The life of Heracles, the greatest hero in Greek mythology, was filled with extraordinary events and divine interventions even before his birth. His origin story is not an ordinary birth but an epic beginning shaped by the will of Zeus, king of the gods, and the twists of fate.

Zeus's Grand Plan and a Night of Deception

Zeus planned to bring a hero into the world who would aid humanity and fight the enemies of the gods. He wanted this hero to be born from Alcmene, a mortal woman renowned for her virtue and beauty. However, there was a problem: Alcmene was the extremely loyal and honorable wife of the Theban hero Amphitryon. While Amphitryon was away on a military campaign, Zeus seized the opportunity. He disguised himself as Amphitryon, pretending to return victoriously from the expedition, and visited Alcmene. To make this union unique and worthy of a hero, he altered the very laws of nature. He commanded the sun god, Helios, not to move across the sky for three days, thereby extending the night threefold. For these three nights, Alcmene, unaware that her companion was the king of the gods, gave herself to Zeus.

The Announcement of the Twins and Amphitryon's Suspicion

Shortly after Zeus departed, the real Amphitryon returned home. His wife's less-than-enthusiastic welcome stirred a deep suspicion within him. To resolve this dilemma, he consulted a seer. The seer revealed everything that had happened: that Zeus had taken his form and that Alcmene was pregnant with a divine child. The seer also conveyed that being chosen in such a way by a god was a great honor for a family.

Heracles and Iphicles: The Twin Symbols of the Divine and the Human

As the seer had foretold, Alcmene gave birth to twin boys:

• Heracles (Hercules): The son of Zeus. His name means "the glory of Hera," yet Hera never loved him and harbored a hatred that would pursue him all his life. He was born with extraordinary strength and potential.
• Iphicles: The son of Amphitryon, an ordinary mortal who would later become Heracles' loyal companion alongside his nephew, Iolaus. This twin birth symbolizes a fundamental contradiction in Heracles' identity: on one side, his immortal, divine power, and on the other, his mortal, human world.

Hera's Wrath and a Hero's Trials Begin

The birth of Heracles enraged Hera, the wife of Zeus and queen of Olympus. Jealous of her husband's son by a mortal, she became Heracles' relentless enemy, cursing him for life. Her first attempt to kill him—sending two poisonous snakes into his cradle—became Heracles' first heroic trial. The infant hero strangled the snakes with his bare hands, demonstrating his superhuman strength for the first time.

A Hero Whose Destiny Was Written from the Start

The birth of Heracles was a harbinger of his destiny. His life began by the will of the strongest god and was shaped by the hatred of the strongest goddess. This is what fundamentally set him apart from all other heroes: from the very start, his life was at the center of divine plans and conflicts. This extraordinary birth elevated him not only physically but also in destiny above other mortals, signaling that he was destined to become the greatest hero of Greek mythology.