Hera's Fury

else but his eagerness to see you again. We thought we would have to restrain him from running into the sea the night before last. It lasted for so long and he was so eager to get home.'

  Alkmena burst into tears and ran out of the room leaving the King and his court wondering what they had done to upset her so. She ran back to her rooms where Amphitryon was bathing.

  'I think something terrible has happened,' she cried out.

  'What do you mean?'

  'Last night was not the first night that I saw you. You came the night before as well, but it was not you! The night lasted for so long and the King said you spent the long night with him, waiting for the sun to rise so that you could sail home.'

  'What?' Amphitryon said. 'I don't understand.'

  Alkmena pulled herself together. 'You came to our bed and lay with me on the night before last,' she said, as calmly as she could.

  'How? That's impossible. It wasn't me.'

  'Yes,' Alkmena said, 'that's the whole point. If it wasn't you, then who was it?'

  'I don't know, but there is someone in Thebes who may be able to tell us,' Amphitryon said. 'Come, we will seek the counsel of the blind seer Teiresias at the temple to Apollo.'

  Amphitryon and Alkmena ran as quickly as they could to the temple and into the garden beyond, where the seer Teiresias liked to watch Helios steer his chariot into the sky every morning.

  'Ah, the new citizens of Thebes,' he said as they approached. 'What brings you to my garden so early in the morning?'

  'A strange thing has happened,' Amphitryon said. 'My wife Alkmena says that I came to her two nights ago and we spent the long night together, but I was still with King Kreon.'

  'Ah yes, the long night,' Teiresias said. 'You know that the sun is dragged across the sky on a chariot steered by Helios, do you not?'

  Amphitryon shrugged, remembered that the seer was blind, and was about to say yes, when Teiresias sighed and shook his head.

  'My eyes don't see, friend, but that does not mean that I am blind to the world. In the mornings, I like to come out here and feel the sun's warmth on my skin. A few days ago, there was no sun to shine down upon me. It seems that Helios had neglected to hitch his chariot for that day, and there is only one Olympian with the power and influence to make such a thing happen. Until now, I could not understand why he would do such a thing. Why would the greatest of the Olympians want a night to last as long as three? But you have solved the mystery for me. It was Zeus who came to you that night, sweet Alkmena. He made the night last as long as three and then disguised himself as your husband Amphitryon. You have shared your bed with the King of the Olympians!'

  (iii)

  Time passed, and it soon became apparent that Alkmena was pregnant, which led Zeus to make a prophecy that would have seen his son become a king. But not all were pleased with the news.

  On mount Olympus, Hera, Queen of the Olympians and wife of Zeus, looked down at the world and burned with anger. 'Did you hear him?' she asked her messenger, Iris, the spirit of the rainbow. 'The next descendant of Perseus to be born into the world will become King of Mykênae,' she growled.

  Through her window, Hera could see a heavily pregnant Alkmena wandering the gardens of Thebes.

  'Surely making such a prophecy is a dangerous thing, even for the King of the Olympians,' Iris said. She looked over Hera's shoulder to the world below and giggled.

  'How can you laugh at such a time, when my husband boasts of his infidelities and their results are paraded out in the world for all to see?'

  'Pregnancy is such a difficult thing, my Queen. Sometimes they end early and the child enters the world too soon, while at other times, it seems that the baby does not want to leave the womb.'

  Hera paused a moment as she considered Iris's words, and then she, too, laughed. 'You are a devious one, Iris,' she said. 'Is not Sthenelos a son of Persues? And his wife is expecting a child to be born soon after this one?'

  'Yes, my Queen. Eurystheus will be his name,' Iris said. 'There will be two descendants of Perseus born within a few weeks of one another, but only the child who will be named Alkides, son of Alkmena, will be a King. Poor Eurystheus will never rule, and will most probably have a difficult life.'

  'That is such a shame, and he has such a deserving father,' Hera said. 'Perhaps we can change things a little so that Eurystheus will be King. After all, Alkides is a direct son of Zeus and will be well looked after.'

  'What a wonderful idea,' Iris said. 'But will Eileithyia the spirit of childbirth, help us in such an endeavor? Not everyone will understand our intentions.'

  'I am the Queen of the Gods as well as her mother,' Hera said. 'Eileithyia has always been a faithful child and will definitely understand my anger at her father.'

  'Eurystheus will probably never know that it was Zeus's prophecy that made him King,' Iris said.

  'Then we will make it our business for him to know, and for all of Hellas to know as well,' Hera said. 'Zeus may be King of the Gods, but he should still treat me, his wife, with respect. If he will brag to the world about his conquests, then I will brag about mine.'

  (iv)

  'Finally, the son of Zeus is born and not a moment too soon,' Amphitryon said, when he heard the cries of a child echoing through the house.

  One of the slaves who helped deliver the child bustled into the room and Amphitryon bailed her up. 'Is Alkmena well?'

  'Yes sir,' she said, 'but the child did not want to come at first. Then Alkmena saw a vision of Athena and she sent me into the room behind. There was a person there I'd never seen before, a young woman who had her arms and legs crossed tight. When I tapped her on the shoulder to ask who she was, she vanished!'

  'An unusual tale,' Amphitryon said, 'but what has it to do with the birth of the child?'

  'The child was born the moment the woman vanished. Athena told your wife it was Eileithyia, the daughter of Hera, who had delayed the birth of the child for several days.'

  A moment later, Alkmena came out with the baby wrapped in a blanket. 'Alkmena! What are you doing?'

  'Please, husband, I am afraid. Athena came to me in a dream and said that Hera is furious that her husband was unfaithful to her. This child is the fruit of his infidelity and while we have it, the Gods will fight out their quarrels within our family.'

  'Will you abandon a child of Zeus?'

  'If Zeus is so concerned he will intervene to save the child's life, will he not?'

  'I thought Galanthis's tale was the ranting of an overexcited fool,' Amphitryon said, 'but if Hera is bent on vengeance against the child, then it might be best to abandon it.'

  Alkmena burst into tears, but pushed her way past her husband and raced to the fields beyond the city. She was still carrying her husband's child, which was due to be born on the following day, and was terrified that Hera would kill them both. It was this fear that led her to choose to leave the child in a field where the Gods could decide its fate. Her heart, however, was not hardened against the boy and so she put him in a sheltered spot and made sure he was covered and warm.

  Athena saw Alkmena leave her son and run back to Thebes. The Goddess knew that unless someone nourished the child soon, then it would surely die. She picked it gently up from where it lay and, in the blink of an eye, moved far away from Thebes, to a secluded spot near the ocean. Her plan was to trick Hera into feeding the boy, but she did not want the Queen of the Gods to know who the child was. The booming of the waves on the shore made the child smile even though it was only a few hours old.

  'You have a love of the sea in you, little one,' Athena said. She wrapped the child tighter in its blanket and called out in a voice that echoed in a strange way, 'Hera, I have need of you!'

  A moment passed and a shadow appeared beside the Goddess of Wisdom from which Hera emerged onto the sandy soil. 'You called for me?' she said.

  'Yes, this child has been abandoned by its mother and needs to drink from a nourishing teat. If it is not fed soon, it will surely die.'


  'Since when has Athena been concerned for the lives of mortal babies?'

  'I was passing and its cries softened my heart,' Athena said, 'but I am without milk and I immediately thought of you. Who better to suckle a new born infant than the Goddess of the earth and of fertility, whose breasts are never dry?'

  Hera was flattered by Athena's words and offered the child her breast. It latched on to her nipple and gulped the milk hungrily. Hera squealed with pain and pulled away. 'What manner of child is this? No wonder its mother abandoned it.'

  'It does not matter whose child it is for it is fed now and the milk of a God can sustain a mortal for many days,' Athena said. 'Thank you Hera. We are in your debt.'

  Hera looked suspiciously at Athena and the child, and then vanished.

  Alone again, Athena thought of the anguish she saw in Alkmena's eyes when she left her son in the field and thought that she should try to return the boy. He could be no worse off if she rejected him again. There was a blur of movement and Athena was again in Thebes, in the very room where Alkmena was lying on her bed and weeping, with her head in her hands and her eyes shut tight.

  'Alkmena, why do you weep so?' Athena asked.

  'Because I have abandoned my son out of fear for the future and now I regret what I have done,' Alkmena said, without looking up.

  'A child, even one fathered by a God, is still a child,' Athena said. 'I have brought him back to where he belongs.'

  Alkmena looked up and when she saw Athena