In Greek mythology, Iole was the daughter of King Eurytus of Oechalia. Her father promised her as a bride to whoever could defeat him and his sons in an archery contest; Heracles competed and won, but Eurytus refused to surrender her, fearing what Heracles might do to any children they had. Iole was indirectly the cause of Heracles' death: after he sacked Oechalia and took her captive, his wife Deianira's jealousy of the captive girl led her to send the poisoned robe that killed him. Dying, Heracles charged his son Hyllus to marry Iole.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Iole" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Family
Iole was the daughter of King Eurytus of Oechalia. According to Sophocles' Women of Trachis, her mother was Antiope.
Her brothers were named Iphitos, Clytius, Toxeus, Deioneus, Molion, and Didaeon. Her father Eurytus was famed as a master archer who, in some traditions, even contended with the gods in the bow.
Her name appears in its Corinthian (Doric) form Ϝιόλᾱ ("Viola") on an ancient artifact.
II.Mythology
King Eurytus, who taught the art of archery, promised his daughter Iole as a bride to whoever could beat him and his sons in an archery contest. Heracles competed and won, but Eurytus refused to honor the agreement, fearful because of Heracles' past — the dread that he might kill any children he fathered, as he had before.
When Eurytus' mares afterward went missing, Heracles was suspected; in a fit of madness he murdered Eurytus' son Iphitos. Later he mustered an army, attacked Oechalia, and overthrew its walls.
In one telling, when the city fell Iole threw herself down from the high city wall to escape, but her billowing garment acted like a parachute and let her descend safely; Heracles then took her captive as a concubine. His wife Deianira, fearing she would lose his love to the captive girl, smeared a cloak with the blood of the centaur Nessus, believing it a love charm. The poison instead corroded Heracles' flesh and killed him. Before he died, Heracles asked his son Hyllus to marry Iole, and from their union came Cleodaeus and three daughters.
III.Versions of the tale
Ovid: In the Heroides, Iole is depicted as gaining a kind of erotic control over Heracles, compelling him to wear women's clothing while she dons his garments — a reversal read as her revenge for the death of her father.
Sophocles: In Women of Trachis, Iole, daughter of Eurytus and Antiope, becomes a captive maiden when Heracles ransacks Oechalia, and afterward marries Hyllus.
Seneca: In his treatment, Deianira fears that Iole will bear Heracles' children, voicing a jealousy similar to that found in the account of Apollodorus.
IV.Middle Age tradition
Iole is remembered in De Mulieribus Claris ("On Famous Women"), a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women composed by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio in 1361–62.
The work is regarded as the first collection in Western literature devoted exclusively to the biographies of women, and Iole's inclusion reflects the enduring afterlife of her story in later European tradition.
V.Appearances in popular culture
Iole has appeared in numerous film and television adaptations of the Heracles legend from the 1950s onward, portrayed by actresses including Sylva Koscina and Marley Shelton among others.
Across these adaptations her character has been reshaped to fit varied storytelling traditions, ranging from peril-stricken maiden to romantic interest within the broader Heracles narrative.
An asteroid, 836 Jole, is named after her.