I am researching articles concerning folklore, rituals about breastfeeding. I
can't remember who posted the story about Hera and Hercules, but the person was
not exactly sure about the details of the story.
Well!!! guess what? I found the story in "The Concise Dictionary of Classical
Mythology" by Pierre Grimal - see pg 183.
Hercules' mother was Alceme, his father was Zeus, Zeus was Hera's husband, Zeus
was a notorious womanizer, and his wife Hera punished all of Zeus' lovers.
In
order for Hercules to become immortal he had to be suckled by a goddess, Hermes
is alledged to have tricked Hera into breastfeeding Hercules. There are many
versions as to how he accomplished this task, but the most popular version
states that
Hermes put Hercules to Hera's breast while she slept. Hercules began
breastfeeding, when Hera awoke and realised what was happening she pushed
Hercules away. This caused the milk to squirt from her breast and this formed a
trail of stars in the sky - The Milky Way.
There are many versions to this story, but I wanted the one that mentioned the
formation of the Milky Way. Hope this was helpful.
Annette