Heracles: The Hero Who Could Not Save His Family

Heracles returns from the underworld to find his family facing execution. His wife Megara and their three sons have dressed for death. His father Amphitryon can offer them little protection against Lycus, the man who has seized Thebes. The returning hero can still save them. Euripides gives him that victory before Hera turns his strength against the household he has rescued.

This account follows Euripides’ Heracles. The playwright places the catastrophe after the hero’s return from his final labour. Apollodorus puts the madness before the labours and leaves Megara alive. Those differences affect both the tragedy and its aftermath. Heracles 1–59; 514–636.

A family waiting at the altar

Heracles has descended into Hades to bring Cerberus into the daylight. In his absence, Lycus kills Creon, Megara’s father, and takes power in Thebes. He fears that Heracles’ sons will grow up and avenge their mother’s family. He intends to kill the children, their mother and Amphitryon.

The family takes refuge at an altar of Zeus. Megara asks permission to dress her sons for burial. Lycus grants the request and promises to return for their execution. Amphitryon hopes for his son’s return, while Megara prepares the children for the death their ruler has ordered. Euripides lets them disagree about hope under the same threat. Heracles 31–106; 319–347.

Heracles comes home

Megara sees her husband and calls the children towards him. Heracles asks about their funeral clothing and learns of Creon’s death. His family has heard reports that he died below the earth. He removes their fear by standing before them, alive and ready to defend them.

He has brought Cerberus out of Hades and rescued Theseus during his time below. The hound remains at Hermione, awaiting delivery to Eurystheus. Theseus has gone to Athens. Heracles came to Thebes first to find out what had happened at home. His capture of Cerberus therefore does not mean he has discharged every obligation to the king who set the labours.

Amphitryon persuades his son to wait inside the house for Lycus. The usurper enters expecting to collect his victims and encounters Heracles instead. The chorus hears his cries from within. After his death, the family can begin a purification sacrifice. Heracles 514–636; 701–762; 922–930, Potter translation adapted by Ebbott and Dué.

Iris and Lyssa above the house

The chorus sees two divine figures: Iris, messenger of the gods, and Lyssa, the personification of raging madness. Iris explains Hera’s purpose. Now that Heracles has accomplished his labours, Hera intends him to kill his children.

Lyssa objects. She points to his service to the gods and the dangers he has removed from the earth. Iris rejects her advice. Lyssa obeys, declaring that she acts against her wishes. Euripides gives the agent of madness a chance to challenge the command before she carries it out.

During the sacrifice, Heracles imagines that he must attack Eurystheus. He mistakes his sons for the king’s children and turns against them. He kills Megara and all three boys. The messenger describes an arrow killing one child and a club killing another; Megara and the third child die together by one arrow. Athena stops Heracles with a stone before he can kill Amphitryon. The surviving attendants bind him while he sleeps. Heracles 815–873; 922–1015, Arthur S. Way translation.

Waking beside the dead

Heracles wakes tied to a broken pillar. He recognises his weapons but cannot account for the destruction around him. Amphitryon must tell his son that he killed his own family. Heracles asks whether he also killed Megara; his father confirms it.

He considers ending his life. Theseus’ arrival makes him hide his face, ashamed to let the man he rescued see him after the killings. He also fears that his bloodshed might pollute his friend. Euripides places that fear beside the divine command the audience has witnessed: Heracles must face the consequences of actions Hera compelled him to perform.

Theseus has come with armed assistance against Lycus. He arrives expecting to repay a rescue and discovers a household in mourning. He asks Heracles to uncover his head and refuses to abandon him because of his misfortune. Herakles 1089–1162; 1163–1244, Center for Hellenic Studies.

Theseus offers a home

Theseus offers purification in Athens, a home and a share of his resources. He can give Heracles somewhere to go and the means to live there. Heracles accepts. The argument that abandoning life would betray his courage comes from Heracles himself, after Theseus has offered help.

He asks Amphitryon to bury Megara and the children. He still grieves as he prepares to leave, and Theseus must support him as they walk. Heracles also asks his friend to help deliver Cerberus to Argos. The obligations he brought back from Hades continue alongside his loss.

Euripides leaves room for a wounded man to depend on someone he once saved. Heracles’ decision to live follows an offer of concrete shelter and companionship. Theseus helps him take the first steps; neither man claims that the deaths can be undone. Heracles 1313–1428, including 1347–1357 and 1386–1388; Greek text.

The different order in Apollodorus

In the Library, attributed to Apollodorus, Hera drives Heracles mad before he performs the labours. He kills his children by Megara and two children of his brother Iphicles. He imposes exile on himself, receives purification from Thespius and asks the oracle at Delphi where he should live.

The priestess directs him to Tiryns, with twelve years of service to Eurystheus and ten labours. Eurystheus rejects the Hydra task because Iolaus helped and the cleaning of the stables because of payment; two further tasks bring the performed total to twelve. Megara survives and appears after the labours, when Heracles gives her to Iolaus. Library 2.4.11–12; 2.5.2; 2.5.5; 2.5.11–12; 2.6.1.

Episode 27 examines the labours through that different ordering. The episode numbers mark the series’ publication sequence. They do not turn Euripides’ departure with Theseus into an immediate journey to Delphi or make the two ancient accounts one continuous biography.