Alcmene, who was pregnant and had been betrothed to Amphitryon by her father, refused to marry him until he had avenged the death of her brothers, all of whom except one had fallen in battle against the Taphians.

According to Bibliotheca, Alcmene went with Amphitryon to Thebes, where he was purified by Creon for accidentally killing Electryon.

However, during Amphitryon's expedition against the Taphians and Teleboans, Zeus visited Alcmene disguised as Amphitryon.

When Amphitryon finally returned to Thebes, Alcmene told him that he had come the night before and slept with her ; he learned from Tiresias what Zeus had done.

After the death of Amphitryon, Alcmene married Rhadamanthys, son of Zeus, and lived with him in exile at Ocaleae in Boeotia.

Zeus made love to her after disguising himself as her husband, Amphitryon, home early from war ( Amphitryon did return later the same night, and Alcmene became pregnant with his son at the same time, a case of heteropaternal superfecundation, where a woman carries twins sired by different fathers ).

Only the former was the son of Amphitryon because Heracles was the son of Zeus, who had visited Alcmene during Amphitryon's absence.

* The half-brother of Heracles, being the son of Alcmene and her human husband Amphitryon, whereas Heracles was her son by Zeus.

The two succeed at kidnapping and feeding him a formula that turns him mortal, but fail to remove his superhuman strength before Hercules is found and adopted by the farmers Amphitryon and Alcmene.

* Hal Holbrook and Barbara Barrie as Amphitryon and Alcmene, Hercules ' adoptive parents.

She announced that Alcmene had safely delivered her child, and this surprised Lucina so much that she immediately jumped up and unclenched her hands.

Like Galanthis, Historis announced that Alcmene had delivered her child ; having been deceived, the witches went away, allowing Alcmene to give birth.

Pausanias indicated that an altar to Alcmene had been built in the Cynosarges in Athens, alongside altars to Heracles, Hebe, and Iolaus.

Heracles was the son of the affair Zeus had with the mortal woman Alcmene.

She would have permanently delayed Heracles ' birth had she not been fooled by Galanthis, Alcmene's servant, who lied to Ilithyia, saying that Alcmene had already delivered the baby.

When confronted about this by Hercules, Zeus revealed that he specifically chose Alcmene to be Hercules ' mother because he, unfortunately, knew that he could not be there for his son and knew that she would provide him with the love, strength, and support he deserved, thus revealing he had put more thought into Hercules ' birth than any other child he ever had ).

Galinthias confused them by telling that Alcmene had given birth by the will of Zeus, and accordingly all the rites in honor of the birth goddesses had been cancelled.

In this version, she deceived the female agents of Hera known as the Pharmacides (" Herbalists " or " Sorceresses ") who had been keeping Alcmene from giving birth, by announcing the birth of the child, which made the Pharmacides leave and let Alcmene be delivered.

* Alcmene, Semele, Alope: Nymphs who were visited by the Olympian gods, they are typical of the old days when the Olympians had free passage through the skies ( lines 558-9 ).

In 1799 he had been given command of the frigate HMS Alcmene, during which time he captured dozens of small merchant ships and had a hand in seizing the Spanish treasure frigate Santa Brigada with $ 1, 400, 000 on board.

Alcmene struggled in pain, cursed the heavens, and became close to death.

Alcmene struggled in pain, cursed the heavens, and became close to death.

After seven days and nights in agony, Alcmene stretched out her arms and called upon Lucina, the goddess of childbirth ( the Roman equivalent of Eileithyia ).

With her hands clasped and legs crossed, Lucina muttered charms, thereby preventing Alcmene from giving birth.

As soon as Lucina leapt up, Alcmene was released from her spell and gave birth to Heracles.

Here Alcmene calls upon Jupiter, who performs a miracle allowing her to give birth quickly and without pain.

Odysseus has now revealed himself in all his glory ( with a little makeover by Athena ); yet Penelope cannot believe that her husband has really returned — she fears that it is perhaps some god in disguise, as in the story of Alcmene — and tests him by ordering her servant Euryclea to move the bed in their wedding-chamber.

In a later Canto ( 74 ) Pound connects her to Alcmene, imprisoned in the world of the dead, but in a later paradisal vision he sees her " ascending ":

In the version followed by Ovid in Metamorphoses, Galanthis was the red-gold haired servant of Alcmene, who assisted her during the birth of Heracles.

She continued to live with Alcmene after her transformation, thus initiating the practice of weasels being kept as household animals.

In his version, Eileithyia and the Moerae came to Alcmene and held her tight to make her labor pains last longer, so as to please Hera.

* Alcmene as her husband

In Greek mythology, Alcmene or Alcmena () was the mother of Heracles.

Alcmene was born to Electryon ( or Alcaeus, Perseus and Andromeda's son ), the son of Perseus and Andromeda, and king of Tiryns and Mycenae or Medea in Argolis.

Hesiod describes Alcmene as the tallest, most beautiful woman with wisdom surpassed by no person born of mortal parents.

Extending one night into three, Zeus slept with Alcmene ( his great-granddaughter ) ( thereby conceiving Heracles ) and recounted Amphitryon's victories against the Teleboans.

In Homer's Iliad, when Alcmene was about to give birth to Heracles, Zeus announced to all the gods that on that day a child, descended from Zeus himself, would be born who would rule all those around him.

Hera, after requesting Zeus to swear an oath to that effect, descended from Olympus to Argos and made the wife of Sthenelus ( a son of Perseus ) give birth to Eurystheus after only seven months, while at the same time preventing Alcmene from delivering Heracles.

According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, while in labour, Alcmene was having difficulty giving birth to such a large child.

However, while Lucina did go to Alcmene, she was instructed by Juno ( Hera ) to stop the delivery.

Galanthis, a maid of Alcmene who was nearby, observed Lucina's actions and quickly deduced Juno's plans.

As punishment for deceiving Lucina, Galanthis was transformed into a weasel ; she continued to live with Alcmene.

It is said that after Heracles was apotheosised, Hyllus, having pursued and killed Eurystheus, cut off Eurystheus ' head and gave it to Alcmene, who gouged out the eyes with weaving pins.

In Metamorphoses, an aging Alcmene recounted the story of the birth of Heracles to Iole.

In the first, according to the Megarians, Alcmene was walking from Argos to Thebes when she died at Megara.