swamp which separates them from Calydon, they are attacked by a huge pterodactyl-like bird which swoops down on them. As Hercules courageously fends off the aerial assault, Broteas scrambles for cover and drops his bag, which opens to reveal the stolen chalice. Meanwhile, when the menacing bird goes after Jana and Ixion, Hercules wages a long and desperate battle against the winged monstrosity, which he ultimately buries in a pit of quicksand. The danger now past, the crowd turns on Broteas, who is spared their violence only by Hercules' intervention. With a mighty fling, Hercules hurls the chalice towards the horizon and the greedy Broteas futilely chases after his misbegotten prize. Upon safely delivering the settlers to Calydon, Hercules bids his new friends farewell and sets off to help others in need.
Starring: Kevin Sorbo (Hercules)
Guest Starring: Norman Forsey (Tiresias), Portia Dawson (Jana), John Sumner (Broteas), Peter Rowley (Ephadon), Sela Brown (Leda), Stephen Papps (Teles), Andrew Kovacevich (Odeon), Maggie Tarver (Hesame), Christopher Saunoa (Ixion), Julian Arahanga (Lead Bounty Hunter), Emma Turner (Leaucosia), Bruce Allpress (Old Man), Patrick Kake (Hercules Double)
Written by Andrew Dettmann & Daniel Truly
Directed by Doug Lefler