the myth. Like Phoibos, Hermes, Dionysos, and others, he is a son
of Zeus, born, as some said, in brilHant Argos, or as others related, in
the Boiotian Thebes. With him is born his twin brother Iphikles,
the son — so the tale went — of Amphilryon; and thus the child of
the mortal father stands to the son of the undying king of Olympos
in the relation of Phaethon to Helios, of Patroklos to Achilleus, or of
Telemachos to the chieftain of Ithaka. The subjection of the hero
to his kinsman was brought about by the folly of Zeus, who, on the day
of his birth, boasted himself as the father of one who was to rule over
all the house of Perseus. Here thereupon, urged on by Ate, the
spirit of mischief, made him swear that the child that day to be born
of his lineage should be this ruler, and summoning the Eileithyiai
bade them see that Eurystheus came into the world before Hera-
kles. So wroth was Zeus when Here told him that the good man
Eurystheus must, according to his oath, be king of Argos, that
he seized Ate by the hair of her head, and swearing that she should
never again darken the courts of heaven, hurled her from Olympos.
Thus the weaker came to be tyrant over the stronger ; but when the
mythographers had systematised his labours, they related that Zeus
made a compact by which Herakles should become immortal when
he had brought his twelve tasks to a successful issue. The story of
his birth tells us not only of the child in his cradle strangling the
horrid snakes of darkness which seek to destroy their enemy, but of
an infancy as troubled as that of Telephos or Oidipous. Like them,
Alkmene, favouring the jealousy of Here, exposed the babe on the
plain which thence received the name of Herakles ; and it is picked
up, of course, by the dawn goddess Athene, who beseeclies Here, the
queen of the blue heaven, to nourish it. The child bites hard, and
Here flings it back to Athene, who carries it to her mother.^ The
boy grows up the model of human strength and power ; and his
teachers point to the cloudland to which he himself belongs. Auto-
lykos and Eurytos, by whom he is taught to wrestle and to shoot with
the bow, denote the light and splendour of morning ; Kastor, who
shows him how to fight in heavy armour, is the twin brother of Poly-
deukes, these twins answering to the Vedic Asvins or horsemen ; and
Linos, who teaches him music, is akin to Hermes, Pan, Orpheus, and
Amphion. The harper is slain by his pupil, and Amphitryon, fearing
that his son might use his strength in a like way again, sends him to
tend cattle, and in this task, which in other myths is performed by
Sarama or the daughters of Neiara, he lives until he has reached the
full strength of youth. Thus far we have a time answering to the
' Diod. iv. q.
