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 (Continued from Herakles' Twelfth Labour)

Herakles and Iphitus

Free of his bondage to Eurystheus, Herakles realised that his had been a lonely life since he had lost his wife Megara and their children. Eurytus, one of the sons of Melanius, king of Oechalia, announced that there was to be an archery contest, and the prize for anyone who could beat him and his four sons would be the hand of his daughter Iole. Herakles knew Iole to be young and beautiful, so decided to enter the contest.

Now Eurytus had a fine bow, and had been taught its use by Apollo himself, so when Herakles beat him he was most put out. He used the excuse that Herakles had been responsible for the death of his first wife, Megara, to deny him his rightful prize. Having had a lot of wine he told Herakles ‘Everyone knows that you are a wife-killer, and you could never have stood a chance against me and my sons if it were not that you use magic arrows! You are a murderer and a charlatan – no way are you going to marry Iole!’

Herakles took this as well as can be expected. Being Eurytus’s guest, he refrained from tearing him apart there and then, but swore that he would have his vengeance.

Eurytus’s three younger sons supported their father in his dishonest decision, but the eldest, Iphitus, declared that Herakles had rightfully won the hand of his sister, and when, soon afterwards, twelve brood-mares and their foals disappeared from Euboea, he refused to believe that Herakles was the thief.

The real villain was, in fact, Autolycus. This fellow was a son of Hermes, and a famous thief, possessing the power (given to him by his father) to change the appearance of beasts that he had stolen. This is exactly what he had done to Eurytus’s mares and foals, and to add that final bit of irony to the story, he had sold them to Herakles as his own!

Anyway, Iphitus followed the tracks of the stolen horses, and found that they led towards Tiryns, which made him suspect that Herakles was the thief after all! When he got to Tiryns he came face to face with Herakles and, hiding his suspicions, asked his advice on the matter. Herakles did not recognise the description of the horses sold to him by Autolycus from Iphitus’ description, and with his usual magnanimity promised that he would help Iphitus to look for the beasts, if Iphitus became his guest. Yet he guessed that Iphitus suspected him, and like all honest people when they are wrongly accused, he was cut to the heart.

After feasting Iphitus, they climbed the highest tower in Tiryns. Here Herakles invited Iphitus to look around to see if his mares were anywhere in sight. ‘I cannot see them’, admitted Iphitus. Herakles could no longer contain the anger which he had been repressing. ‘Then you have falsely accused me in your heart of being a thief!’ he roared, and without thinking struck out at Iphitus. Unfortunately, as Iphitus staggered from the blow, he fell right over the low parapet to his death. It seems that Herakles still suffered from the curse of the Erinyes, and once again had caused the death of an innocent person while in a rage.

Herakles tried to have himself purified of this murder, but none that he approached would have anything to do with him, until finally Nestor, son of Neleus king of Pylus, persuaded Deiphobus to purify him at Amyclae. Nevertheless, he still suffered from nightmares, so went to the Delphic Oracle to ask how he might be rid of them. The Pythoness Xenoclea refused to answer his question. ‘You murdered your guest’, she said. ‘I have no oracles for the like of you!’ ‘Then I shall set up my own oracle!’ cried Herakles, and so saying he pulled the tripod on which Xenoclea sat right from under her!

Now the oracle at Delphi was sacred to Apollo. On seeing the antics of his half-brother Apollo plunged down from Olympus, and the very next thing to occur was that Apollo and Herakles were scrapping away like two street-boys! Things had definitely got out of hand, until Zeus himself parted the two combatants with a thunderbolt and made them shake hands. Herakles returned the tripod to Xenoclea, and the two half-brothers founded the city of Gythium as a token of their renewed friendship. Apollo persuaded Xenoclea to give Herakles the answer to his question, and she gave the following oracle. ‘To be freed from your affliction you must be sold into slavery for one whole year, and the price you fetch must be given to Iphitus’ children. You have enraged all the gods by violating the laws of hospitality, whatever the provocation you may have had.’

‘Who will have me as a slave?’ asked Herakles, humble now that his foul temper had abated and he was in his right mind. ‘Queen Omphale of Lydia will purchase you’ said Xenoclea, and Herakles agreed to obey the oracle, but swore that one day he would have vengeance upon Eurytus, the man who had engendered his humiliation.

NEXT: Herakles and Queen Omphale