Eurystheus assigned Heracles the Twelve Labors as penance, each designed to be fatal. He hid in a bronze jar whenever Heracles returned, and later persecuted the Heraclidae.
Eurystheus persecuted the Heraclidae after Heracles' death, driving Hyllus and his siblings into exile. In Euripides' Children of Heracles, Eurystheus pursues them across Greece until Athens grants them sanctuary.
After Heracles' death, Eurystheus persecuted the hero's children. The aged Iolaus championed the Heraclidae against Eurystheus and, in Euripides' Children of Heracles, was miraculously rejuvenated by Hebe and Zeus to defeat him in battle.
Eurystheus assigned the capture of Cerberus as Heracles's twelfth and final Labor, believing no mortal could enter the underworld and return alive. When Heracles brought the hound to Tiryns, Eurystheus hid in his bronze jar in terror.
Eurystheus commanded Heracles to capture the Cretan Bull as his seventh labor. Heracles wrestled the beast into submission and brought it alive to Mycenae, where Eurystheus released it.
Eurystheus commanded Heracles to steal Geryon's cattle as the Tenth Labor, believing the journey to the edge of the world and battle with the three-bodied giant would prove fatal.
In Euripides' Children of Heracles, Hebe restored the aged Iolaus to his youthful strength so he could pursue and capture Eurystheus, the king who had imposed the Twelve Labors on Heracles.
Hera engineered Eurystheus's premature birth so he would inherit the throne Zeus had promised to Heracles, making Eurystheus her instrument against Zeus's son.
Eurystheus commanded Heracles to retrieve Hippolyta's golden girdle as the Ninth Labor, desiring the girdle for his daughter Admete.
Eurystheus assigned the slaying of the Lernaean Hydra as Heracles's Second Labor, then refused to count it because Iolaus had assisted.
Eurystheus commanded Heracles to slay the Nemean Lion and bring back its hide as the First Labor, a task he believed impossible due to the beast's invulnerability.
Eurystheus commanded Heracles to drive out the Stymphalian Birds as his Sixth Labor. The man-eating flock had made the marshes around Lake Stymphalus impassable.
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