In the contest of wills between Hera and Zeus over whose candidate would be hero, fated to defeat the remaining creatures representing an old order and bring about the reign of the Twelve Olympians, Eurystheus was Hera's candidate and Heracles — though his name implies that at one archaic stage of myth-making he had carried " Hera's fame " — was the candidate of Zeus.

Heracles ' human stepfather Amphitryon was also a grandson of Perseus, and since Amphitryon's father ( Alcaeus ) was older than Eurystheus ' father ( Sthenelus ), he might have received the kingdom, but Sthenelus had banished Amphitryon for accidentally killing ( a familiar mytheme ) the eldest son in the family ( Electryon ).

When Eurystheus found out that Heracles ' nephew had helped him he declared that the labour had not been completed alone and as a result did not count towards the ten labours set for him.

Heracles knew that he had to return the hind, as he had promised, to Artemis, so he agreed to hand it over on the condition that Eurystheus himself come out and take it from him.

Eurystheus did come out, but the moment Heracles let the hind go, she sprinted back to her mistress, and Heracles departed, saying that Eurystheus had not been quick enough.

However, Eurystheus refused to credit the labour to Heracles, as he had performed it for payment.

After Eurystheus ' death, the brothers Atreus and Thyestes, whom he had left in charge during his absence, took over the city, the former exiling the latter and assuming the kingship, while Tiryns returned to the overlordship of Argos.

In the myth of the birth of Heracles, it is Hera herself who sits at the door instead, delaying the birth of Heracles until her protégé, Eurystheus, had been born first.

To expiate the crime, Heracles was required to carry out ten labors set by his archenemy, Eurystheus, who had become king in Heracles ' place.

Heracles, whom Zeus had originally intended to be ruler of Argos, Lacedaemon and Messenian Pylos, had been supplanted by the cunning of Hera, and his intended possessions had fallen into the hands of Eurystheus, king of Mycenae.

With her he had a son, Eurystheus the fourth and last of the Perseid dynasty.

According to Greek mythology adopted by the Etruscans and Romans, when Hercules had to perform twelve labours, one of them was to fetch the Cattle of Geryon of the far West and bring them to Eurystheus ; this marked the westward extent of his travels.

Heracles, whom Zeus had originally intended to be ruler of Argos, Lacedaemon and Messenian Pylos, had been supplanted by the cunning of Hera, and his intended possessions had fallen into the hands of Eurystheus, king of Mycenae.

Eurystheus, stating that Heracles still had seven Labours to do, then sent Heracles to defeat the Stymphalian Birds.

Eurystheus had meant for their stewardship to be temporary, but it became permanent after his death in battle.

Heracles then had to herd the cattle back to Eurystheus.

Eurystheus and Hera were greatly angered to find that Heracles had managed to escape from the claws of the Nemean Lion and the fangs of the Lernaean Hydra, and so decided to spend more time thinking up a third task that would spell doom for the hero.

When Hercules saw them, he thought Hippolyte had been plotting such treachery all along and had never meant to hand over the belt, so he killed her and took the belt, returning to Eurystheus.

Capturing Cerberus, without using weapons, was the final labour assigned to Heracles ( Hercules ) by King Eurystheus, in recompense for the killing of his own children by Megara after he was driven insane by Hera, and therefore was the most dangerous and difficult.

The arena for the actions that would bring about this deep change are the Twelve Labors imposed on Heracles by Eurystheus.

To extend what may have once been ten Labours to the canonical dozen, it was said that Eurystheus didn't count the Hydra, as he was assisted, nor the Augean stables, as Heracles received payment for his work.

Hera assigned Heracles to labor for King Eurystheus at Mycenae.

He was directed to serve King Eurystheus for ten years and perform any task Eurystheus required of him.

Heracles accomplished these tasks, but Eurystheus did not accept the cleansing of the Augean stables because Heracles was going to accept pay for the labor.

The term Heracleidae, although it could refer to all of Heracles ' children and further descendants, is most commonly used to indicate the descendants of Hyllus, in the context of their lasting struggle for return to Peloponnesus, out of where Hyllus and his brothers-the children of Heracles by Deianeira-were thought to have been expelled by Eurystheus.

Eurystheus, on his demand for their surrender being refused, attacked Athens, but was defeated and slain.

When a son of Heracles, Hyllus, killed Sthenelus, Eurystheus became noted for his enmity to Heracles and for his ruthless persecution of the Heracleidae, the descendants of Heracles.

After his death Eurystheus determined to annihilate these rivals for the throne of Mycenae, but they took refuge in Athens, and in the course of war Eurystheus and all his sons were killed.

Eurystheus, on his demand for their surrender being refused, attacked Athens, but was defeated and slain.

He was sent to retrieve it for Admeta, the daughter of king Eurystheus.

Eurystheus warned him that the tasks set for him would become increasingly difficult.

Eurystheus had given Heracles this task hoping to incite Artemis ' anger at Heracles for his desecration of her sacred animal.

Having successfully caught the Boar, Heracles bound it and carried it back to Eurystheus, who was frightened of it and ducked down in his half-buried storage pithos, begging Heracles to get rid of the beast, a favorite subject for the vase-painters.

In Greek mythology, Galanthis or Galinthias was the woman who interrupted with Hera's plan to hinder the birth of Heracles in favor of Eurystheus, and was changed into a weasel as punishment for being so insolent as to deceive the goddesses of birth that were acting on Hera's behalf.

The stories about the killer of Eurystheus and the fate of his corpse vary, but the Athenians believed the burial site of Eurystheus remained on their soil and served to protect the country against the descendants of Heracles, who traditionally included the Spartans and Argives.

In the tragedy, Iolaus, Heracles ' old comrade, and his children, Macaria and her brothers and sisters have hidden from Eurystheus in Athens, which was ruled by King Demophon ; as the first scene makes clear, their expectation is that the blood relationship of the kings with Heracles and their father's past indebtedness to Theseus, will finally provide them sanctuary.

Both versions have eating make the horses calmer, and Heracles took the opportunity to bind their mouths shut, and easily took them back to King Eurystheus, who dedicated the horses to Hera.

After cleaning the Augean Stables, Eurystheus sent Hercules to defeat the Stymphalian Birds, man-eating birds with beaks of bronze and sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims ; they were sacred to Ares, the god of war.

Both versions have eating make the horses calmer, and Hercules took the opportunity to bind their mouths shut, and easily took them back to King Eurystheus, who dedicated the horses to Hera.

Eurystheus speaks prophetically of his burial within Attica, claiming that he will be an anti-hero of sorts, though one who will eventually protect the Athenians.

Hera did this knowing that while Heracles was to be born a descendant of Perseus, so too was Eurystheus.

Meanwhile, Hera caused Eurystheus to be born prematurely, making him High King in place of Heracles.

In other versions, he encountered Artemis in her temple and she told him to leave the hind and tell Eurystheus all that had happened and his third labor would be considered to be completed.

In some versions, they were allowed to roam freely around Argos, having become permanently calm, but in others, Eurystheus ordered the horses taken to Olympus to be sacrificed to Zeus, but Zeus refused them, and sent wolves, lions, and bears to kill them.

There the oracle Pythoness advised him to reside at Tyrins and serve King Eurystheus for twelve years, performing whatever labour might beset him ; in return, he would be rewarded with immortality.

Eurystheus even had a large bronze jar made for him that he could hide in from Heracles if need be.

In other versions, he encountered Artemis in her temple and she told him to leave the hind and tell Eurystheus all that had happened and his third labor would be considered to be completed.

In some versions, they were allowed to roam freely around Argos, having become permanently calm, but in others, Eurystheus ordered the horses taken to Olympus to be sacrificed to Zeus, but Zeus refused them, and sent wolves, lions, and bears to kill them.

Furious that Hercules had accomplished something that Eurystheus thought could not possibly be done, he sent Hercules off to his final task, the capture of Cerberus, the three-headed guardian hound of the gates of the Underworld.