In Greek mythology, Iolaus (; Ancient Greek: Ἰόλαος Iólāos) was a Theban divine hero. He was famed for being Heracles's charioteer and squire, and for helping with some of his Labors, as well as for being one of the Argonauts.
Family
Iolaus was the son of
Iphicles and Automedusa, daughter of King Alcathous of
Megara. According to
Plutarch, Heracles gave his wife, Megara, age thirty three, to Iolaus, then only sixteen years old.
[Plutarch, Moralia "The Dialogue on Love / Erotikos / Amatoria", Loeb, IX, p.339] According to Pausanias, who cites Hesiod as the source, they had a daughter,
Leipephilene,
[Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.40.5-6.] though the name is corrupt and has been amended by various editors to "Leipephile" (Λειπεφίλη), "Hippophile" (Ἱπποφίλη) or "Deiphile" (Δηιφίλη).
[ Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, Band VA, Halbband 10, Thapsos-Thesara (1934), s. 2444, s. v. Thero] Through this daughter, Iolaus was considered to have fathered the mythic and historic line of the kings of
Corinth, ending with
Bacchiadae.
Mythology
Relationship with Heracles
Iolaus often acted as Heracles's charioteer and companion. Plutarch, describing the Theban Sacred Band in his life of
Pelopidas, said "It is a tradition likewise that Iolaus, who assisted Hercules in his labours and fought at his side, was beloved of him; and Aristotle observes that, even in his time, lovers plighted their faith at Iolaus's tomb."
[Crompton, Louis, Homosexuality and Civilization, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003, p. 123.]
Plutarch also described Heracles's male lovers in the Amatorius, saying there were too many to count, but that Iolaus and Admetus were two of the most notable. He said that Iolaus was honored by many for this love, and that it was popular for lovers to make reciprocal vows of affection at his tomb.[Plutarch, Amatorius 17. Translated by Bernardakis, Gregorius N.]
Adventures
Iolaus provided essential help to Heracles in his battle against the
Lernaean Hydra, his second labor. Seeing that Heracles was being overwhelmed by the multi-headed monster (the Lernaean Hydra), who grew two heads in place of each one cut off, Iolaus helped by
Cauterization each neck as Heracles beheaded it.
According to Diodorus Siculus, Iolaus was sent by Heracles to Sardinia, together with nine of the sons that he had with the fifty daughters of Thespius (the Thespiades), to colonize the island, giving rise to the Iolei people.[Diodorus Siculus, book IV, 29–30.]
Iolaus and the Thespians were buried in Sardinia.
Aristotle said that Sardinia had practiced the rite of incubation, which is the liberation ritual of the people who were affected by nightmares and obsessions. These rituals included that the persons suffering from nightmares should sleep next to the tombs of heroes.[Aristotle, Physics, IV.]
Simplicius of Cilicia adds, in the eight books of the Commentaries Aristotle, that "the places where they were deposited and preserved corpses of the nine heroes that Heracles got from the Thespians and who came to Sardinia with the colony of Iolaus, became the famous oracles."[Simplicius, book IV.]
Solinus says: "The Iolei, so named by him (Iolaus), added a temple to his tomb, because he had freed Sardinia from many ills".[Solinus, I-16: Iolenses ab eo dicti sepulcro eius templum addiderunt quod ... Malis plurimis Sardiniam liberasset.]
Legacy
The Theban gymnasium was named after Iolaus because it was next to his tomb and the Heracleia, an annual festival in honor of Heracles, was held there, hence also known as
Iolaeia,
Iolaia or
Iolaea (), an athletic festival consisting of gymnastic and equestrian events.
[Pindar, Olympian Ode IX, 95] The victors at the
Iolaea were crowned with garlands of
Myrtus communis.
[Pindar, Isthmian Ode IV.]
A genus of Lycaenidae butterfly has been named after him.
An exoplanet around star HAT-P-42 (now named Lerna) is named after him as part of the IAU's NameExoWorlds project.
See also
Notes
External links
