Heracles, Birth of.In Thebes, Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon, was visited by Zeus (Jupiter), who appeared to her in the guise of her husband. She was impregnated by the god on one night and by Amphitryon on the following night. When she went into labor, Zeus boasted that a child who would lead a great dynasty was about to be born. Consumed with jealousy, Hera (Juno) sent Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth and midwifery, to delay the birth, which she did for seven days and seven nights by sitting outside Alcmene’s door with her hands clasped around her knees. In an attempt to break Eileithyia’s spell, Alcmene’s maid, Galinthias (Galanthis), announced that a son had been born. Startled, Eileithyia jumped up and unclasped her hands. At that moment, Heracles (Hercules), son of Zeus, and his twin brother Iphicles, son of Amphitryon, were born. In anger, Eileithyia changed Galinthias into a weasel. Before Heracles was born, however, Hera had expedited the birth of Eurys-theus, later king of Tiryns, and in so doing had thwarted Zeus’s prophecy by depriving Heracles of the Tirynthian throne. It was Eurystheus, agent of Hera’s spite, who sent Heracles off on his labors.
     According to a Hellenistic work ascribed to Eratosthenes (or pseudo-Eratosthenes), the sons of Zeus could be divine only if they were suckled by Hera. Hermes (Mercury) therefore brought the newborn Heracles to Hera, but when she discovered whom she was nursing, she pulled him off her breast. The excess milk that spurted out formed the Milky Way galaxy.

Listings for Heracles are arranged under the following headings:
; Birth of Heracles; Infant Heracles and the Serpents; Choice of Heracles; Madness of Heracles; Pillars of Heracles; Heracles and Cacus; Heracles and Antaeus; Heracles and Deianeira; Heracles and Iole; Heracles and Omphale; Death of Heracles; Apotheosis

See also Heracles, Labors of; Alcestis; Jason, and the Argonauts; Laomedon; Odysseus, in Hades; Pirithous, Wedding; Prometheus, Freed; Theseus, and the Amazons; Titans and Giants