-The life of Herakles- tribute that the Thebans were obliged to pay to him.This tribute had come to be imposed on them in the following circumstances.Some years earlier,Klymenos, the father of Erginos,had visited Onchestos,a town that lay between Orchomenos (a powerful city in north-eastern Boeotia,see p.558)and Thebes,to attend a festival of Poseidon;and in the course of the celebrations,he had been murdered by some Thebans as the result of some trivial quarrel,or had been fatally wounded by a stone hurled by the charioteer of Kreon's father Menoikeus.After hearing of his father's death (or after receiving a direct order from his dying father),Erginos had waged a successful campaign against the Thebans,and had forced them to agree to send him an annual tribute of a hundred cattle for twenty years.Herakles was so angered by this imposition and by the arrogant behaviour of the heralds that he cut off their noses,ears and hands,and hung them around their necks on cords,telling them to take these to their king by way of tribute.Erginos responded by launching a second expedition against Thebes;but Herakles was available to command the Thebans on this occasion,and he soon killed Erginos and put his followers to flight.He then forced the Orchomenians to pay tribute to the Thebans,demanding that they should send twice as much as they had been receiving.24 In a Hellenistic account recorded by Diodorus,Erginos had taken precautions against a future revolt by depriving the Thebans of their weapons.So when he demanded that Herakles should be surrendered for having assaulted his heralds,Kreon was ready to yield to his superior power.Herakles procured arms for the Thebans,however,by stripping their temples of all the weapons that had been dedicated in them,and persuaded the young men of the city to strike for their freedom.On hearing that Erginos was advancing against the city, Herakles attacked him and his troops on narrow ground to deprive him of the advantage of his superior numbers,and killed him along with much of his army.He was then able to attack Orchomenos unexpectedly and burn it to the ground.25 Some said that he destroyed the power of Orchomenos forever (see further on p.558) Herakles founds a family in Thebes with Megara,but kills their children in a fit of madness Kreon rewarded Herakles for his services in the war by granting him his daughter MEGARA as a wife.He lived happily with her at Thebes for some years,fathering several children by her(from two to eight in varying accounts),until Hera finally intervened by inspiring him with a fit of homicidal madness.While in this state, he murdered his children,either by throwing them into a fire or by shooting them down with his arrows;and in some accounts,he also killed some or all of the chil- dren of his half-brother Iphikles.Apollodorus follows Pherecydes in stating that he threw his children into a fire,and adds that he inflicted the same fate on two chil- dren of Iphikles.26 Or in Diodorus'version,he first tried to kill his nephew Iolaos, but shot his own children when Iolaos managed to escape.27 Or in another account by Nicolaus of Damascus (a writer associated with the court of Herod the Great), Herakles killed two of the children of Iphikles and then his own children,tearing the last from his mother's breast;and he would have killed Megara too if she had not been rescued by Iphikles,who also saved his own eldest son Iolaos.28 According to a local tradition at Thebes,Herakles would have killed his aged father too,an 252tribute that the Thebans were obliged to pay to him. This tribute had come to be imposed on them in the following circumstances. Some years earlier, Klymenos, the father of Erginos, had visited Onchestos, a town that lay between Orchomenos (a powerful city in north-eastern Boeotia, see p. 558) and Thebes, to attend a festival of Poseidon; and in the course of the celebrations, he had been murdered by some Thebans as the result of some trivial quarrel, or had been fatally wounded by a stone hurled by the charioteer of Kreon’s father Menoikeus. After hearing of his father’s death (or after receiving a direct order from his dying father), Erginos had waged a successful campaign against the Thebans, and had forced them to agree to send him an annual tribute of a hundred cattle for twenty years. Herakles was so angered by this imposition and by the arrogant behaviour of the heralds that he cut off their noses, ears and hands, and hung them around their necks on cords, telling them to take these to their king by way of tribute. Erginos responded by launching a second expedition against Thebes; but Herakles was available to command the Thebans on this occasion, and he soon killed Erginos and put his followers to flight. He then forced the Orchomenians to pay tribute to the Thebans, demanding that they should send twice as much as they had been receiving.24 In a Hellenistic account recorded by Diodorus, Erginos had taken precautions against a future revolt by depriving the Thebans of their weapons. So when he demanded that Herakles should be surrendered for having assaulted his heralds, Kreon was ready to yield to his superior power. Herakles procured arms for the Thebans, however, by stripping their temples of all the weapons that had been dedicated in them, and persuaded the young men of the city to strike for their freedom. On hearing that Erginos was advancing against the city, Herakles attacked him and his troops on narrow ground to deprive him of the advantage of his superior numbers, and killed him along with much of his army. He was then able to attack Orchomenos unexpectedly and burn it to the ground.25 Some said that he destroyed the power of Orchomenos forever (see further on p. 558) Herakles founds a family in Thebes with Megara, but kills their children in a fit of madness Kreon rewarded Herakles for his services in the war by granting him his daughter MEGARA as a wife. He lived happily with her at Thebes for some years, fathering several children by her (from two to eight in varying accounts), until Hera finally intervened by inspiring him with a fit of homicidal madness. While in this state, he murdered his children, either by throwing them into a fire or by shooting them down with his arrows; and in some accounts, he also killed some or all of the chil￾dren of his half-brother Iphikles. Apollodorus follows Pherecydes in stating that he threw his children into a fire, and adds that he inflicted the same fate on two chil￾dren of Iphikles.26 Or in Diodorus’ version, he first tried to kill his nephew Iolaos, but shot his own children when Iolaos managed to escape.27 Or in another account by Nicolaus of Damascus (a writer associated with the court of Herod the Great), Herakles killed two of the children of Iphikles and then his own children, tearing the last from his mother’s breast; and he would have killed Megara too if she had not been rescued by Iphikles, who also saved his own eldest son Iolaos.28 According to a local tradition at Thebes, Herakles would have killed his aged father too, an — The life of Herakles — 252