After the death of Hercules, his children and his mother Alcmene lived in Tiryns with Hercules' eldest son, Gill. They did not live there long. Out of hatred for Hercules, Eurystheus drove the children of the greatest hero out of their father’s possessions and pursued them wherever they tried to hide. The children of Hercules wandered throughout Greece for a long time; Finally, the elderly Iolaus, nephew and friend of Hercules, sheltered them. And the hatred of Eurystheus overtook the unfortunates, and he and Iolaus had to flee to Athens, where Theseus’s son Demophon then ruled.
Having learned that the children of Hercules had taken refuge in Athens, Eurystheus sent his messenger Copreus to demand from Demophon the extradition of the Heracleides. Demophon refused Copreus, and the threat that Eurystheus with a large army would attack Athens and destroy the city did not intimidate him. Demophon did not want to break the custom of hospitality.
Soon Eurystheus invaded Attica with a large army. The Athenians faced a battle with numerous enemies. They asked the gods about the outcome of the battle and the gods revealed to them that the Athenians would win only if a girl was sacrificed to the gods. Macaria, the eldest daughter of Hercules and Deianira, voluntarily doomed herself to the gods; she decided to sacrifice her life to save her brothers and sisters.
Both troops met on the battlefield, and Gill came with a detachment of warriors; he found help against Eurystheus. Before the start of the battle, Macaria was sacrificed. The battle was cruel and bloody. The Athenians won. Eurystheus fled, and Gill rushed in a chariot to pursue his father's enemy.
Iolaus saw this. He begged Gill to give him the chariot - the elderly comrade-in-arms of Hercules himself wanted to take revenge for all the troubles that Eurystheus caused his friend. Iolaus quickly rode his chariot in pursuit. He had almost overtaken Eurystheus. Then Iolaus prayed to the Olympian gods. He begged them to return to him just for one day his youth and his former strength. The gods heard Iolaus' plea. Two bright stars rolled down from the sky, a dark cloud descended on Iolaus's chariot. When the cloud parted, Iolaus stood on the chariot in all the splendor of his youth, powerful and beautiful. Iolaus overtook Eurystheus and captured him.
Iolaus triumphantly brought the bound Eurystheus to Athens. The mother of Hercules Alcmena flew into a furious rage when she saw the enemy of her great son. Despite the fact that both Hyll and Demophon wanted to protect Eurystheus, Alcmene tore out Eurystheus’s eyes with her own hands and killed him. This is how Eurystheus died. The Athenians did not leave the defeated enemy without burial; he was buried in Attica, at the sanctuary of Pallenian Athena.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru