Royalty.nu Royal Legends > Greek > Hercules > Books About Hercules Videos About Hercules Search Hercules Young Hercules Hercules's mother was Alcmena or Alcmene, the wife of King Amphitryon of Troezen. His father was none other than Zeus, the king of the gods, who disguised himself as Amphitryon and visited Alcmena on a night that lasted as long as three ordinary nights. Zeus's wife, Hera, was furious when she learned that Alcmena was pregnant with Zeus's child. She sent witches to Troezen to stop Alcmena from going into labor, but the witches failed and Alcmena gave birth to twins: Hercules (or Heracles), Zeus's son, and Iphicles, Amphitryon's son. Hera sent two giant snakes to kill Hercules in his cradle. His mother saw the snakes and called to her husband for help, but Hercules stood up and strangled the snakes with his bare hands. In another version of this story, it was Amphitryon who put the snakes in the babies' bed. A soothsayer had told him of Zeus's visit to Alcmena, and Amphitryon wanted to find out which twin was Zeus's son. When Hercules killed the snakes while Iphicles cried and tried to escape, Amphitryon's question was answered. Amphitryon acted as a father to Hercules and even taught him to drive a chariot. Hercules had many teachers. A famous thief, Autolycus, taught him to wrestle. Prince Castor of Sparta taught him to fence, and Prince Eurytus of Oechalia taught him to shoot a bow. Hercules's low intelligence and terrible temper sometimes interfered with his lessons. When his music teacher, Linus, hit him, Hercules went into a rage and smashed Linus with his lyre, killing him. He was tried for the murder, pleaded self defense, and was acquitted. | |
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