INTRODUCTION TO
THE HERACLEIDAE
The Legend
Eurystheus, king of Argos, was given control over his cousin
Heracles through the contrivance of Hera. He persecuted
Heracles throughout that hero's life, sending him on the
famous and perilous "Labors." After Heracles had died and
been transformed into a god, Eurystheus continued to perse-
cute the family. Wherever these disinherited refugees went,
he would send his herald to demand that they be denied sanc-
tuary. He was the most powerful king in Greece, and none
dared resist him. But in Attica the Heracleidae finally found a
state which was willing to defend their rights; and when
Eurystheus invaded Attica to claim them by force, he was
defeated and killed.
Such were the main outlines of the legend, at least the
Athenian legend (there was a Theban variant as well). Aeschy-
lus had written a tragedy on the subject, and Athenian play-
wrights loved to glorify an ancient Athens which had stood
up for the weak and the oppressed (Aeschylus, The Eumen-
ides; Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus; Euripides, The Suppli-
ants, Medea, Heracles). There are certain details which
Euripides either invented or chose to emphasize. He is the
first, as far as we know, to bring in the self-immolation of a
daughter of Heracles. He also makes a major character out of
lolaus, Heracles* nephew and old companion-in-arms, at the
expense of Hyllus, the eldest of the Heracleidae. Some said
Hyllus killed Eurystheus, others that lolaus did. Euripides
makes Hyllus a son who is of fighting age, and the messenger's
account of the battle gives him an honorable part, but Hyllus
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