Foreshadowing in Hamlet

Hercules, also known as Heracles, was the son of the Greek god Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. He was endowed with enormous strength and is now famous for his Twelve Labors, which included slaying an invulnerable lion and defeating a nine-headed hydra. Hamlet states that Claudius, despite being King Hamlet's brother, is "no more like" Hamlet's father than Hamlet himself is like Hercules. Hamlet idolized his father and uses this comparison to imply that Claudius is not a good person. He also offers some insight into his perception of himself by comparing himself to Hercules as a way of emphasizing the difference in character between Claudius and King Hamlet. He does not perceive himself as heroic and strong, as Hercules was. Instead, he is as unlike the legendary hero as Claudius is unlike his father, foreshadowing Hamlet's struggles later in the play.

In the previous scene, Laertes was given permission by Claudius to leave Denmark and return to France. Since Shakespeare's plays were written for the stage, keeping track of characters could prove difficult for live audiences, especially if characters were absent from the story for long stretches of time. Shakespeare responded to this problem by reinforcing the importance of certain characters with multiple appearances, as he does here. This scene makes Laertes more memorable by exploring his relationship with his father and sister, contextually foreshadowing that he'll return later in the play.