Eurytus of Oechalia

[2][3][4] Eurytus was the son of Melaneus[5] either by Stratonice,[3] daughter of King Porthaon of Calydon and Laothoe[6] or by the eponymous heroine Oechalia.

Eurytus promised the hand of his daughter Iole as a prize to whoever could defeat him and his sons in an archery contest.

For this crime, Heracles was forced to serve the Lydian queen Omphale as a slave for either one or three years.

Revenge-driven, Heracles sacked the city and killed Eurytus and his sons, then took Iole as his concubine.

[13] According to Pausanias, the remains of the body of Eurytus were believed to be preserved in the Carnasian grove; and in the Messenian Oechalia sacrifices were offered to him every year.

Image of King Eurytus of Oechalia in an Etruscan vase from Caere . Eurytus is depicted next to Heracles during a symposium. Krater of corinthian columns called Krater of Eurytus , circa 600 B.C.