The overall myth of Hercules is very dark and does not fit into the Disney aesthetic that was supposed to be reached. Disney is careful to include some elements of the myth but most of it is not included. There are many inaccuracies that are present throughout the film. The film starts off with the Muses singing about the Titans and how Zeus won the war about them. This very first scene deviates from the classical, mythological tradition. In tradition, there are supposed to be nine muses, with each one governing a different aspect of the arts. These aspects included poetry, plays, music, and astronomy. Unfortunately, theses sides are not present in the film except for music. Disney recreated the Muses for their own purpose of storytelling. In their film, the Muses are necessary as the narrators, but not as gods. 

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Hercules continues to deviate from the myth in the coming scenes. The next moments of the movie have Hercules with his parents, Zeus and Hera. The actual myth of Hercules has Zeus as his father but a mortal, Alcmene, as his mother. In the movie, Alcmene and a mortal man are Hercules' adopted parents. Hades, the god of the Underworld, receives an oracle from the Fates that Hercules will stop his plans to take over Olympus if he fights. Consequently, Hades comes up with a plan to dispose of Hercules. He sends his sidekicks, Pain and Panic, to turn Hercules into a mortal and kill him. Before this plan come to fruition, Pain and Panic give Hercules a potion to turn him mortal but forget a drop. Alcmene and her husband show up and see Hercules. Pain and Panic drop the potion which still has a drop left and try to kill him as snakes but Hercules strangles the snakes instead. In the myth, Hera, Zeus' wife, sends the snakes to kill Hercules as revenge for her husband's adultery. On top of this, Pain and Panic did not serve as Hades' servants but were sons of Ares and Aphrodite's relationship and were the embodiment of pain and fear with the name's, Phobos and Deimos. Hercules these details, some so that the movie can fit into their image, but others for seemingly no reason at all.

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The plot continues when Hercules is rescued by his adopted parents and grows up with no knowledge of his godly heritage. With this heritage, he grows up with extra strength, but feels like he doesn't belong. In the coming scenes, Hercules learns that his father and mother are the King and Queen of the Gods and is given Pegasus so that he might go find a trainer of heroes. In the mythological tradition, Pegasus is winged horse and a companion of Perseus and Bellerophon. Hercules is not ever associated with Pegasus, but most Disney characters have an animal sidekick and he is the creature that would fit in with the story of Hercules. The next scenes consist of Hercules meeting a hero trainer, Phil, and a training montage. In this montage, Hercules is compared to heroes who have came before him, such as Jason and Achilles. In actuality, the myth of Hercules came way before the timing of the Trojan War and the story of Jason. This training that is learned is applied when Hercules meets Meg for the first time. He rescues Megara, or Meg, from a river spirit and is subsequently, infatuated with her. The relationship between Hercules and Megara is real in myth and they are married. Where the movie goes astray, Hercules is cursed with madness by Hera and, in this madness, Hercules kills Megara and their children. Being a Disney movie, this cannot be included in the film. Disney creates their own, clean version of the myth. 

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The myth continues to be changed with the famous Twelve Labors Hercules. After murdering his family, Hercules has to atone for what he has done and subsequently, becomes a servant to Eurystheus. All of this is erased in the film, and instead, the labors are acts of Hercules proving himself worthy to the gods so that he may regain his godly status. Most of the labors are also not shown in the film as they are not the climax to the movie. One of the first big fight scenes is Hercules fighting the hydra, one of the labors. This is the only labor that is truly portrayed in the film, the rest are told as a parody. Hercules has accumulated a celebrity status and is now doing tasks that are guised as meetings. These meetings are listed to him and the meetings that are listed are the other labors that are included in the myth. The mentioning of the labors is one of the last details of the myth that is included in the film. 

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Continuing on in the movie, Hercules strays from the myth almost entirely. The movie ties back to one of the early points that Hades wants to take over Olympus. During the rest of these events happening, Hades has been planning his takeover. Hades not only learns that Hercules is alive, at this point, but also that Megara is Hercules' weakness. As Megara is Hades' slave, he uses her as bait to get Hercules to sign a twenty-four hour contract that will take his strength back to that of an immortal. As Hercules is in love with Megara, he willingly gives up his strength to save her. With Hercules out of the way, Hades enacts his to take over Olympus. In the next scene, Hades is shown freeing the Titans from their cage under the Earth. While it is accurate that the Titans were in-prisoned, the depiction of the Titans is what strays from mythological tradition. Traditionally, the Titans are the gods that proceed the Olympian gods. They are often depicted as humans with the ability to control certain things, like the gods. The most famous of the Titans were Kronos and Prometheus, the god of time and fire, respectively. The Titans had similar abilities to the Olympian gods, they were just the generation before. In Hercules, the Titans are portrayed as elemental monsters instead of gods, with each pertaining to an element. The movie also includes the Cyclops as a Titan. Homer's Odyssey introduces the myth of the Cyclops for the first time. According to Homeric tradition, the Cyclops is not a Titan, but a monster who inhabits the island in which Odysseus lands on. Hercules not only incorrectly calls the Cyclops, a Titan, but it also introduces the Cyclops in Hercules' time, which was before Odysseus. It may be argued, though, that Disney puts the Cyclops with the Titans according to Hesiod's Theogony. The Theogony states the Cyclops being brothers of the Titans, but still not a Titan. Whichever tradition Disney was following, it still takes creative liberties with the myths. 

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At this point, Hades is deep into his takeover and has sent the Cyclops to eliminate Hercules once and for all. The Cyclops finds Hercules and despite not having his godly strength, Hercules manages to defeat him. In this defeat, the weight of the Cyclops causes a pillar to fall over and as it is about to fall on Hercules, Megara pushes it out of the way and is hit by it instead. Earlier Hades made a contract with Hercules to get his strength in return for Meg not being harmed. As this is broken, Hercules strength is returned, but Meg is dying. As Hercules is in love with Meg, he travels to the Underworld and confronts Hades. Hades says that he is welcome to get her from the river of death, most likely inspired by the River Styx of Greek myth, but that he will most likely die before reaching her. Not heeding the warning, Hercules jumps in and goes after Meg. Just when he is about to die from the river, Hercules becomes a god as he has proved himself worthy. The film then comes to the classic Disney happy-ending of Hercules giving up his godly powers so that he may live the rest of life out with Meg. Overall, Hercules is a great film that inspires the audience and is a joy to watch, but it should not be taken as a telling of the myth. Disney took many creative liberties with this film and these liberties stray from the mythological tradition, therefore, the movie shouldn't be taken as mythologically accurate.