Page "Heracles" Paragraph 61

As symbol of masculinity and warriorship, Heracles also had a number of male lovers.

Plutarch, in his Eroticos, maintains that Heracles ' male lovers were beyond counting.

Of these, the one most closely linked to Heracles is the Theban Iolaus.

According to a myth thought to be of ancient origins, Iolaus was Heracles ' charioteer and squire.

Heracles in the end helped Iolaus find a wife.

Plutarch reports that down to his own time, male couples would go to Iolaus's tomb in Thebes to swear an oath of loyalty to the hero and to each other.