A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
The poem places ten-month-old Heracles and his brother Iphicles asleep in a bronze shield used as their cradle. At midnight Hera sends two monstrous serpents to devour Heracles. Their blue coils writhe over the ground; their eyes shine fiercely, their tongues flicker and they expel deadly venom. The children wake in sudden light. Iphicles screams and tries to escape, while Heracles seizes both snakes by their throats. The serpents coil around him and struggle before their bodies relax.
Alcmena wakes Amphitryon, and servants bring torches. They find Heracles holding the dead snakes, which he displays and lays at his father’s feet. At dawn Tiresias interprets the event as a sign of the child’s extraordinary future and describes rites for removing the serpents’ remains and purifying the house. The poem then continues into Heracles’s training. These snakes remain unnamed agents of Hera’s attack; the text describes venom and bright eyes, not fire-breathing or a separate dragon lineage.
Origins & earliest records
Theocritus, Idyll XXIV, in Andrew Lang’s prose translation, hosted from the 1889 Macmillan edition; full poem includes the midnight attack, Tiresias’s interpretation and later training.
Records & interpretation
Idyll XXIV explicitly gives two serpents, Hera’s intention, their appearance, the contrasting infants’ responses and the discovery of their deaths. Lang’s introductory literary judgments are distinguished from the narrative.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Theocritus, Idyll XXIV: The Infant Heracles, pp. 125–131
Complete poem read; snake attack and aftermath on pp. 125–130, followed by childhood training.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textTheocritus, Bion and Moschus: Lang1889 edition transcriptionResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
