My Son, the Hero

My Son, the Hero (Italian title: Arrivano i titani; alternative English title: Sons of Thunder) is a 1962 Italian mythological sword-and-sandal comedy film directed by Duccio Tessari and starring Giuliano Gemma, Jacqueline Sassard, Pedro Armendáriz, Antonella Lualdi and Serge Nubret.

Synopsis

The king of Crete, Cadmos, has just murdered his wife in order to live with his scheming lover Ermione. For this deed, a prophetess curses him in the name of the gods, foretelling him that the day on which his infant daughter Antiope falls in love with a man will be his deathday. Furious at the gods' judgement, and unable to kill Antiope on the spot (lest the curse would fulfill itself immediately), megalomanic Cadmos renounces the gods and proclaims himself one. To this end, he and Ermione undergo a treatment with mystical vapors which render their bodies invulnerable (save for one critical spot on Ermione's chest uncautiously left covered).

Once Antiope has reached the proper age, Cadmos plans to have her ordinated as a priestess in his service, to have her shut away from the world of men in a life of enforced chastity. Enraged by this intention, Zeus finally decides to send an agent to do his bidding. He turns to the Titans, still incarcerated in the pits of Tartarus, and offers them release if their youngest and weakest, but smartest of their number, Crios, agrees to cast Cadmos into the underworld.