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Greek Mythology >> Galleries >> Greek Vase Paintings 4 >> L3.5

L3.5 HERACLES & GERYON

Heracles & Geryon | Attic black figure vase painting
DETAILS
Museum Collection Musée du Louvre, Paris
Catalogue No. Paris F53
Beazley Archive No. 310309
Ware Attic Black Figure
Shape Amphora
Painter Attributed to Group E Potter
Date ca. 550 - 540 B.C.
Period Archaic

DESCRIPTION

Heracles battles the three-bodied giant Geryon. The hero wears a lion-skin cape and brandishes a sword. Eurytion, the fallen herdsman of Geryon, lies at his feet. The giant is depicted as a three warriors standing side-by-side, implicitly conjoined at the waist. Each of his bodies is armoured and equipped with a shield and spear. The first shield is emblazoned with a Gorgoneion--the monstrous visage of Geryon's grandmother Medusa.

IMAGE DETAIL

Gorgoneion Shield | Attic black figure vase painting

Detail of the Gorgoneion shield.

Geryon's shield is emblazoned with a Gorgoneion (Gorgon's head). The monster is depicted with a round face, wide mouth, boar's tusk, protruding tongue, bstaring eyes, a beard, and coiling serpents in its hair.

ARTICLES

Geryon, Gorgons