Eurytus

Eurytus was a king of Oechalia, a master archer in Greek mythology who taught Heracles to shoot and was later killed by him. His great bow passed to his son Iphitus and from Iphitus to Odysseus, who used it in the Odyssey to kill the suitors of Penelope. Several other mythical figures share the name.

Family and Home

Eurytus was the son of Melaneus and Stratonice (Hesiod, Catalogue of Women fragment 79; Pausanias 4.3.10, 4.33.5). The Messenians said that Melaneus was a good archer, believed for that reason to be a son of Apollo, and that their king Perieres gave him land which was named Oechalia after Melaneus’ wife (Pausanias 4.2.2). Pherecydes made Melaneus the son of Arcesilaus (Pherecydes, fragment 34). Homer calls Eurytus “the Oechalian” and puts Oechalia in the region of Thessaly, among the cities of Asclepius’ sons Podalirius and Machaon (Iliad 2.730). Others placed the city elsewhere. The Thessalians identified it with the deserted town of Eurytium, and the Euboeans put it in the territory of Eretria; Pausanias preferred the Messenian version, because the bones of Eurytus were kept in the Carnasian grove in Messenia, where he also received a hero’s offering (Pausanias 4.2.3, 4.3.10, 4.33.5).

In the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, Eurytus had four sons, Didaeon, Clytius, Toxeus and Iphitus, and by his queen Antiope he had his youngest child, the golden-haired Iole (Hesiod, Catalogue of Women fragment 79). Iphitus is called “son of Eurytus” in Homer (Odyssey 21.14, 21.37). Other authors name the sons differently: Diodorus gives Toxeus, Molion and Clytius as the sons slain by Heracles (Diodorus Siculus 4.37.5).

The Archer and the Bow

Apollodorus says that Heracles was taught to shoot with the bow by Eurytus (Library 2.4.9). In Homer, Eurytus rivalled the gods in archery. Odysseus tells the Phaeacians that he would not compete with Heracles or with Eurytus of Oechalia, “who strove even with the immortals in archery”, and that for this reason Eurytus died soon and did not reach old age, for Apollo was angry and killed him because he challenged him to a shooting contest (Homer, Odyssey 8.223–228).

The bow itself is described in the Odyssey. Eurytus had worn it, and when he was dying he left it in his high house to his son Iphitus. Iphitus gave it to Odysseus when the two met at the house of Ortilochus in Messene, and Odysseus gave him a sword and a spear as the beginning of a friendship. Heracles killed Iphitus before they could share a table, and Odysseus never took the bow to Troy but kept it at home in memory of his friend (Odyssey 21.11–41). Penelope brought it out as the prize in the contest of the suitors, and Odysseus used it to defeat them (Odyssey 21–22).

Eurytus and Heracles

In Apollodorus, Eurytus announced that he would give his daughter Iole to whoever beat him and his sons at archery. Heracles won, but Eurytus and his other sons refused to give her up, saying that they feared he would again kill his children, as he had done in his madness with those he had by Megara. Iphitus alone spoke in favour of Heracles (Library 2.6.1).

The story of what followed varies. In Apollodorus, some cattle were stolen from Euboea by Autolycus, and Eurytus suspected Heracles; Iphitus did not believe it and went to find Heracles to look for the animals with him. Heracles, seized by madness again, threw Iphitus from the walls of Tiryns (Library 2.6.1–2). Homer says that Iphitus came looking for twelve lost mares, and that Heracles killed him in his own house, ignoring the laws of hospitality and the table he had offered (Odyssey 21.22–30). Diodorus has Heracles drive off the mares himself because of the refusal, and then throw Iphitus down from a tower of the castle when he came to look for them (Diodorus Siculus 4.31). In Sophocles, Eurytus insulted Heracles at a banquet, called him a slave, and threw him out of the house; Heracles took vengeance on Iphitus by throwing him from the height at Tiryns, and Zeus punished him for killing a man by treachery by selling him to Omphale (Sophocles, Trachiniae 260–280). According to Apollodorus, Eurytus refused the compensation that was offered to him for the killing when Heracles was sold to Omphale (Library 2.6.3).

Afterward Heracles gathered an army and attacked Oechalia. He killed Eurytus and his sons, sacked the city and led Iole away as a captive (Apollodorus, Library 2.7.7). Sophocles gives another reason for the war: Heracles wanted the girl, and when her father would not give her, he invented a small pretext, attacked her country, killed her father, and took the city (Trachiniae 351–365). This capture of Iole led Deianira to send the robe that killed Heracles; see Shirt of Nessus.

Other Figures Named Eurytus

Another Eurytus was one of the Giants, killed by Dionysus with his thyrsus in the Gigantomachy (Apollodorus, Library 1.6.2). Apollodorus also lists a son of Hermes called Eurytus among the Argonauts (Library 1.9.16), and a son of Hippocoon of Sparta who died with his father and brothers when Heracles attacked Sparta (Library 3.10.5, 2.7.3). Diodorus names a Eurytus, son of Augeas, killed by Heracles near Cleonae (Diodorus Siculus 4.33.3).

Eurytus Sources

Ancient sources: Hesiod, Catalogue of Women fragment 79; Homer, Iliad 2.730 and Odyssey 8.223–228, 21.11–41; Sophocles, Trachiniae 260–280, 351–365; Apollodorus, Library 2.4.9, 2.6.1–3, 2.7.7, 1.6.2, 1.9.16, 2.7.3, 3.10.5; Diodorus Siculus 4.31, 4.33.3, 4.37.5; Pausanias 4.2.2–3, 4.3.10, 4.33.5; Pherecydes, fragment 34.

See Also: Clytius, Iole, Heracles, Apollo, Odysseus, Deianira