Herakles and the Nemean Lion Yale University Art Gallery

ca. A.D. 160–256

The greatest of the Greek heroes, Herakles (Hercules) appears frequently at Dura-Europos, honored alongside his father, Zeus, in temples and worshipped alone in houses. He represents courage and strength and is best known for the twelve, impossible-seeming labors that he performed. At Dura, Herakles is invariably shown wrestling the Nemean lion with either the lion itself or its skin, which he carries afterward for protection and as a sign of strength. The significance of this myth for residents of Dura-Europos stemmed from the tradition of lion hunts as an activity of heroes and kings in the ancient Near East.

Medium: Limestone
Dimensions: 20 3/8 × 13 1/2 × 11 in. (51.8 × 34.29 × 27.94 cm)
Credit Line: Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos
Accession Number: 1938.5302
Geography: Excavated in Dura-Europos, Syria
Culture: Syrian, Dura-Europos
Period: Roman
Classification: Sculpture
Disclaimer: Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance

Excavated by the Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos (block C4 8, Temple of Zeus Megistos), present-day Syria, 1928–37; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.

Bibliography

Lillian Sellati, "Doubling the Divine: A Strategy for Warding Off Evil at Dura-Europos," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2022–23), 44–45, fig. 5

Jennifer Chi and Sebastian Heath, eds., Edge of Empires: Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2011), 114, no. 41, ill.

Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity (Boston: McMullen Museum of Art, 2011), 354, no. 47, pl. 47

Object copyright

No Copyright - United States

Additional information

Object/Work type

mythology

Inscriptions

no inscription

Technical metadata and APIs

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