In Greek mythology, Iolaus (Greek: ΄Ιόλαος) was a son of Iphicles and thus a nephew of Heracles. He often acted as Heracles' charioteer and companion, and is sometimes said to have also been Heracles' eromenos (lover). When Heracles was having trouble slaying the Hydra because of the regeneration of its many heads, Iolaus cauterized each neck as Heracles beheaded it, and enabled the Hydra to be killed. Heracles married his ex-wife Megara to Iolaus when the sight of her caused him to remember his fitful murder of their three children. Iolaus and Megara had a daughter, Leipephilene. He was one of the Hericlidae. Greek mythology consists of a large collection of narratives detailing the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, which were first envisioned and disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition. ... In Greek mythology, Iphicles referred to three different people: The half-brother of Heracles, being the son of Alcmene and her human husband Amphitryon whereas Heracles was her son by Zeus. ... Hercules, a Roman bronze (Louvre Museum In Greek mythology, Heracles, or Heraklês (glory of Hera, Ἡρακλης) was a divine hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, stepson of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus. ... Pederastic courtship scene. ... The 16th-century German illustrator has been influenced by the Beast of Revelation in his depiction of the Hydra. ... In Greek mythology, Megara (Greek: Μέγαρα) was the daughter of Creon, the King of Thebes. ... In Greek mythology, Leipephilene (Greek: Λειπεφιλήυη) was the daughter of Iolaus and Megara. ...

After Deianeira killed Heracles, believing he was having an affair with Iole, Iolaus lit Heracles' funeral pyre. Note: sometimes, this was Philoctetes instead. Like many mortal women in Greek mythology, Deianira (also Deianeira) occupied a perilous threshold position between the daylit world of Olympian gods and heroes and the dark chthonic primordial world of primitive earth magic. ... In Greek mythology, Iole (Ίόλη) was the daughter of Eurytus. ... In Greek mythology, Philoctetes (also Philoktêtês or Philocthetes) was the son of King Poeas of Meliboea in Thessaly. ...

Ovid IX, 394. Engraved frontispiece of George Sandyss 1632 London edition of Publius Ovidius Naso (Sulmona, March 20, 43 BC â€“ Tomis, now Constanta AD 17) Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid, wrote on topics of love, abandoned women, and mythological transformations. ...