Denied at birth

Hercules is one of the children of the God Zeus. His mother, Alcmene, was a mortal queen who was the wife of Amphitryon - a mythological Greek hero and also the son of Perseus. Zeus was infamous for his sexual adventures and was always following one woman or another. As a result, he was drawn to Alcmene because of her remarkable beauty. Alcmene refused Zeus, but he fooled her by pretending to be her husband Amphitryon, and impregnated her with Hercules. Zeus informed the Gods that Alcmene was about to give birth to a Perseus descendant who would one day rule as the High King.

Hera, the queen of the gods, became enraged and envious when she knew the honors her husband gave to his illegitimate son. She made the decision to stop Alcmene's son from achieving his predetermined fate. Thus, Hercules had already acquired a formidable foe and would continue to incur Hera's wrath throughout his life. Demi-god Hercules had superhuman strength and stamina from birth. In fact, he was given the name Alcaeus at birth and later changed it to Herakles, which means "Glory of Hera," informing that he would gain victory as a result of his conflicts with the goddess.