Children of HeraklesChildren of Heracles

A tragedy by Euripides written circa 429 BCE; also called The Heracleidae.

The play revolves around Herakles’ nephew and companion, Iolaos, as he attempts to safeguard the children of the deceased Herakles; the despicable Eurystheus, who is better known as the man who thrust the Twelve Labors upon Herakles, has pursued the elderly Iolaos and the children from city to city in order to return them to Mykenai (Mycenae) and put them to death; he has found them at the temple of Zeus at Marathon.

The king of the city of Athens, Demophon, refuses to surrender the supplicants to Eurystheus’ herald and knows that by doing so he has guaranteed that Eurystheus will attack Athens and try to take the children by force; Demophon assembles the army, prepares the alters with sacrificial animals and consults the oracles, past and present, as to how best defend the city; the oracles give Demophon the sad news that if the city is to be victorious against the army of Eurystheus, the daughter of a noble family must be sacrificed to the goddess, Demeter; Demophon will not order one of his subjects to sacrifice one of their daughters and is at a loss as to what to do; if he turns Iolaos and the children away he will offend Zeus and if he fights Eurystheus without a sacrifice to Demeter he will lose the fight and the citizens of Athens will become slaves.

Iolaos bravely volunteers to surrender himself to Eurystheus but it’s obvious that Eurystheus does not want an old man, he wants the children of Herakles; Makaria (Macaria), Herakles’ daughter offers herself as the victim of the sacrifice; her speech is bold and noble and, while she’s speaking, you secretly hope that another solution can be found so that such a selfless and gallant young woman can escape death and simply live and be happy; in order to think that you have to ignore the fact that this play is a tragedy.

I won’t reveal the conclusion of the story in hopes that you will take the time to read this wonderful tale from a time and moral pinnacle long past.

I personally recommend the translations compiled by Richmond Lattimore and David Grene; you can find this and other plays by Euripides in the 882 section of your local library or you can order them from the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com.