Son of Eurytus the ruthless of Oechalia — a man like unto the immortals who met Odysseus in Messene and gave him the great bow with which the returned king would later slay Penelope's suitors.1
Homer tells how Odysseus received the bow that would decide the suitors' fate: a friend had given it when they met in Lacedaemon — Iphitus, son of Eurytus. The two had encountered one another in Messene in the house of wise Ortilochus, when Odysseus came to collect a debt the Messenians owed him for three hundred sheep lifted from Ithaca. Iphitus gave Odysseus a sword and the bow; Odysseus gave him a sharp spear and a cauldron. They were never to meet again, for before Odysseus could return to Ithaca, Iphitus was dead — yet the bow remained in the hero's hall until Penelope brought it out for the contest.2
Apollodorus names Iphitus among the sons of Eurytus who urged that Iole be given to Heracles when the hero won the archery contest — and later, when cattle were stolen from Euboea, Iphitus alone did not believe Heracles guilty. He went to the hero at Pherae and was entertained as a guest; but Heracles went mad again and hurled him from the walls of Tiryns to his death. The Epitome recalls the same bow when Penelope set it before the suitors: Odysseus had once received it from Iphitus.3
⁂
the spine ignites as you read · hover a bond on the card — every mention of them lights in the story