The labors of Hercules – The birth of Hercules
Amphitryon and his wife, Alcmene, daughter of the king of Mycenae, were forced to flee their homeland and seek refuge in Thebes. It was there that Alcmene gave birth to two children, Hercules, son of Zeus, and Iphicles. However, Hera, the queen of the gods, was jealous of Alcmene and despised Hercules, Zeus, the king of the gods, had a plan to protect his son.
One day, Zeus sent Hermes to bring Hercules to Mount Olympus and made him drink some milk from Hera’s breast while she slept. This made Hercules invincible. When Hera woke up and realized what had happened, she was furious. She pulled Hercules away from her breast, causing some of her milk to spill into the sky and become the Milky Way with its thousands of stars.
When the two children were about eight months old, Hera sent two snakes one night to drown them. But Zeus was watching over his son and sent a light that bathed the room, waking up the children. Iphicles was frightened and wept, but Hercules, without any fear, grabbed the snakes by the throat and choked them. Everyone then understood that Hercules had divine origin.
As Hercules grew up, he married the daughter of the king of Thebes, Megara, and became king himself. He ruled Thebes for a few years and lived happily. However, Hera, who always hated him, drove him insane, and he hurt his children and wife, thinking they were his enemies. But he eventually regained his senses and realized the evil he had done. He then went to the oracle of Delphi to ask Apollo what he had to do to be forgiven by the gods.
Pythia, the priestess of Apollo, told him that he should return to Mycenae, his mother’s homeland, and serve his cousin, Eurystheus, who reigned there, faithfully for twelve years. Then he would become immortal.