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.
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.
After Hercules's apotheosis on Mount Oeta, Jupiter received him among the gods and gave him Juventas as his divine bride, granting the deified hero eternal youth.
Hercules served Omphale as a slave in Lydia, sold into bondage to atone for murder, and the queen took the hero as her lover, dressing him in women's clothes while she wore his lion skin and wielded his club.
Minerva aided Hercules through his labors, most notably providing him bronze crotala to drive the Stymphalian birds from their marsh, and standing beside him in his greatest trials.
Juno persecuted Hercules from birth, driven by jealousy over Jupiter's affair with his mortal mother Alcmena. She sent serpents to his cradle and drove him to the madness that led to his labors.
Hercules slew the fire-breathing giant Cacus in his cave on the Aventine Hill after Cacus dragged stolen cattle backward by their tails to hide their tracks, and the hero tore open the rock to reach him.
Heracles was syncretized with Roman Hercules through direct cultural transmission, and with Phoenician Melqart through interpretatio graeca at Tyre and other trading centers.
A temple keeper at the Ara Maxima played dice against Hercules on the god's behalf, wagering a feast and a night with a beautiful woman — Acca Larentia, who was locked inside the temple as Hercules' prize and companion.
Hercules, parched from his journey, was refused water by the priestesses of Bona Dea because men were barred from her precinct. In retaliation, the hero founded his own cult at the Ara Maxima and banned women from his rites.
Hercules forced his way past Charon during his descent to capture Cerberus, compelling the ferryman to carry him across the Styx by strength alone — no coin, no golden bough, only the hero's irresistible force.
As his third labor, Hercules captured the Ceryneian Hind sacred to Diana after pursuing it for a full year. Diana confronted him, but Hercules explained he acted under Eurystheus's orders and returned the animal unharmed.
King Evander welcomed Hercules to his settlement on the Palatine Hill after the hero slew Cacus. Evander established the worship of Hercules at the Ara Maxima, making it one of Rome's most ancient cults.
In Ovid's Fasti, Faunus attempted to assault Omphale while she and Hercules had swapped clothing. Deceived by the feminine garments, Faunus was thrown across the room, explaining his priests' nudity at the Lupercalia.
Before facing Turnus in single combat, Pallas prayed to Hercules, who had once been Evander's guest at Pallanteum. Hercules wept at the boy's fate, but Jupiter forbade his intervention, declaring that each mortal's day is fixed.
Hercules descended into Pluto's underworld as his twelfth labor and captured Cerberus, briefly removing the guardian of the dead with Pluto's reluctant permission.
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