Galanthis

Birth of Heracles by Jean Jacques Francois Le Barbier.

In Greek mythology, Galanthis (or Galinthias), daughter of Proetus, was the red-gold haired servant and playmate of Alcmene, who assisted her during the birth of Heracles. When Alcmene was in labor, she was having difficulty giving birth to a child so large. After seven days she called for assistance from Lucina, the goddess of childbirth (that is, the Greek Eileithyia). However, Lucina did not help her due to the wishes of Hera. Instead, she clasped her hands and crossed her legs, preventing the child from being born. Alcmene struggled in pain, cursed the heavens, and became close to death. Galanthis noticed Lucina and deduced Hera's plans. She told the goddess that the baby was born; this so startled her that she jumped up and unclasped her hands. This freed Alcmene, and she was able to give birth. Galanthis laughed and ridiculed Lucina, and as a punishment was turned into a weasel, an animal that in ancient times was believed to conceive through the ear and give birth through the mouth. She continued to live with Alcmene after her transformation. When Heracles grew up, he built a sanctuary to Galanthis and sacrificed to her; the practice of honoring Galanthis lasted down to late times.

References

• Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.273.
• Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses, 29
• Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Gali'nthias"