After the deaths of his family, Hercules actually begged the god Apollo to punish him for his crimes. Instead, Apollo showed him a path to redemption by asking him to complete a series of tasks for King Eurystheus, which would become known as the Twelve Labors of Hercules. Among these astronomical feats were slaying the Nemean lion, stealing Hippolyta's belt from the queen of the Amazons, and kidnapping Cerberus, the three-headed hound of hell. Once he accomplished all of these labors, Hercules' guilt would leave him and he would become fully immortal. Legend says he did achieve his goal, had many other adventures later in life, and spent eternity with the gods on Mount Olympus.

When Disney told this tale, they definitely changed a few things in order to make it family-friendly. While killing lions and stealing Hades' pet along with women's clothing makes for an interesting adventure story, it was not exactly suitable for Disney's target audience. The Disney movie does follow Hercules on his path to achieving his immortality, but he takes a different route. Sure, he fights some creatures and has a bit of drama with his mentor, Phil, and his father, Zeus. What it all comes down to is him finding love and being willing to sacrifice his chance at immortality to protect it. In true Disney fashion, Hercules beats the bad guy, attains immortality, and of course gets the girl. Definitely a different ending compared to the original myths, but it's obvious where the inspiration came from.

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