By the French writer Giraudoux (Y. Giraudoux) At the Comédie des Champs-Élysées theater

Jupiter, chief of the gods, looks down upon the earth one day and sees the young, bewitching Alcmène in the arms of her husband Amphitryon. He is smitten with her, and it pleases him to entangle her in an amorous adventure — and how many are his adventures with beautiful wives! — and here he is, preparing for this earthly journey... But Alcmène is a wife faithful to her vow, who loves her husband and refuses the adventures of lovers and their gallantries. So Mercure, messenger of the gods, advises him to appear to her in the form of the beloved husband, so as to win her acceptance, since there is no way of

Jean Giraudoux (1882–1944)

reaching her except by this means...

Jupiter sends Amphitryon away from his wife on the pretext of a war he lets break out between the people of Thebes and their neighbors, and he profits by this opportunity to be with Alcmène, claiming that he is Amphitryon and has stolen away one night from the nights of battle to be with his beloved wife... Alcmène is caught in the snares of the gods and believes herself in her husband's arms, and now she carries in her womb the fruit of this divine visit — Hercules, the demigod, hero of the generations to come...

In the morning it pleases Jupiter to call up the memories of his past night, and behold, Alcmène, the simple woman, is an obscure riddle he cannot understand... He wants this woman to confess that this night was the most astonishing night of her married life, but she shakes her head mockingly and mentions others among her astonishing nights... He offers her

Alcmène offers the lord of the gods friendship in place of love, and with her sweet talk persuades him to make the new covenant with her.