Galanthis

Mythology

Galanthis, a servant with red-gold hair, helped her mistress Alcmene during the birth of Heracles. Alcmene had been in labor for seven days with a very large child. She called on Lucina, the goddess of childbirth, but Lucina refused to help because Hera wished it. Instead, the goddess sat with her hands clasped and legs crossed, blocking the birth. Alcmene suffered terribly and nearly died. Galanthis noticed Lucina and figured out Hera’s scheme. She told the goddess that the baby had already been born. Startled, Lucina jumped up and unclasped her hands. This freed Alcmene, who then gave birth. Galanthis laughed and mocked Lucina. As punishment, she was turned into a weasel or a cat. She continued living with Alcmene after her transformation, which began the custom of keeping weasels as household pets.

In another version, Antoninus Liberalis wrote that Galinthias was the daughter of the Theban Proetus and a playmate of Alcmene. Here, Eileithyia and the Moerae held Alcmene tightly to prolong her labor, pleasing Hera. Galinthias tricked them by announcing that Alcmene had given birth by Zeus’s will and that all rites for the birth goddesses had been canceled. The goddesses were confused and loosened their hold, allowing Alcmene to deliver. The Moerae, furious that a mortal had deceived them, turned Galinthias into a weasel. In ancient times, this animal was thought to conceive through the ear and give birth through the mouth because of the goddesses’ curse. Hecate felt pity for Galanthis and took her as a familiar, making the weasel one of her sacred animals. When Heracles grew up, he built a sanctuary for Galinthias and offered sacrifices to her. This practice of honoring her in Thebes continued into later times.

Pausanias briefly mentioned the myth, recounting a Theban version where the heroine was called Historis, a daughter of Tiresias, with no mention of any transformation. In this account, she deceived the Pharmacides, female agents of Hera who were keeping Alcmene from giving birth, by announcing the child’s birth. The Pharmacides then left, and Alcmene was delivered.