HERCULES (Including the Twelve Labours) Perhaps the most famous and celebrated of all the Greek heroes, and himself a demigod and more, Hercules was born as a son to Zeus and Alkmene, the wife of Amphitryon, a descendant of Perseus. On the day of his birth Hera, furious at her husband for allowing yet another child into the world that was not the union of their two bodies, obtained from Zeus a promise that the child born that day should have power and dominion over all who dwelt around him. Then he hastened to Argos, to speed the birth of the child Eurystheus, while simultaneously delaying the birth of Hercules. The result of this was that Hercules was born a subject of Eurystheus, who was later to make his life a misery and, paradoxically, elevate him to godhood.