That bird Heracles, the valiant son of shapely-ankled
Alcmene, slew; and delivered the son of Iapetus from the cruel plague, and released him from his affliction -- not without the will of Olympian Zeus who reigns on high, that the glory of Heracles the Theban-born might be yet greater than it was before over the plenteous earth.
It is certain that the old gentleman, who had lived in days gone by with that feminine nation now as much forgotten as many other great things,--like the Jesuits, the Buccaneers, the Abbes, and the Farmers-General,--had acquired an irresistible good- humor, a kindly ease, a laisser-aller devoid of egotism, the self- effacement of Jupiter with
Alcmene, of the king intending to be duped, who casts his thunderbolts to the devil, wants his Olympus full of follies, little suppers, feminine profusions--but with Juno out of the way, be it understood.
Odysseus recounts meeting other mythical heroines in the Underworld (11.225-330), and the suitor Antinous compares Penelope favorably to Tyro,
Alcmene, and Mycene (2.116-122), but neither mentions the Pandareids.
Kleist's own reconstruction, or "reworking" of Moliere is also significant; according to David Constantine, Kleist's version differs most clearly from that of his predecessor in its infusion of serious subject matter into what was essentially a ribald comedy, a seriousness that is primarily located in the "developed character of
Alcmene, and, as in Jug, it is incongruous in a context of coarse comedy" (Constantine 431).
In 1200 B.C., King Amphitryon (Scott Adkins), fresh from pillaging Argos, squabbles with his Queen,
Alcmene (Roxanne McKee).
Having exhausted all other options, she prays to the goddess Hera for help, and receives a surprising response: It seems that Hera's s.o., Zeus, has always coveted
Alcmene from afar, and if
Alcmene agrees to let him sire her child, that boy, Hercules, will lead his people to salvation.
La phrase peccaturus in terris nemini tamen iniuriam fecit n'est d'ailleurs pas exacte, si l'on considere la souffrance de Tros, pere de Ganymede, et la colere d'Hera resultant de cette infidelite (33) ou de celle commise par Zeus avec
Alcmene, femme d'Amphitryon et mere d'Hercule.