Eurytus was a king of Oechalia and a celebrated archer of Greek mythology, so skilled that he was said to have taught Heracles the use of the bow. In the most prominent tradition he offered his daughter Iole as the prize in an archery contest, then reneged when Heracles won — provoking the hero to sack Oechalia and kill Eurytus and his sons. In a separate Homeric strand, Eurytus presumed to challenge Apollo himself in archery and was slain by the god for his arrogance. His bow passed to his son Iphitus and ultimately to Odysseus, who used it to kill Penelope's suitors.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Eurytus of Oechalia" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Family
Eurytus was the son of Melaneus; his mother is given either as Stratonice, daughter of King Porthaon of Calydon and Laothoe, or as the eponymous figure Oechalia. He had a brother named Ambracias, the eponym of a city in Epirus, and his grandfather was the archer-god Apollo.
Eurytus married Antiope, daughter of Pylon (son of Naubolus). Their children included Iphitus, Clytius, Toxeus, Deioneus, Molion, Didaeon, and Hippasus, along with his notably beautiful daughter Iole. A later tradition attributes the figure Dryope to him by an earlier wife.
The ancient sources vary on the specifics: Hesiod calls his wife Antioche and names four sons, while Creophylus reports only two sons.
II.Mythology: Contest with a god
According to Homer, Eurytus's skill at archery bred a dangerous pride, and he went so far as to challenge Apollo himself to a contest with the bow. The god killed Eurytus for his presumption.
Eurytus's bow passed to his son Iphitus, who later gave it to his friend Odysseus. With this bow Odysseus would in time slay the suitors who had besieged his wife Penelope.
III.Mythology: Sacking of Oechalia
A more prominent account brings Eurytus into conflict with Heracles. Eurytus offered the hand of his daughter Iole as the prize to whoever could defeat him and his sons in an archery contest. Heracles won, but Eurytus and most of his sons refused to grant the promised reward, fearing that Heracles would be struck with madness and harm any children he might have by Iole, as he had earlier killed the children he fathered with Megara.
After Heracles departed in anger, twelve of Eurytus's mares went missing. The sources differ on the thief: either Heracles took them himself, or the thief Autolycus stole them and sold them to Heracles. While investigating the theft, Iphitus — convinced of Heracles's innocence — visited him as a guest at Tiryns, where Heracles in a fit of rage hurled him to his death from the palace walls. For this crime Heracles was forced into servitude under the Lydian queen Omphale.
Later, after marrying Deianeira, Heracles returned with an army. Driven by revenge, he sacked the city, killed Eurytus and his sons, and took Iole as his concubine. An alternative tradition reported by Athenaeus holds that Heracles destroyed them because they had demanded tribute from the Euboeans.
According to Pausanias, Eurytus's remains were preserved in the Carnasian grove, and annual sacrifices were offered to him in Messenian Oechalia.