Ceyx received them both with great favour, but Hercules could not forget that he had been refused the hand of Iole, although in possession of the heart of Dejanira, and therefore made war against her father, killing him, with three of his sons, while his former lover, Iole, fell into his hands, and found that she still held no slight possession of his affections.
She accompanied him to Œta, where he was going to raise an altar, and offer a sacrifice to Jupiter. Dejanira, aware of his purpose, and of the affection he had manifested for her rival, sent to him the tunic given her by the Centaur, Nessus, but no sooner had he put it on, than the poison with which it was saturated, penetrated through his bones, and attaching itself to the flesh, eat into it like fire.
"She now resolves to send the fatal vest,
Dyed with Lernæan gore, whose power might move
His soul anew, and rouse declining love,
Nor knew she what her sudden rage bestows,
When she to Lychas trusts her future woes;
With soft endearment she the boy commands,
To bear the garment to her husband's hands.
Th' unwilling hero takes the gift in haste,