Listed 11 sub titles with search on: Homeric world for destination: "ICHALIA Ancient city TRIKALA".
King of the Thessalian or Messenian Oechalia (Il. 2.596, 2.730), father of Iphitus and skilled archer, who was slain by Apollo, because he had challenged him to an archery contest (Od. 8.224 etc.).
Eurytus, (Eurutos). A son of Melaneus and Stratonice (Schol. ad Soph. Trach. 268), was king of Oechalia, probably the Thessalian town of this name. (Muller, Dor. ii. 11.1.) He was a skilful archer and married to Antioche, by whom he became the father of lole, Iphitus, Molion or Deion. Clytius, and Toxeus. (Diod. iv. 37.) He was proud of his skill in using the bow, and is even said to have instructed Heracles in his art. (Theocrit. xxiv. 105; Apollod. ii. 4.9; Soph. l. c.) He offered his daughter Iole as prize to him who should conquer him and his sons in shooting with the bow. Heracles won the prize, but Eurytus and his sons, with the exception of Iphitus, refused to give up Iole because they feared lest he should kill the children lie might have by her. (Apollod ii. 6.1.) Heracles accordingly marched against Oechalia with an army : he took the place and killed Eurytus and his sons. (Apollod. ii. 7.7.) According to a tradition in Athenaeus (xi.) he put them to death because they had demanded a tribute from the Euboeans. According to the Homeric poems, on the other hand, Eurytus was killed by Apollo whom he presumed to rival in using the bow. (Od. viii. 226.) The remains of the body of Eurytus were believed to be preserved in the Carnasian grove ; and in the Messenian Oechalia sacrifices were offered to him every year. (Paus. iv. 3.6, 27.4, 33.5.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Oechalia belonged to the territory of Asclepiades (= Machaon) and is listed in the Homeric Catalogue of Ships. It was located near Tricca and its king was Eurytus, son of Melaneus, father of Iole (Il. 2.730, 2.596, Od. 8.224, 21.13-33).
Son of Eurytus of Oechalia and brother of Iole, who was slain by Heracles, while searching for his lost horses, which were hidden by the son of Zeus. During this search, he had met Odysseus in Messenia in the house of Ortilochus, to whom he gave his bow as a friendship gift and Odysseus gave him his sword and spear (Od. 21.14 etc.).
The Struggle for the Delphic Tripod
After completing his twelve labors, Hercules hit the road, once again.
Somehow or another, Hercules caught wind that Eurytus, the prince of Oechalia,
was offering his beautiful daughter, Iole, as a bride prize to any man who could
best him and his sons in an archery contest. Upon hearing this, Hercules traveled
to Oechalia and competed against Eurytus and his sons. Legend has it that Eurytus
was the man who first schooled Hercules in the use of the bow. His was a challenge
that pitted student against teacher. It should come as no surprise that Hercules
defeated his fellow contestants with ease.
When it came time, however, for Eurytus to hand over Iole to Hercules,
as his bride, Eurytus refused. In this decision he was supported by all of his
sons except Iphytus. One may wonder why a prince would deny the strongest man
in the world his daughter in marriage. For Eurytus, the reasoning was simple:
he would not allow his beloved daughter to marry (and eventually have children
with) a man who had a history of murdering his sons in a fit of rage (remember
that whole Megara
fiasco?), for fear that the same fate would befall his own grandchildren.
Crestfallen and dismayed, Hercules left Oechalia. Shortly after Hercules'
departure, some mares (or cattle, depending on the storyteller) were stolen by
Autolycus from a local man. Eurytus instantly thought that Hercules was the culprit.
Iphytus, however, refused to believe that Hercules was the thief and set out to
pay him a visit at Tiryns (another version suggests Iphytus went to Tiryns to
look for the cattle himself). Hercules received Iphytus in good cheer and the
two men passed the time entertaining each other. Unfortunately for Iphytus, however,
during the visit something went awry, and Hercules, in another fit of madness,
hurled Iphytus to his death from the top of the walls of Tiryns.
Following the murder of Iphytus, Hercules contracted a terrible disease,
as a result of his violent outburst. Hercules then journeyed to the oracle at
Delphi, in hopes that the priestess there would advise him on how to cure himself.
But Hercules was to be disappointed. When he questioned the Pythian priestess,
she was unable to answer him in oracles. Hercules, outraged at priestesses unwillingness
to help, began tearing the temple apart. When Hercules came upon the Delphic tripod,
he started to make off with it, thinking that he would establish an oracle of
his own.
Apollo, however, was not about to let Hercules carry off the prized
tripod from his sacred site. He began to wrestle with Hercules over its possession;
Apollo was supported by his sister, Artemis, while Hercules was supported by his
patron, Athena. In the midst of their tug-of-war contest, Zeus dropped in and
tried to break up the feuding brothers (Apollo and Hercules are, after all, half-brothers
by Zeus). And as parents are often forced to do, Zeus decided that it would be
best to separate the brothers, hurling one of his mighty thunderbolts between
them. After the two siblings were pried apart, Hercules finally received an oracle,
instructing him to be sold into slavery for a year, and to pay Eurytus in compensation
for the loss of his son. The tripod remained at Delphi and Hermes sold Hercules
to Omphale, Queen of Lydia, for whom he performed women's work for his year of
servitude.
This text is cited July 2004 from Perseus Project URL bellow, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Thamyris was a famous singer and lyre-player from Thrace, who was blinded by the Muses when he dared doubt their supremacy. Blind and desperate, he threw his lyre in the river Pamisos, which was thereafter called Valyra. The Messenian and the Τhessalic mythical circles both dispute Thamyris
Thamuris or Thamyras. An ancient Thracian bard, son of Philammon and the nymph Argiope. In his presumption he challenged the Muses to a trial of skill, and, being overcome in the contest, was deprived by them of his sight and of the power of singing. He was represented with a broken lyre in his hand.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Thamyris : Perseus Encyclopedia
Thamyris : Various WebPages
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