Alcmene’s Family Tree

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Family

• Amphitryon(spouse),Iphicles(child)— Marriage

  Amphitryon and Alcmene conceived Iphicles on the same night Zeus impersonated Amphitryon to sire Heracles, making the twins half-brothers with different fathers. Apollodorus' Bibliotheca records this dual conception.

• Jupiter(spouse, Roman),Hercules(child, Roman)— Consort

  Jupiter came to Alcmena disguised as her husband Amphitryon and lay with her through a tripled night, fathering Hercules, the mightiest of all mortal-born heroes.

• Zeus(spouse),Heracles(child)— Consort

  Zeus disguised himself as Alcmene's husband Amphitryon to conceive Heracles, the greatest of Greek heroes.

• Hercules(child, Roman)— Marriage · Adopted

  Amphitryon married Alcmena and fathered Iphicles, while also raising Hercules as his own son — though Hercules was truly sired by Jupiter, who had taken Amphitryon's form for the conception.

Enemy of

• Hera

  Hera persecuted Alcmene for bearing Zeus's son Heracles, delaying his birth so that Eurystheus would be born first and inherit the kingship Zeus had promised.

Associated with

• Amphitryon

  Alcmene refused to consummate her marriage to Amphitryon until he avenged the death of her brothers, slain by the Taphians. This condition drove Amphitryon's campaign against the Taphians, during which Zeus impersonated him.

• Eileithyia

  Eileithyia delayed Alcmene's labor for seven days and nights on Hera's orders, tormenting the mortal woman to prevent the birth of Heracles. Only trickery broke the goddess's hold.

• Hyllus

  Alcmene, Hyllus's grandmother and the mother of Heracles, accompanied the Heraclidae in their exile. In Euripides' Children of Heracles, Alcmene demands Eurystheus's execution after his defeat, reflecting the family's generations of persecution.

• Iole

  In Ovid's Metamorphoses 9, Iole lived with Alcmene as her daughter-in-law after marrying Hyllus. Together they exchanged stories, and Iole narrated the tale of Dryope's transformation.

• Rhadamanthus

  In several traditions, Rhadamanthus married Alcmene, mother of Heracles, after her mortal husband Amphitryon died. Some sources place this marriage in Elysium, uniting two figures blessed by Zeus.

• Thebes

  Alcmene gave birth to Heracles in Thebes, where she lived as wife of Amphitryon. Zeus visited her there in the form of her husband to conceive the hero.