Iphicles

Greek Halfbrother of the hero Heracles; son of Amphitryon, a prince of Tiryns, and his wife, Alcmene, who was a daughter of the king of Mycenae; husband to Automedusa, and later, to the youngest daughter of King Creon of Thebes. Heracles' mother was also Alcmene but his father was the great god Zeus. The brothers were born on the same day, leading some writers to call them twins. However, the boys were conceived a night apart, after Zeus disguised himself as Amphitryon and slept with their mother, the night before Amphitryon returned from war and conceived Iphicles. Iphicles proved himself mortal when, in his first test in life as an infant, he was frightened, unlike his brother. One night, as the two babies slept, Hera, wife of Zeus, or according to some, Amphitryon himself, put a snake in their room. Iphicles cowered in terror and Heracles fought and killed the snake. Iphicles was with Heracles when the hero went mad and began killing family members. Iphicles managed to save his eldest son, Iolaus, and Heracle's wife, Megara (2), but two of Iolaus's children and two of Heracle's children died at Heracle's hands. Iphicles accompanied his brother on several of his 12 great labors. He also fought in the Calydonian Boar Hunt and at Heracle's side in Troy, when the hero rescued King Laomedon's daughter, whom the ocean god Poseidon had demanded as a sacrifice. Iphicles died in Troy.