Eurystheus, meanwhile, had unjustly received the right to be heir to the throne of Mycenae. As an adult, he established Mycenae as one of the true powers over the lands that would be modern Greece, but he instead relinquished himself as the foremost enemy of Hercules. While under a madness created by Hera, Hercules had slain his his own children and was ordered by the oracle at Delphi to surrender himself as a vassal to Eurystheus and do his bidding for twelve years. Eurystheus, eager to dispose of his powerful and dangerous vassal, sent Hercules to carry out a series of ten dangerous and usually dangerous labors When Hercules brought back the skin of the Nemean Lion, Eurystheus was so terrified that he hid in a bronze jar buried in the ground. He then decreed that Hercules was not allowed to ever again enter the gates of Mycenae, and thereafter sent his uncle, Copreus, to serve as his herald and deliver further messages to Hercules.

(Greek/Roman Myth, Hercules III#1 (fb)) - At the end of the ten labors, however, Eurystheus tagged on two more because Hercules had help in one labor and had attempted unsuccessfully in receiving payment on another. For the last labor, Hercules openly defied Eurystheus's order of not returning to Mycenae and dragged the hell-hound Cerberus to meet him in person. Terrified, Eurystheus hid in his bronze jar once more and declared an end to Hercules' servitude to himself. Having completed the labors, Hercules had acquired immortality, but Eurystheus felt no more secure than before because Hercules had left behind numerous sons who posed as would-be rivals to his throne. Many of Hercules' descendants, the Heraclidae, after his departure from Earth,  begged the protection of Ceyx, King of Trachis, but he regretfully declared his city too weak against a Mycenaean invasion. The Heraclidae, together with Hercules' aged mortal parents, Alcmene and her then husband, Rhadamanthys, found haven at Marathon while Eurystheus and his forces clashed against the Athenian armies under King Theseus and his son Demophon. 

(Greek/Roman Myth, Hercules III#2 (fb)) The Argive forces were routed back to the Sceironian Rocks on the Isthmus of Corinth and Eurystheus was captured and taken alive by Hyllus, Hercules' son, and delivered to Alcmena. In the protests of the Athenians, the vindictive woman ordered his execution and gouged out his eyes with sewing needles to render him blind. Hyllus then struck with his sword and beheaded the cowardly king with one stroke.

(Greek/Roman Myth) - With the death of Eurystheus, Mycenae passed out of possession of the descendants of Perseus. It was seized by Atreus of the House of Pelops, Eurystheus' maternal relatives, and passed down to King Agamemnon, a shrewd and just ruler who brought the city to greater grandeur than before. 

(Hercules III#2 (fb)) - As the body of Eurystheus lay unattended, the goddess Hera appeared to it and rendered it animate once more. Eurystheus then regained conscious from his brief death, gathered up his head and sewed it back to his head.

(Hercules III#2 (fb)) Having lost everything of material value, Eurystheus spent years coping with his blindness and building a fortune. In modern years, he even had plastic surgery to contend with the most severe of his injuries.

(Hercules III#1 (fb)) - Under unrevealed circumstances, Eurystheus entered into a partnership with the river-god Achelous over their common hatred of Hercules.

(Hercules III#1) - Eurystheus realized now was the time to force his wrath on Hercules once more as the son of Zeus succumbed to frequenting bars and losing his temper in the aftermath of the disbanding of the Avengers. He sends Achelous to retrieve the inebriated lion of Olympus and the river-god ends up dragging Hercules out to the back of a very modern limousine where Eurystheus sits waiting while wearing sunglasses and sporting a gold-tipped cane. 

(Hercules III#2) - Dragging Hercules into Eurystheus's modern corporate offices, Eurystheus rehashed his past history with Hercules and updated him on his past events and activities that brought him into the modern age. Even confessing his disdain for the Son of Zeus, Eurystheus claimed that Hercules' recent activities were starting to make him even look bad and that he wanted to rectify the manner even while offering wine and hors d'oeuvres to Hercules and his friends. Ever impatient, Hercules threatened Eurystheus briefly before the former King of Mycenae announced his plan to recreate the original twelve labors by replacing them with their modern equivalents or closest counterparts available. Director Gordon Allsworth even offered to film the labors for another god-awful reality show. Hercules agreed to the labors to restore his sullied reputation as late and departed just as his friend James rushed out apologizing for despoiling the bathroom facilities.

(Hercules III#3) - Eurystheus and Achelous provide the TV commentary as Hercules and his film crew  go around the world in a modern day version of the twelve labors with modern equivalents to the old creatures and objects of myth. As they realized that Hercules was tearing through all their new obstacles, Hera appeared to them with a set of four labors designed against Hercules.

(Hercules III#4) - Eurystheus gave Hercules his last modern labor: to enter the underworld and retrieve a flower from the hair of his first wife, Megaera.