| Collection: | Cambridge, Harvard University Art Museums |
| Summary: | Side A: Herakles and Geryon |
| Ware: | Attic Black Figure |
| Painter: | Attributed to Group E |
| Date: | ca. 550 BC - ca. 530 BC |
| Dimensions: | H. 0.432 m. |
| Primary Citation: | |
| Shape: | Amphora |
| Beazley Number: | 301042 |
| Period: | Archaic |
Condition:
Broken and repaired; missing pieces restored, with moderate repainting; damage to Eurytion's face; some loss of added color, particularly the white of the women's flesh.
Decoration Description:
Side A: Herakles is battling the triple-bodied Geryon, the tenth of his Twelve Labors. The setting is Erytheia, an island in the far West, land of the setting sun. Herakles has come to fetch the cattle of Geryon, the son of Chrysaor. Herakles has a red beard and wears a short chiton, also red. Over this he wears his lionskin, the head of which covers his own head like a hood. The paws are knotted at his throat and the middle of the skin is cinched tightly around his waist with a belt. Herakles advances his left leg; his left arm is hidden behind one of Geryon's shields, but in his right hand he holds the sword with which he has already dispatched Geryon's herdsman, Eurytion. The herdsman crawls on his hands and knees, his head bowed. He wears a rough cap of wool or skin, a short chiton, painted red, and a tunic of some kind, over which is a red belt. As usual, Geryon is represented as three overlapping warriors, joined at the waist, all of whom are dressed as hoplites, with greaves, bell-cuirasses, and Corinthian helmets. All three advance the left leg in unison; the farthest and nearest warriors wear red greaves, but not the middle one. The nearest warrior has been wounded; he turns his upper body all the way round to face backward, so that we see the inside of the round shield on his left arm. He holds a stone in his right hand instead of a spear or sword, a mark of his barbaric nature. He and the middle warrior have stilted crests on their helmets, which overlap the lotus and palmette frieze above. The helmets may once have been painted red. The helmet of the farthest warrior has a low crest, which is all one can see of his head, and his shield is advanced beyond that of the middle warrior. Because his head seems to incline forward, and because he seems to have dropped the point of his spear behind the body of Eurytion, the farthest warrior may already have become Herakles' next victim. Both his shield and that of the middle warrior have red rims; neither shield seems to have had a device, unless this was in added color and is now lost. The spear above the shields may be held by the middle warrior; like the nearest warrior, he is bearded, but is yet unwounded. At lower right, behind the monster's rear legs, is Geryon's two-headed hound, Orthros. Of the hound's heads, the near one is down, the far one raised up. The near dog wears a collar and has a red neck. Orthros was the son of Typhon and Echidna and thus the brother of Cerberus, the three-headed hound who guarded Hades. Herakles will spare Cerberus, when he fetches him as the last of his Twelve Labors, but Orthros he will kill.
Side B: A nude warrior is putting on his armor, watched by four onlookers, two on either side. The red-haired warrior stands to the right, his left leg raised as he prepares to don the greave which he holds in both hands. On the ground below his upraised leg is a Corinthian helmet with a stilted crest, the added color of which has worn off. Facing him at right is a woman, who gestures toward him with her right hand. She wears a peplos from which the added color has been lost, like the white that once tinted her flesh; of her eye, only a faint incision remains. Behind her, at right, stands a nude male with red hair and beard, his hands held at his sides. To the left of the warrior stands a bearded man with red hair, wearing a himation; he may be the warrior's father, come to see him off to war. At far stands a fourth man. He has a red beard and red hair, the latter tied in a queue on the nape. His himation has slipped down around his waist.
Above each scene is a lotus and palmette "festoon," framed by lines of dilute glaze; the palmettes have red cuffs. Band of rays of lower body. Stripes of added red circle the edge of the mouth, the lower edge of the foot, the top of the band of rays, and the lower body below the figure panels, which also have lateral frames of red stripes.
Shape Description:
Amphora of type B, with cylindrical handles, echinus foot, and flaring mouth.
Essay:
Collection History:
Jacob Hirsch collection; Bequest of Frederick M. Watkins.
Sources Used:
Other Bibliography: