In Greek mythology, Oicles or Oecles (Ancient Greek: Οἰκλῆς), also Oicleus or Oecleus, was an Argive Melampodid and father of the seer Amphiaraus. He accompanied Heracles against Troy and, in one tradition, was killed by Laomedon while guarding the ships; other accounts place his later life and tomb in Arcadia.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Oicles" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Family
Homer's Odyssey makes Oicles son of Antiphates and grandson of Melampus; Diodorus adds a mother Zeuxippe, daughter of Hippocoon. Pausanias instead makes him son of Mantius, Antiphates's brother. By Hypermnestra (daughter of Thestius in some lists) he fathered Amphiaraus and, variously, Iphianeira and Endeos or Polyboea.
II.Heracles at Troy and Arcadia
Oicles joined Heracles's campaign against Laomedon of Troy. Left to guard the ships while Heracles assaulted the city, he was attacked by Laomedon, who sought to burn the fleet. Apollodorus and others say Oicles fell in that fight, though his men saved the ships by putting out to sea. Sophocles may have written a lost play Oicles on the episode.
Other traditions have him survive and dwell in Arcadia. Apollodorus has Alcmaeon, Amphiaraus's son, visit him there after the Epigoni took Thebes — a chronology hard to reconcile with death at Troy. Pausanias was shown a tomb near Megalopolis said to be Oicles's, and notes the dispute over whether he died in Arcadia or with Heracles against Laomedon.