Herakles
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Walters, H. B. (Henry Beauchamp) and Birch, Samuel
Of all the heroic legends the most numerous and the most important are those of the Herakleid. They appear on vases of all periods, though in the largest proportion on the black-figured varieties, and include every event in his life, from his birth to his deified life in Olympos. Of the visit of Zeus to his mother Alkmena we have already spoken, as also of her apotheosis.[1131] As an infant we see Herakles engaged in strangling
the serpents sent by Hera, while his brother Iphikles recoils in terror[1132]; later on Hera appears to be reconciled to his existence, for she is actually seen suckling him at her breast.[1133] Next he is carried off by Hermes to Cheiron the Centaur for his education,[1134] and we see him undergoing instruction on the lyre from Linos,[1135] or on his way, accompanied by an old woman carrying his lyre.[1136] By the time when his series of labours begins he is usually represented as a full-grown bearded man, especially on the archaic vases; but he appears in a few instances as a quite youthful beardless figure.
Of all the achievements of Herakles the most famous are the Twelve Labours, to which he was subjected by Hera at the hands of Eurystheus. We find them all represented on vases, with the exception of the cleansing of the Augean stables, which may be presumed to have offered too many difficulties to the painter; it only occurs once in the whole history of Greek art, on a metope at Olympia. The horses of Diomede only occur once, the Keryneian stag thrice, and the Stymphalian birds five times; but the rest may be described as common. In all these scenes Herakles is usually accompanied by Athena; also, but less frequently, by Iolaos and Hermes.
I. The Nemean Lion.
Of this subject we find two “normal” types on B.F. vases,[1137] with one or two abnormal versions; on R.F. vases the treatment is less stereotyped.
B.F. (1) Standing type:—Herakles plunges sword into lion’s neck (both upright): B.M. B 160, B 232, B 621 (Plate XXX.). H. strangles lion: Berlin 1720 = Wiener Vorl. 1888, 6, 3 (Exekias); Wiener Vorl. 1889, 6, 3 (Charitaios).
(2) Crouching type:—Herakles stoops and strangles lion: B.M. B 159, B 199, B 318 (Fig. 125); Petersburg 68 = Wiener Vorl. 1889, 4, 6 (Taleides).
(3) Abnormal:—Lion on its back; Herakles slays it with club: Reinach, ii. 52. Herakles pursues lion: Louvre F 108 = Wiener Vorl. 1890–91, pl. 1, 5 (Nikosthenes).
R.F. (1) Herakles with lion over shoulder about to hurl it on Eurystheus (type borrowed from Erymanthian Boar, see below): B.M. B 193 = Plate XXXII. (Andokides).
(2) Crouching type: Munich 415 = Reinach, i. 150 = Baumeister, i. p. 656, fig. 723; B.M. E 168; Röm. Mitth. v. (1890), pl. 12 = Wiener Vorl. 1890–91, 7, 2 (Nikosthenes, in Boston). See also B.M. E 104 (abnormal).
FIG. 125. HERAKLES AND THE NEMEAN LION (BRITISH MUSEUM).
We may also note here a curious B.F. vase, on which Herakles is seen in the forests of Nemea preparing the lion’s skin for his own wear.[1138]
II. The Cretan Bull.
Type: Herakles seizes the bull from the front and ties its legs with a cord.
B.F. B.M. B 309; Berlin 1886, 1898; Helbig, 31; Reinach, ii. 55, 5 = Baumeister, i. p. 660, fig. 727.
R.F. B.M. E 104; Wiener Vorl. 1890–91, pl. 7, 2 (Nikosthenes, in Boston) = Röm. Mitth. v. (1890), p. 324.
Late. Berlin 3145 = Millingen-Reinach, 11; Athens 1931.
See also a very remarkable vase in Forman Sale Cat. No. 305 (now at Boston), where the same subject appears each side, one B.F., the other R.F. (by Andokides).[1139]
III. The Erymanthian Boar (see Klein, Euphronios, p. 87).
(1) The capture:
B.M. B 462; Louvre F 236; Berlin 1981, 2034; Naples 2705 and S.A. 150; Athens 858, 860 (all B.F.).
(2) The bringing back of the boar (Eurystheus absent; Athena usually receives the hero):
B.M. B 447, 492; Cambridge 57; Munich 694; Athens 1097 (all B.F.).
FIG. 126. HERAKLES BRINGING THE BOAR TO EURYSTHEUS (BRITISH MUSEUM).
(3) Herakles hurls the boar upon Eurystheus, who hides himself in a large sunk jar (πίθος):
B.F. B.M. B 161 (Fig. 126); Reinach, ii. 55, 1; Helbig, 37; Louvre F 59, 202.
R.F. B.M. E 44 (Euphronios) = Furtwaengler and Reichhold, pl. 23; Louvre G 17 = Wiener Vorl. 1890, pl. 10.
IV. The Keryneian Stag.
B.F. B.M. B 169, B 231.
R.F. Reinach, i. 233.
A dispute between Apollo and Herakles over a stag (Rein. ii. 56, 3: see p. 34) may perhaps be referred to this subject, as the myth is not otherwise known, but it is more usually Artemis who endeavours to thwart Herakles’ capture.
V. The Stymphalian Birds.
Found only on four B.F. vases (B.M. B 163; Louvre F 387; Arch. Anzeiger, 1892, p. 172; and Munich 1111 = Reinach, ii. 58) and one late example (Reinach, ii. 297). Herakles shoots the birds with bow and arrow.
VI. The Lernaean Hydra.
This subject, occurring only on archaic vases, has no very fixed type; the Hydra has seven or nine heads, and the body of a serpent or of a cuttle-fish. Iolaos sometimes assists Herakles, and in two cases the crab sent by Hera is also visible.
B.F. Early: Reinach, i. 389; Jahrbuch, 1898, pl. 12; Reinach, i. 118 (6) = Louvre E 851.
Later: Reinach, i. 118 (1) = Berlin 1854 (crab); ibid. 118 (3); 118 (5) = Louvre F 386 = Millin-Reinach, ii. 75 (Athena slays crab); Reinach, ii. 53 = Baumeister, i. p. 657, fig. 724; Berlin 1801 = Wiener Vorl. 1889, 7, 3: see also Athens 792 = Heydemann, Gr. Vasenb. pl. 4, 1, where two successive scenes are given.
R.F. Reinach, ii. 76. Hydra has cuttle-fish body and ten or eleven heads.
VII. The Horses of Diomede.
Naples 2506; Reinach, ii. 297 (?).