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Metamorphoses Book 9: The Birth of Hercules
Alcmena had a difficult time delivering Hercules because Juno wanted to punish her rival for Jove's attention. For seven days and nights, Alcmena suffered in labor. The goddess of birth, Ilithya, had been bribed by Juno to block the birth. When Alcmena's servant, Galanthis, saw the goddess sitting outside Alcmena's room with her legs crossed and her fingers laced to prevent the birth, the servant girl told her to congratulate Alcmena on her new son. Shocked that the woman had given birth when the goddess had been preventing it, Ilithyia stood up. When her legs were uncrossed and her fingers unlaced, Alcmena delivered Hercules. Ilithyia turned the servant into a weasel for her trickery.
