She was the Golden Hunter's wife, if only for a little while. A little while that we never really even got to see onscreen. The first we ever see of the big-hearted brunette who apparently stole Iolaus' heart, is at the beginning of the first "Hercules" telemovie, Hercules and the Amazon Women.

Hercules, Iolaus' best friend and legendary demi-god partner, has returned to Thebes for the wedding of his comrade. As a friend (and as a man who has not yet outgrown the chauvinist tendencies foisted on him by his father Zeus), he is skeptical. This is a man who has traveled many years with Iolaus, and has seen him charm many a pretty tavern maid into his bed. The thought that Iolaus might have actually fallen in love and that love has induced him to settle down with one woman, is a pill not easily swallowed by the hero.

Of course, Hercules hasn't met this particular woman yet. Ania was no ordinary girl. Nor was she the most domesticated of her fair sex. I think that's why most folks like her. She was by no means the perfect wife. We learn this from the lips of Iolaus himself. Can't cook, can't sew...the farm animals are scared to death of her. Not exactly the ideal match for a simple farmer.

But as we all know, Iolaus was never a simple farmer. He loved Ania inspite of...no, probably because of, her imperfections. He loved her because she was caring and generous and loving and the hundred other things for which we fall in love...The simple fact was that Ania brought out in Iolaus things that he'd never felt before. Perhaps that sounds cliche, but hey, love is love. And how on earth could we doubt Iolaus' love for her, when he, the human appetite, marries a woman who can't cook?

If you're familiar with the story, then you know that at the end of Hercules and the Amazon Women, we are free to assume that Ania and Iolaus are happily married. This becomes a bit complicated when the fifth and final telemovie, Hercules and the Maze of the Minotaur, rolls around. We haven't seen either Iolaus or Ania since the end of Amazon Women. And when Iolaus does speak of her, it's obvious that he's talking about her in the past tense. The hunter talks about the trials of single fatherhood. The most logical assumption is that Ania died either during or shortly after, the birth of their only child.

And by the time the first episode of the series, The Wrong Path, airs, it's quite obvious that those in charge have decided that it would be better if Iolaus was a confirmed bachelor, and we never hear of Ania or the mystery child again. In contrast to the closure we get when Hera kills the wife and children of Hercules (also presumed to be more of an attractive character as someone with no family ties except for his mother), Iolaus' family simply...disappears. More than that, it's as if they never existed. The audience is basically told just forget that you saw that.

Of course it's not unusual for a series to change its mind in such ways. Nor does this mysterious disappearance keep fans from scripting their own versions of what really happened to Ania and her child with Iolaus. If fact, it's one of the greater mysteries in the H:TLJ fandom. As you'll soon see in the wonderful fan fiction on this site, the Ania-Iolaus storyline is one of the most romantic, bittersweet and emotional threads to come from this show.

And at the root of it all, is a sweet young girl who couldn't cook, sew or rally the livestock, but certainly managed to capture the heart of our favorite hunter.