-The life of Herakles- was already in Thebes,having come there to be purifed after accidentally killing his wife Prokris,and had brought the dog with him.He agreed to Amphitryon's request in any case,and a paradoxical situation arose when a beast that was fated to catch its prey was set in pursuit of another that was fated never to be caught.Zeus was obliged to intervene,and resolved the problem very neatly by turning both animals to stone, so that the dog never fails in the hunt and the fox is never caught.2 Or in a later version from the astronomical literature that rather spoils the story,he turned the fox to stone but transferred the dog to the sky to become the constellation of the Great Dog (Canis Major).3 After winning Kreon's support by this means,Amphitryon collected together further allies,including Kephalos,Panopeus (from Phocis,see p.565)and Heleios, the youngest son of Perseus,4 and sailed away with them to attack the Teleboans. Although he ravaged most of their islands with little difficulty,he was initially unable to capture Taphos,the island of PTERELAOS,the king of the Teleboans, because Poseidon had implanted a golden hair in his head which rendered him immortal as long as it remained in place.As we saw in the last chapter(see p.244), Pterelaos was descended from Poseidon,as his grandson in the usual account.The assailants finally received help from an unexpected quarter when KOMAITHO,the daughter of the king,fell in love with Amphitryon (or Kephalos in one account) after seeing him at a distance,and tried to win his favour by pulling the magical hair from her father's head.When Pterelaos died as a consequence,Amphitryon was able to complete his conquest;but instead of repaying Komaitho as she would have wished,he killed her in horror at her unfilial act of treachery.>For a very similar story set in Megara,see p.340. The conception and birth of Herakles As soon as the spoils had been gathered together,Amphitryon set sail for Boeotia, eager to prove his success to his beloved and win his way into her bed.Shortly before he arrived,however,Zeus forestalled him by assuming his guise to seduce Alkmene.On being assured that vengeance had been executed against the Teleboans as she had demanded,and receiving a magnificent cup from the spoils by way of proof,Alkmene welcomed the disguised god into her arms;and he extended the time of their love-making by lengthening the night to three times its usual length. Later in the same night or on the next night,her true husband arrived home to report his triumph and so claim his promised reward.Surprised and disappointed to find that her welcome was none too passionate,he questioned her about the matter;and when she protested that she had received him warmly enough a very short time before,he consulted the seer Teiresias,who informed him of Zeus's decep- tion.He made love with her on that night all the same,and she became pregnant with twin sons of contrasting nature,HERAKLES,a mighty hero and future god as her child by Zeus,and IPHIKLES (or Iphiklos),a hero of no very exceptional stature as her child by Amphitryon.6 It was not only on account of her beauty that Zeus set out to seduce Alkmene, but also because he wanted to father a very great hero by her who would bring benefit to the human race,and even to the gods themselves by helping them in 247was already in Thebes, having come there to be purified after accidentally killing his wife Prokris, and had brought the dog with him. He agreed to Amphitryon’s request in any case, and a paradoxical situation arose when a beast that was fated to catch its prey was set in pursuit of another that was fated never to be caught. Zeus was obliged to intervene, and resolved the problem very neatly by turning both animals to stone, so that the dog never fails in the hunt and the fox is never caught.2 Or in a later version from the astronomical literature that rather spoils the story, he turned the fox to stone but transferred the dog to the sky to become the constellation of the Great Dog (Canis Major).3 After winning Kreon’s support by this means, Amphitryon collected together further allies, including Kephalos, Panopeus (from Phocis, see p. 565) and Heleios, the youngest son of Perseus,4 and sailed away with them to attack the Teleboans. Although he ravaged most of their islands with little difficulty, he was initially unable to capture Taphos, the island of PTERELAOS, the king of the Teleboans, because Poseidon had implanted a golden hair in his head which rendered him immortal as long as it remained in place. As we saw in the last chapter (see p. 244), Pterelaos was descended from Poseidon, as his grandson in the usual account. The assailants finally received help from an unexpected quarter when KOMAITHO, the daughter of the king, fell in love with Amphitryon (or Kephalos in one account) after seeing him at a distance, and tried to win his favour by pulling the magical hair from her father’s head. When Pterelaos died as a consequence, Amphitryon was able to complete his conquest; but instead of repaying Komaitho as she would have wished, he killed her in horror at her unfilial act of treachery.5 For a very similar story set in Megara, see p. 340. The conception and birth of Herakles As soon as the spoils had been gathered together, Amphitryon set sail for Boeotia, eager to prove his success to his beloved and win his way into her bed. Shortly before he arrived, however, Zeus forestalled him by assuming his guise to seduce Alkmene. On being assured that vengeance had been executed against the Teleboans as she had demanded, and receiving a magnificent cup from the spoils by way of proof, Alkmene welcomed the disguised god into her arms; and he extended the time of their love-making by lengthening the night to three times its usual length. Later in the same night or on the next night, her true husband arrived home to report his triumph and so claim his promised reward. Surprised and disappointed to find that her welcome was none too passionate, he questioned her about the matter; and when she protested that she had received him warmly enough a very short time before, he consulted the seer Teiresias, who informed him of Zeus’s decep￾tion. He made love with her on that night all the same, and she became pregnant with twin sons of contrasting nature, HERAKLES, a mighty hero and future god as her child by Zeus, and IPHIKLES (or Iphiklos), a hero of no very exceptional stature as her child by Amphitryon.6 It was not only on account of her beauty that Zeus set out to seduce Alkmene, but also because he wanted to father a very great hero by her who would bring benefit to the human race, and even to the gods themselves by helping them in 1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11110 11 12 13 14 11115 16 17 18 19 11120 21 22 23 24 25111 26 27 28 29 11130 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 11140 41 42 43 44 45 11146 — The life of Herakles — 247