Mnemosyne — Classical Greek Myth Library

In Euripides’ *Heraclidae*, Iolaus—once Heracles’ young companion—is now a frail old man guarding Heracles’ children at Athens. When Eurystheus’s army presses, Iolaus insists on arming. A messenger reports the marvel: as Iolaus mounted a chariot toward the battle, he prayed to Hebe and Zeus; two stars settled on the yoke, and he was changed back to a youth in the bloom of strength. Thus rejuvenated he overtook and captured Eurystheus (or helped to crush him). Apollodorus’s prose Heraclidae narrative omits this epiphany. Catalogue the Hebe-miracle as the tragic version’s signature wonder, distinct from Iolaus’s ordinary help in the Hydra labor.