ABSTRACT
Son of Theodamas, king of the Dryopes, and the nymph Menodice. Heracles, after stealing one of Theodamas’ oxen, fought him in a furious battle. Having killed the father, he carried off the son, a beautiful child, training him as his squire and becoming his lover. When Heracles accompanied the Argonauts, he broke his oar off the Bithynian coast and had to land to find a new one. Hylas, whom he sent to fetch water, was pulled down by the local water-nymphs into the pool and was never seen again. Heracles, wild with grief, was left behind in Mysia looking for the boy. Polyphemus the Lapith stayed behind, founded the city of Cius, and promised Heracles to continue the search for Hylas; though it proved unsuccessful.
