But after he was dead, was I not forced,
Because I was a foe to these his sons,
And knew what bitter enmity ’gainst me
They from their sire inherited, to leave
No stone unturned, to slay, to banish them
And plot their ruin? Could I have succeeded
In these designs, my throne had stood secure.
Demophon, son of Theseus, refuses to give up the sons of Hercules and uses as a pretext the right of suppliants.[234] We recall the statement of Pausanias[235] that Demophon was the first Athenian who was tried at the Palladium court—a court which regularly tried cases of homicide between strangers.[236] The words which Demophon speaks to the herald of Eurystheus[237]—
Therefore, go thou back
To Argos, and this message to Eurystheus