Iole

For the genus of birds, see Iole (bird).
Iole with Heracles in the house of Eurytus, as depicted on the seventh-century Eurytos column-crater, Louvre. Iole's name is given in its Corinthian (Doric) form Ϝιόλᾱ ("Viola"), with digamma and a local Σ-shaped form for iota. It is located under the name of Heracles in the right upper corner of the image.

In Greek mythology, Iole (/ˈaɪ.əli/; Ancient Greek: Ἰόλη [iólɛː]) was the daughter of King Eurytus of Oechalia.[1] According to the brief epitome in the Bibliotheca, Eurytus had a beautiful young daughter named Iole who was eligible for marriage. Iole was claimed by Heracles for a bride, but Eurytus refused her hand in marriage. Iole was indirectly the cause of Heracles' death because of his wife's jealousy of her.[2]

There are different versions of the mythology of Iole from many ancient sources. The Bibliotheca gives the most complete story followed by slight variations of this from Seneca and Ovid.[3] Other ancient sources (i.e. Diodorus Siculus, Gaius Julius Hyginus, and Pseudo-Plutarch) have similar information on Iole with additional variations.

  1. ^ "Apollodorus. The Library". Archived from the original on 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
  2. ^ "Apollodorus. the library Book 2 translation by Frazer". Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  3. ^ "Seneca Hercules Oetaeus, translation by Frank Justus Miller". Retrieved 2008-08-25.