Iphicles, Iphiclus or Iphicleus
1. A son of Amphitryon and Alcmene of Thebes, was one night younger than his half-brother Heracles, who strangled the snakes which had been sent by Hera or by Amphitryon, and at which Iphicles was frightened. (Theogony of Apollodorus II) He was first married to Automedusa, the daughter of Alcathous, by whom he became the father of Iolaus, and afterwards to the youngest daughter of Creon. (Theogony of Apollodorus II) He accompanied Heracles on several expeditions, and is also mentioned among the Calydonian hunters.
According to Apollodorus, he fell in battle against the sons of Hippocoon, but according to Pausanias (viii. 14. § 6), he was wounded in the battle against the Molionides, and being carried to Pheneus, he was nursed by Buphagus and Promne, but died there, and was honoured with a heroum.
2. A son of Thestius by Laophonte or Deidameia, and, according to others, by Eurythemis or Leucippe. He took part in the Calydonian hunt and the expedition of the Argonauts. (Theogony of Apollodorus I; Argonautica)
3. A son of Phylacus, and grandson of Deion and Clymene, or, according to others, a son of Cephalus and Clymene, the daughter of Minyas. He was married to Diomedeia or Astyoche, and was the father of Podarces and Protesilaus. (Iliad of Homer; Theogony of Apollodorus I; Description of Greece by Pausanias iv) He was, like the two other Iphicles, one of the Argonauts, and possessed large herds of oxen, which he gave to Melampus, who had given him a favourable prophecy respecting his progeny.
He was also celebrated for his swiftness in racing, by which he won the prize at the funeral games of Pelias, but in those of Amarynceus he was conquered by Nestor. (Pausanias v; Iliad of Homer xxiii)
From Apollodorus II
From Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and MythologyAnd Alcmena bore two sons, to wit, Hercules, whom she had by Zeus and who was the elder by one night, and Iphicles, whom she had by Amphitryon. When the child was eight months old, Hera desired the destruction of the babe and sent two huge serpents to the bed.
Alcmena called Amphitryon to her help, but Hercules arose and killed the serpents by strangling them with both his hands. However, Pherecydes says that it was Amphitryon who put the serpents in the bed, because he would know which of the two children was his, and that when Iphicles fled, and Hercules stood his ground, he knew that Iphicles was begotten of his body.
