Eurystheus

Scion-tier (registry-floor) son of Sthenelus, the Mycenaean king who imposed the Twelve Labors on Heracles per Hera's instigation. The structural-narrative engine of the entire Heracles cycle. Killed at Athens (variant: by Hyllus per Apollodorus, or by Iolaus per Euripides) along with all five of his sons — the death terminating the Perseid-kingship-line at Mycenae and producing the dynastic vacuum that brought the Pelopid Atreidae to power.

Parentage

• father: SthenelusApollod. 2.4.5 (primary)
• parent: Nicippe

Children

• Alexander
• Eurybios
• Iphimedon
• Mentor son of Eurystheus
• Perimedes

Powers

• Imposed the Twelve Labours upon Heracles

Relations

• father: SthenelusApollod. 2.4.5 (primary)
• mother: Nicippe daughter of Pelops · GreekApollod. 2.4.5 (primary)
• father of: AlexanderApollod. 2.8.1 (primary)
• father of: IphimedonApollod. 2.8.1 (primary)
• father of: EurybiosApollod. 2.8.1 (primary)
• father of: Mentor son of EurystheusApollod. 2.8.1 (primary)
• father of: PerimedesApollod. 2.8.1 (primary)
• enemy: HeraclesThe canonical-rivalry of the Twelve Labors imposition.Hom. Il. 19.95-133; Apollod. 2.5.1-12 (primary)

Sources

• existence: Homer, Iliad 19.95-133; Hesiod, Catalogue of Women fr. 130 Most; Apollodorus 2.4.5, 2.5.1-12, 2.8.1; Euripides, Heraclidae passim; Pausanias 1.32.6, 1.44.10, 2.16.6; Diodorus Siculus 4.10-26, 4.57 (primary)
• parentage: Apollod. 2.4.5; Hesiod fr. 130 (primary)