Iole

Iole was the daughter of Eurytus, king of Oechalia, and the young woman whose capture set in motion the death of Heracles. According to Apollodorus she was offered as a prize in an archery contest, and when Heracles won her and was refused, the quarrel that followed ended with the sack of Oechalia, her captivity, and the poisoned robe that Deianira sent to her husband.

Family

Iole was the daughter of Eurytus of Oechalia. Hesiod, in a passage of the Catalogue of Women quoted by an ancient commentator on Sophocles, named her brothers as Deion, Clytius, Toxeus and Iphitus, and called Iole the youngest child, born to Eurytus by Antiope, a granddaughter of Naubolus; Diodorus gives Toxeus, Molion and Clytius (Diodorus 4.37.5). Her father had a famous bow: Homer says Eurytus rivaled the gods in archery and was killed by Apollo for it (Odyssey 8.224–228), and that he left the bow to his son Iphitus (Odyssey 21.31–33). Heracles himself is said to have learned archery from Eurytus (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.9).

The Archery Contest

After his labors, Heracles gave Megara to Iolaus and wished to marry again. He learned that Eurytus had offered the hand of Iole to anyone who could beat him and his sons at archery (Apollodorus, Library 2.6.1). Heracles shot better than all of them, yet he did not receive the bride. Iphitus, the eldest son, argued that Iole should be given to him, but Eurytus and the rest refused, saying they feared that Heracles, once he had children, would kill them again as he had killed his children by Megara (Apollodorus, Library 2.6.1).

Diodorus gives a similar account without the contest: Heracles, afraid to have more children by Megara after the disaster that had struck their first family, wooed Iole, and Eurytus hesitated for the same reason. Heracles took the refusal as an insult (Diodorus 4.31.1–2).

The Death of Iphitus

The sources disagree on how Iphitus died. In Apollodorus, cattle were stolen from Euboea by Autolycus and Eurytus suspected Heracles. Iphitus did not believe it and went to find Heracles, who welcomed him and promised to help look for the animals, but in a new fit of madness threw him from the walls of Tiryns (Apollodorus, Library 2.6.2). Diodorus makes Heracles himself drive off the mares of Eurytus in anger at the refusal, and then throw Iphitus from a tower (Diodorus 4.31.2–3). In the Odyssey Iphitus lost twelve mares and went looking for them; Heracles killed him in Heracles’ own house, though Iphitus was his guest, and kept the mares (Odyssey 21.22–30).

Sophocles gives yet another account, told in the play by the herald Lichas. Eurytus insulted Heracles, his old guest-friend, when he came to his house, saying that although his arrows never missed, he fell short of Eurytus’ sons when it came to a test of the bow, and was only a slave; and when Heracles was drunk at dinner, Eurytus threw him out. When Iphitus later came to Tiryns, searching for lost horses, Heracles pushed him from a high tower (Sophocles, Trachiniae 262–273). Zeus punished Heracles for killing a man by a trick by having him sold as a slave (Trachiniae 274–280).

Servitude and the Sack of Oechalia

For the murder of Iphitus, Heracles was afflicted with a disease. At Delphi he was told that the cure was to be sold into slavery for three years and to pay compensation for the murder to Eurytus; Hermes sold him to Omphale, queen of Lydia, and Eurytus refused the compensation (Apollodorus, Library 2.6.2–3). Sophocles, whose version puts the sale at a year, says he served Omphale (Trachiniae 252–253). Diodorus says the purchase price was paid to the sons of Iphitus (Diodorus 4.31.5–6).

Later, after marrying Deianira, Heracles gathered an army at Trachis and marched on Oechalia to punish Eurytus. With Arcadians, Melians and Locrians he killed Eurytus and his sons, took the city, and led Iole away captive (Apollodorus, Library 2.7.7). Diodorus names the cause as the refusal of Iole, and says he put in at the promontory of Cenaeum in Euboea with Iole as his prisoner (Diodorus 4.37.5). In Sophocles, Lichas first tells Deianira that Heracles took the city only to punish the insult; a messenger then reveals that Lichas had said in public that Heracles sacked Oechalia for love of the girl (Trachiniae 351–365), and Lichas admits it (Trachiniae 472–478).

Iole and the Death of Heracles

Heracles sent Lichas to Trachis for a fine tunic to wear for a sacrifice at Cenaeum. Deianira learned from Lichas about Iole and, fearing that Heracles might love the girl more than herself, smeared the tunic with the blood of the centaur Nessus, which she believed was a love charm (Apollodorus, Library 2.7.7). In Sophocles Deianira sees the captives arriving and pities Iole above the others for her bearing, without knowing who she is (Trachiniae 307–313). She learns that the captive is Eurytus’ daughter Iole only afterwards (Trachiniae 376–381), and then sends the tunic.

The tunic burned Heracles, and Deianira killed herself when she saw what she had done (Apollodorus, Library 2.7.7).

Iole After Heracles

As he lay dying, Heracles ordered his eldest son by Deianira, Hyllus, to marry Iole when he came of age (Apollodorus, Library 2.7.7). In Sophocles he asks Hyllus to take “Eurytus’ daughter” as his wife and not to let any other man have her (Trachiniae 1216–1227).

Iole Sources

Homer, Odyssey 8.223–228 and 21.13–41. Hesiod, Catalogue of Women (fragment quoted by the scholiast on Sophocles, Trachiniae 266). Sophocles, Trachiniae 248–281, 307–313, 351–381, 472–478 and 1216–1227. Apollodorus, Library 2.6.1–3, 2.7.7 and 2.4.9. Diodorus Siculus 4.31.1–6, 4.37.5 and 4.38.1.

See Also: Eurytus, Heracles, Megara, Deianira, Nessus, Hyllus, Omphale, Iphitus