Amphitryon
Heracle's stepfather
and prince of Tiryns, son of Alcaios.
Amphitryon killed king Electryon of Mycenae by accident at the war against
the Taphiae (or Teleboans), and his uncle Sthenelos used this as an excuse
to chase him away. He fled to Thebes together with Electryons daughter Alcmene,
who promised to marry whoever revenged her brothers who had been killed in
the same war their father had been killed in.Amphitryon went after the Taphian king Pterelaos, son of Poseidon, but found
that the god had made his son immortal. Poseidon had given Pterelaos a golden
hair, that made him immortal as long as it grew on his head. Pterelaos daughter
Comaiho fell in love with Amphitryon, and pulled out the golden hair of her
fathers head, killing him, but also herself.
On his return to Thebes, he found that Alcmene was not surprised to see him.
When he asked why she said he had already visited her the night before and
that he had told her of his adventures already. It turned out that Zeus had
taken Amphitryons shape, and visited Alcmene. As a result of this, Alcmene
gave birth to two sons: Heracles by Zeus and Iphicles by Amphitryon.