Heracles, as the Greeks would call him was very different from all the other gods and goddesses. He is better known as Hercules which the Romans called him. His parents were Zeus (the god of the sky and) the ruler of Olympian gods and Alcmene who was a mortal. This made him half god and half human but he came in the form of a human. Heracles grew up with a complex family tree; his father had more than fifteen children and about twenty five wives. Heracles himself had two wives and children 3-8 children depending on the myth. His first wife was Megara; she was married to him by the King Creon of Thebes as a gift for helping him win back his kingdom back from the Minyans. With Megara, he had three children named Theimachus, Deicoon, and Creontiades
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The tale claims that Hera (who is Zeus’ wife) got jealous of Alcmene (a mortal) and sent two snakes after the infant in a crib; later the baby was found with a strangled snake in each hand. Heracles was raised by Alcmene and her also-mortal husband Amphitryon. In his youth he was taught to master martial arts, fencing, wrestling, music, become a master of the bow and arrow, and to have superhuman strength. Hera, who was still jealous, drove him mad after his was well into adulthood and he killed his first three children and his first wife. This crime caused him to be sentenced to do “Labors” for his cousin Eurystheus who was the king of Mycenae. Several of these Labors included slaying Hydra, getting the golden apples of Hesperides and at ten more. During one of his many adventures, he fought the River God, Acheloos, over Deanira because of her beauty. Deanira means “destroyer of the husband” as she was. She created a potion with centaur blood which is toxic. The potion is said to keep a husband faithful so Deanira smeared it on his shirt. When he fell in love with Iole, a daughter of another King, the centaur blood stung so bad that he jumped into a pyre and died. After Deanira found out what her husband had done, she killed herself too. Through his Labors and his extreme strength, Heracles earned immortality after his death and became a God of
The tale claims that Hera (who is Zeus’ wife) got jealous of Alcmene (a mortal) and sent two snakes after the infant in a crib; later the baby was found with a strangled snake in each hand. Heracles was raised by Alcmene and her also-mortal husband Amphitryon. In his youth he was taught to master martial arts, fencing, wrestling, music, become a master of the bow and arrow, and to have superhuman strength. Hera, who was still jealous, drove him mad after his was well into adulthood and he killed his first three children and his first wife. This crime caused him to be sentenced to do “Labors” for his cousin Eurystheus who was the king of Mycenae. Several of these Labors included slaying Hydra, getting the golden apples of Hesperides and at ten more. During one of his many adventures, he fought the River God, Acheloos, over Deanira because of her beauty. Deanira means “destroyer of the husband” as she was. She created a potion with centaur blood which is toxic. The potion is said to keep a husband faithful so Deanira smeared it on his shirt. When he fell in love with Iole, a daughter of another King, the centaur blood stung so bad that he jumped into a pyre and died. After Deanira found out what her husband had done, she killed herself too. Through his Labors and his extreme strength, Heracles earned immortality after his death and became a God of