Iphitus
Son of Eurytus who gave Odysseus the great bow and was later murdered by Heracles
The Legend of Iphitus
Iphitus was the son of Eurytus of Oechalia, the legendary archer who had taught Heracles to shoot. When some of Eurytus' mares went missing, Iphitus set out to find them and met Odysseus during his search. The two exchanged gifts of guest-friendship: Iphitus gave Odysseus the great composite bow that had belonged to his father — the same bow Odysseus would later use to slaughter the suitors. Iphitus then went to Heracles' home at Tiryns, still searching for the mares. Despite the sacred bond of hospitality, Heracles murdered Iphitus by throwing him from the walls, an act that brought divine punishment upon the hero.
Parents
Eurytus of Oechalia
Symbols
Fun Fact
The bow he gifted Odysseus as a token of friendship became the instrument of the suitors' destruction
Explore Further
Eurytion
🗡 heroHunting, archery
Argonaut and skilled hunter who later participated in the Calydonian Boar Hunt
Philoctetes and the Bow
🗡 heroarchery, suffering
The hero who possessed Heracles' bow without which Troy could not fall, abandoned on Lemnos for ten years due to his festering wound.
Archeptolemus
🗡 heroChariot warfare, service
Trojan charioteer of Hector who was killed by an arrow from Teucer during the battle at the Greek ships
Helenus
🗡 heroProphecy, archery
Trojan prince and seer who possessed the gift of prophecy and later aided the Greeks
Leodes
🗡 heroNone recorded
Reluctant suitor and sacrificial priest who failed to string Odysseus' bow
Pandarus
🗡 heroArchery, treachery
Trojan archer from Lycia who broke the truce between Greeks and Trojans by wounding Menelaus
Icarius
🗡 heroNone recorded
A legendary king of Sparta and father of Penelope who tried to prevent his daughter from leaving with Odysseus after her marriage
Teucer
🗡 heroGreatest Greek archer at Troy
Teucer was the half-brother of Ajax the Great and the finest archer among the Greeks — he shot from behind Ajax's great shield, the most effective partnership at Troy.
Meleager
🗡 heroHero whose life was bound to a burning log
The leader of the Calydonian Boar Hunt whose fate was tied to a charred brand — when it burned out, he died.
Diomedes
🗡 heroKing of Argos who wounded gods
Diomedes was the only mortal in the Iliad to wound two Olympian gods in a single day.
Parthenopaeus
🗡 heroSeven Against Thebes, Youth, Arcadia
Young Arcadian hero, one of the Seven Against Thebes, who died at the city walls before seeing his homeland again.
Bellerophon
🗡 heroThe hero who tamed Pegasus
The Corinthian hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus and slew the Chimera, but fell from heaven when he tried to reach Olympus.