Eileithyia’s Family Tree

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Family

• Hera(parent),Zeus(parent),Ares(sibling),Hebe(sibling),Hephaestus(sibling)— Marriage

  Zeus and Hera's marriage was the most prominent divine union on Olympus. Together they produced Ares, Hebe, Eileithyia, and Hephaestus.

  ⚠ Some traditions, including Hesiod's Theogony, state that Hera bore Hephaestus alone without Zeus, in retaliation for his solo production of Athena.

Equivalent to

• Lucina(Roman)

  Eileithyia and Lucina are the Greek and Roman faces of the same birth goddess, invoked by laboring women to bring their children safely into the light.

Associated with

• Alcmene

  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.

• Apollo

  Apollo and Artemis could not be born until Eileithyia arrived at Delos. Hera had detained the birth goddess on Olympus, and only when the other goddesses bribed her did she come and allow the twins' delivery.

• Hera

  Hera commanded Eileithyia to delay the births of Zeus's illegitimate children, using her daughter as an instrument of jealous revenge against her husband's lovers and their offspring.

• Heracles

  Eileithyia delayed the birth of Heracles for seven days on Hera's orders, sitting cross-legged outside Alcmene's chamber. She was tricked into uncrossing her limbs by a servant's false announcement that the child had already been born.

• Leto

  Hera detained Eileithyia on Olympus for nine days while Leto labored to deliver Apollo and Artemis on Delos. The other goddesses bribed Eileithyia with a golden necklace to come and release Leto from her suffering.