Erginus avenged his father's death at the hands of
Perieres, charioteer of
Menoeceus of
Thebes; he made war against Thebans, inflicting a heavy defeat. The Thebans were compelled to pay King Erginus a tribute of 100 oxen per year for twenty years. However, the tribute ended earlier than Erginus expected, when
Heracles attacked the Minyan emissaries sent to exact the tribute. This prompted a second war between Orchomenus and Thebes, only this time Thebes (under the leadership of Heracles) was victorious, and a double tribute was imposed on the Orchomenians. Erginus was slain in battle according to the version of the story given by most ancient writers (e.g., the
Bibliotheca,
Strabo,
Eustathius). But according to
Pausanias, Erginus was spared by Heracles and lived to a ripe old age, and even fathered two sons,
Trophonius and
Agamedes, on a younger woman. == Notes ==