As penance for involuntary manslaughter, Heracles was sentenced to slavery under the playful rod of Omphale, Queen of Lydia.
After completing his Twelve Labours for King Eurystheus, Heracles gave his wife Megara a divorce, since he had killed their children in a fit of madness, and turned his attention to Iole, daughter of King Eurytus. Eurytus was not keen for Iole to suffer Megara’s fate, but Iole’s brother Iphitus backed the hero; which made it all the more unfortunate that Heracles then accidentally killed him.
Niobe, daughter of Tantalus, was so proud of her fourteen children that she brazenly claimed the privileges of a goddess.
Niobe was a legendary Queen of Thebes with fourteen lovely children. In a moment of motherly pride, she scoffed at the goddess Leto, mother of just two. But they were Apollo and Artemis; and Niobe had unleashed an unstoppable divine feud that would make her name synonymous with tears.
Young Theseus sets out for Athens on foot to claim his kingdom, but the road is infested with giants, bandits and a savage sow.
According to Castor of Rhodes (first century BC), Theseus inherited the crown of Athens in 1234 BC – just about the time of the Exodus and shortly before the Siege of Troy. As his name implies, during his reign he ‘gathered’ all Attica under Athens, and the overwhelming challenge posed by that task is symbolised by the mythical labours attributed to him.