00:00From the bloodline of Perseus, a mighty half-god was born.
00:05With the strength of a thousand men, he would become the strongest, the greatest.
00:11Slaying more monsters than any man or god, he would triumph over mortals and the divine.
00:18Hercules, son of Zeus.
00:27Once upon a time, the wandering eyes of Zeus, descended upon Alcmena, the beautiful princess of Mycenae, and granddaughter of
00:36Perseus.
00:37She was already betrothed to her cousin, Prince Amphitrean, who was at that time, away at war.
00:44The night before Amphitrean returned, to announce his victory, Zeus, knowing everything about the war, transformed himself into the prince,
00:53and visited Alcmena, recounting stories of the battle, like he was the real deal.
00:59The unsuspecting woman, welcomed him joyously, they slept together that night, and the princess got pregnant by the god.
01:07When the real Amphitrean returned, he also laid with Alcmena, and also got her pregnant.
01:14The oracle of Delphi, revealed to the confused woman, what had transpired.
01:19She was carrying the son of Zeus, and the son of her betrothed.
01:23As time came for her to give birth, Zeus, knowing his son was supposed to come first, decreed, that the
01:30descendant of Perseus to be born next, would become king of Mycenae.
01:35However, Hera had other plans.
01:37The queen of the gods, entered the house of Alcmena, and commanded Elethia, goddess of childbirth, to sit, with her
01:45legs crossed, so Heracles would not be born.
01:48She then visited Necipi, the pregnant wife of king Sthenalus, uncle to Amphitrean.
01:54And although Necipi's pregnancy was not to be due, till after a few weeks, Hera put her into labor, and
02:00she bore a sickly son, named Eurystheus.
02:03Zeus saw he had been tricked, but he couldn't go back on his word.
02:08Eurystheus, would be king of Mycenae.
02:11In his fury, Zeus scolded Elethia, who jumped in fear, thereby uncrossing her leg, allowing Heracles to be born, with
02:19the birth of Amphitrean's son, Iphikles, following afterwards.
02:24The king god would not let his favorite son go empty-handed, so he blessed baby Heracles, with the strength
02:30of the gods, which would further be amplified, by Hera, without her knowing.
02:35Fearing the wrath of the queen of the gods, Alcmena abandoned baby Heracles, called Alcides at that time, in the
02:43woods to die.
02:43But Athena picked him up, and cunningly presented him to Hera, as a motherless child, cleverly invoking the motherly side
02:51of the queen goddess.
02:53Hera, completely unaware of who the baby was, breastfed him every day, thus, increasing his godly strength.
03:01Soon, baby Heracles had gotten enough nourishment, to grant him unimaginable raw strength.
03:07One day, while being breastfed, he sucked so hard on Hera's nipples, that the goddess winced in pain, pushing him
03:15away.
03:16It is said, that Hera's milk, sprayed out into the heavens, creating the milky way.
03:22Athena afterwards, returned the baby to Alcmena, who perhaps, having regretted her actions, gladly took him back in.
03:31In her last bid to appease Hera, she changed the baby's name, from Alcides, to Heracles, which meant, for the
03:38glory of Hera.
03:40Yet, Hera would not be appeased.
03:43When Heracles turned eight months old, the goddess sent two water serpents to the house of Amphitrean, to kill the
03:50son of Zeus.
03:51The serpents crawled into the bedroom of Heracles and his younger brother, Ithacles, and as soon as little Ithacles sighted
03:58the snakes, he cried out, alerting their nurses.
04:02However, when the nurses ran to the scene, they met no danger, for the serpents were already dead.
04:09Little Heracles had strangled the serpents, crushing them with his tiny hands, holding them up, in each hand, for all
04:16to see.
04:17Marveled by this astonishing feat, Amphitrean sought the advice of the blind prophet, Tiresias, who then foretold, that Heracles would
04:26go on to slay many more monsters, during his lifetime.
04:30Thus, young Heracles was tutored by the best teachers, and trained by the best warriors, the most famous being his
04:36stepfather, Amphitrean, and the wise centaur, Chiron.
04:58We'll see you next time.
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