The Legend Of Herakles: The Twelve Labors
Herakles, later known by the Romans as Hercules, is one of the most well-known mythological beings in all of the ancient world and the world today. He was a half-man and half-god, being the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. The story of the mortal god Herakles, is one of great tragedy and redemption. When the jealous wife of Zeus, Hera, still cannot forgive her husband for the adultery he committed, she sends Herakles insane and causes him to unwilling kill his wife and children. Following that tragic event, Herakles went to see what he could do in order to cleanse himself with the advice of the Oracle at Delphi. During this visit he was told to go to Eurystheus and complete the impossible challenges that he is asked to perform, these are what come to be known as the twelve
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labors of Hercules.
While engaging in these twelve labors, Herakles’ strength and superhuman power is described as something that no human mortal could accomplish, but that every Greek would attempt to get as close to it as possible. The legend of Herakles, was the inspiration for many artists and important people (e.g. politicians, priests, soldiers, etc.) in the ancient world. The focus of this paper is on the discovery, Hellenistic characteristics, and scholarly interpretations of a pinnacle piece of artwork from the Hellenistic age, the Farnese Herakles.
The Farnese Herakles was found in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome by the Farnese family in the year 1546. Excavations took place under the grandson of Cardinal Allesandro Farnese and during these excavations, the Farnese unearthed one of the largest collections of ancient Greek art up to this point. In this collection they found the colossal statue of the Farnese Herakles, separated into pieces. The statue originally was found with only the upper parts of the body, beginning with the
head, followed by the section of the torso with the club and lion-skin. The Cardinal moved these pieces to his villa in Rome, called the Palazzo Farnese, and from that point on it was known as the Farnese Herakles. Cardinal Farnese of course did not leave the statue as it was when it was excavated. He hired the help of a protégé of Michelangelo, Guglielmo della Porta, to carve new legs for the statue and Michelangelo to create a special façade in the first courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese, in order to express himself as one of the great patrons of the Renaissance art world. The original legs weren’t found for several years and when they were, Todd states that “Michelangelo urged Cardinal to leave della Porta’s legs on the statue as evidence that sculptors of their age could do work that rivaled the best of the classical era.” Cardinal Farnese kept the legs of della Port and had the original legs placed in an exhibit in the Villa Borghese, where they were discovered; eventually the prince of the Borghese decided to give the fragments to the Farnese family and the legs that della Port had created were removed and replaced with the original legs of the statue. This wasn’t the first time the statue had been altered, the statue itself was not even original but in fact a copy of a very prestigious sculptor from the 4th century BCE, Lysippus.
labors of Hercules.
While engaging in these twelve labors, Herakles’ strength and superhuman power is described as something that no human mortal could accomplish, but that every Greek would attempt to get as close to it as possible. The legend of Herakles, was the inspiration for many artists and important people (e.g. politicians, priests, soldiers, etc.) in the ancient world. The focus of this paper is on the discovery, Hellenistic characteristics, and scholarly interpretations of a pinnacle piece of artwork from the Hellenistic age, the Farnese Herakles.
The Farnese Herakles was found in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome by the Farnese family in the year 1546. Excavations took place under the grandson of Cardinal Allesandro Farnese and during these excavations, the Farnese unearthed one of the largest collections of ancient Greek art up to this point. In this collection they found the colossal statue of the Farnese Herakles, separated into pieces. The statue originally was found with only the upper parts of the body, beginning with the
head, followed by the section of the torso with the club and lion-skin. The Cardinal moved these pieces to his villa in Rome, called the Palazzo Farnese, and from that point on it was known as the Farnese Herakles. Cardinal Farnese of course did not leave the statue as it was when it was excavated. He hired the help of a protégé of Michelangelo, Guglielmo della Porta, to carve new legs for the statue and Michelangelo to create a special façade in the first courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese, in order to express himself as one of the great patrons of the Renaissance art world. The original legs weren’t found for several years and when they were, Todd states that “Michelangelo urged Cardinal to leave della Porta’s legs on the statue as evidence that sculptors of their age could do work that rivaled the best of the classical era.” Cardinal Farnese kept the legs of della Port and had the original legs placed in an exhibit in the Villa Borghese, where they were discovered; eventually the prince of the Borghese decided to give the fragments to the Farnese family and the legs that della Port had created were removed and replaced with the original legs of the statue. This wasn’t the first time the statue had been altered, the statue itself was not even original but in fact a copy of a very prestigious sculptor from the 4th century BCE, Lysippus.