graphic elements—shells, dolphins, mermen,
sea nymphs, and other creatures of the sea.
Amphitryon Stepfather (sometimes father)
of the Greek hero Heracles. Son of King
Alcaeus of Tiryns. Husband of Alcmene (a
descendant of Perseus). Classical sources are
Apollodorus’s Library (2.4.5–11), Diodorus
Siculus’s Library of History (3.67.2), and
Hyginus’s Fabulae (29). King Electryon of
Mycenae, father of Alcmene, left Amphitryon
in charge of Mycenae so that he could pursue
the Teleboans and avenge the deaths of his
sons. But Electryon was killed accidentally by
a club thrown by Amphitryon. Amphitryon
accepted responsibility for avenging the death
of Electryon’s sons, but Sthenelus, Electryon’s
brother, banished him and Alcmene from
Mycenae. He fled with Alcmene t
