Hera knew that Zeus meant Hercules, but Zeus did not say Hercules. When Hercules was about to be born, Zeus decreed that on this particular day there would be born a descendant of Perseus, the great hero, who Zeus said would rule over the great city Mycenae. She is out to cause trouble and make life difficult for him from before the day of his birth. Therefore, he incurs the most hatred and jealousy from Zeus’s wife. This hatred for Hercules on the part of Hera reflects Hercules’s destiny to be the greatest hero of all time. Zeus’s wife, Hera, hated Zeus’s sons by other females, particularly by human women, with a particular detestation for Hercules. Therefore, the human father’s role in his conception is displaced onto Iphicles, and Hercules is, unquestionably and without doubt, the son of Zeus. Hercules is not the king of any particular city, nor is he directly associated with any particular city, so there is not the same need to have him the son of an actual, legitimate human father.

Because he needs to fulfill both of those functions, he is given two separate fathers, and the decision is never made which one is his true father. Theseus has to be both a legitimate king of Athens and the son of a god. This story recalls Theseus’s dual parentage by Aegeus and Poseidon. He is not exceptionally brave, strong, or in any other way marked out for unusual status as Hercules is. Iphicles is a perfectly normal human being. Hercules has a twin brother who is actually his half-brother. Alcmene conceived Hercules by Zeus, thinking that he was her husband, and she conceived Hercules’ twin, Iphicles, the next night by Amphitryon. Eventually, they figured out that it must have been a god that had visited Alcmene the day before.

The next day, the real Amphitryon returned, and there was a rather surprising scene in which Amphitryon couldn’t understand why Alcmene was not happier and more surprised to see him, and Alcmene couldn’t understand why Amphitryon insisted that he hadn’t been home for ages. Alcmene went to bed with Zeus, thinking that her husband was home unexpectedly from the war. Remember, a god can appear in any guise he chooses. Amphitryon was away at war, and Zeus appeared to Alcmene disguised as Amphitryon. Hercules is conceived when Zeus tricks Alcmene into thinking that he is her husband, Amphitryon. Now, like many heroes, Hercules has a conception and a baby-hood that are fraught with difficulties or, at least, with unusual elements.

Hercules the son of alcmene and zeus