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Hercules reborn: the afterlife of a classical hero

Explore the enduring legacy of Hercules through ancient art, Renaissance masterpieces, and modern interpretations in film and comics. Discover Hercules' iconic labours, his love interests, and his enduring impact on popular culture.

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Hercules reborn: the afterlife of a classical hero

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  1. Hercules reborn:the afterlife of a classical hero Emma Stafford (University of Leeds)

  2. Room N, Via Latina catacombs, Rome, C4th AD: Hercules and the hydra; with Alcestic and Cerberus; in the Hesperides’ garden.

  3. Hercules adorning Christian churches: 13th-century baptistry pulpit of Pisa cathedral; 13th-century relief from west facade of St Mark’s, Venice; door-jamb of Porta della Mandorla, Florence (1391-1405).

  4. Groups of labours in Renaissance art (clockwise): Triumph of Hercules tapestry (1513-21); Lucas Cranach the Elder, Antaeus (c.1530); Annibale Fontana, rock-crystal intaglio, Achelous (1560-70); Francisco de Zubaran, Cerberus (1634).

  5. < Albrecht Durer, Hercules Killing the Stymphalian Birds (1500). ↓ Frederic Lord Leighton, Hercules Fights Death for Alcestis (1869-71)

  6. HendrickGoltzius, Hercules Victor, 1617 (New York). Text: I, Hercules, terror of the world, rest, weary after subduing the three-formed king of further Spain and after taking the apples from the turning-point of Hesperus, where the never-sleeping serpent had guarded them in gardens of gold. > The Farnese Herakles, Roman-imperial period copy of original of c.325 BC (Naples).

  7. Giambologna, Hercules and Nessus (1599). Canova, Hercules and Lichas (c.1795).

  8. Hercules at the crossroads: Cranach (c.1500), Veronese (c.1580), Poussin(1594-1665), Caracci (1595-7), Paolo dei Matteis (1712).

  9. 1531 Augsburg edition: ‘Those who venture on what is beyond their powers’ (Hercules and pygmies) and ‘Eloquence superior to strength’ (the Gallic Hercules). Andrea Alciato, Emblemata (1612 Padua edition) no.138: ‘The Twelve Labours of Hercules’.

  10. > Holbein, portrait of Erasmus (1523). ↓ Holbein, Hercules Germanicus (1522): Luther tramples Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas.

  11. HERCULES AND OMPHALE Lucas Cranach the Elder (1537, Braunschweig); Abraham Jenssens (1607, Copenhagen); François Lemoine, Hercules and Omphale (1724, Paris).

  12. Lucas Cranach the Younger, The Sleeping Hercules Beset by Pygmies (Dresden, 1551); Lorenzo Lotto, portrait of Andrea Odoni (1527, Hampton Court); Rubens, DrunkenHercules (c.1612, Dresden).

  13. < Antonio Pollaiuolo, version of hydra image from Medici palace (c.1475, Florence). ↓ Bandinelli, Hercules and Cacus (1534), Piazza della Signoria, Florence.

  14. The French monarchical Hercules: Louis XIII as Hercules the Emperor (1635); Louis XIV conquering the Triple Alliance, on Porte Saint Martin (1668).

  15. David’s design for colossal statue of Hercules: on sketch for state seal (1793-4) > In Festival of Supreme Being (1794) ↓ The French People Overwhelming the Hydra of Federalism

  16. Steve Reeves as Hercules (labove), and magazine advert for Hercules.

  17. And again in HerculesUnchained (1959)...

  18. A selection of 1960s Hercules films. Below right: Mark Forest in Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules (1961).

  19. Arnold Schwarznegger (aka Strong) as Hercules in New York (1970), originally dubbed but more recently with his own voice restored.

  20. Lou Ferrigno (aka the Incredible Hulk) as Hercules in 1983, with Sybil Danning as Queen Ariadne.

  21. Kevin Sorbo in Hercules the Legendary Journeys. (Above right) With Lucy Lawless in Xena Warrior Princess.

  22. Hercules’ love interests (clockwsie): Deianeira x 2 (Renee O’Connor, Tawny Kitaen), Serena, Iole, the 50 daughters of Thespios... (Left) Hercules and Uncle Iolaus...

  23. Disney’s Hercules (1997).

  24. Hercules’ double family: Zeus and Hera, Alcmene and Amphitryon; NB contrasting colour schemes for Olympus and earth.

  25. Marvel Comics’ take on Hercules: Above left: Hercules meets the Mighty Thor (1974). Right: covers from the more recent series The Incredible Hercules (2008-10).

  26. HERAKLES NOW Left: Marian Maguire’sHerakles Takes Up Dairy Farming, lithograph 2006/7. Right: Two logos familiar in Greece today.

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