S NAKES A LIVE The villa which King Creon had given over to Amphitryon and Alcmene for their use while resident in Thebes stood quietly in the moonlight. Only the most attentive sentry, and one with the most finely tuned senses, would have observed a slight parting of the tall grass of the outer perimeter as two turquoise snakes slid across the lawn in the direction of the terrace. Hera wished to lose no time in unleashing her vengeance on the insolent mortal baby that had dared to commit the crime of allowing itself to be born. Not concerned with which of the twins was her husband’s baseborn progeny, she had sent the two venomous serpents to the kill them both. A concerned weasel watched powerlessly as they slithered along the terrace and towards the room with the sleeping infants. There was nothing that Galanthis could do but hope and pray. Amphitryon and Alcmene were awoken early the next morning by the hysterical shrieks of Historis. ‘Oh come, come!’ she urged them, pulling the sheets from their bed. Alarmed, they followed the squealing girl to the twins’ nursery, where the most extraordinary sight met their eyes. The two babies lay in their cot. The face of one was screwed up with fear and it was purple from screaming. The other lay on his back, kicking his legs in the air. In each dimpled fist he clutched a strangled viper. He looked up at his parents as they peered down and waved the dead snakes at them like toys, gurgling with delight.fn8 ‘Well,’ said Amphitryon, looking from one infant to the other. ‘I think we can safely say now which is the son of Zeus.’ ‘Alcides.’ ‘Exactly.’ ‘This is the work of Hera,’ said Alcmene, picking up Iphicles and quieting his frightened sobs. ‘She sent those snakes. She will stop at nothing to destroy my boys.’ ‘It isn’t fair on Iphicles,’ raged Amphitryon, chucking his true son under the chin. ‘We must consult Tiresias again.’ They made their way that night to seek his advice. While they were gone, the god Hermes stole silently into the nursery, took Alcides from his cot, flew with him up to Olympus and gave him to the waiting Athena. The two gods crept round to where Hera was sleeping. Athena gently dropped the baby Alcides on her breast. At once he began to gorge himself. But he guzzled at her teat with such vigour that Hera woke up with a cry of pain. She looked down, plucked Alcides from her nipple and threw him disgustedly from her. Milk sprayed from her nipple in a great arc across the night sky, imprinting it with stars. Stars which, from that moment, would be known as the Milky Way.fn9 Hermes had deftly caught the baby when Hera cast him aside and he now sped off back to Thebes to replace Alcides in his cot before anyone noticed he was gone. The whole botched affair had been Zeus’s idea. He wanted his son Alcides to feed on Hera’s milk, which would make him immortal. His favourite son and daughter, Hermes and Athena, had done their best, but Alcides had ingested little more than a mouthful and none of them wanted to try that trick again.fn10 In Tiresias’s temple, meanwhile, Alcmene and Amphitryon listened to the seer’s advice. ‘I have seen that Alcides will do marvellous things,’ he was saying. ‘Slay terrible monsters. Topple tyrants and found great dynasties. He will achieve fame such as no mortal has ever known. The other gods will help him, but Hera will harry and hound him without mercy.’ ‘Is there nothing we can do to placate her?’ asked Alcmene. Tiresias thought for a moment. ‘Well, there is one thing. Perhaps you could change the child’s name.’ ‘Change his name?’ said Amphitryon. ‘How would that help?’ ‘If you were to call him “Hera’s glory” for instance? “Hera’s pride”.’ And so it was decided. From now on Alcides would be called
Heracles.fn11