M22.3 HERACLES & THE CERYNITIAN HIND

Museum Collection | British Museum, London |
---|---|
Catalogue No. | London 1843,1103.80 |
Beazley Archive No. | 310342 |
Ware | Attic Black Figure |
Shape | Amphora, Neck |
Painter | Attributed as Close to Group E |
Date | ca. 540 - 530 B.C. |
Period | Archaic |
DESCRIPTION
Heracles captures the Cerynitian hind as one of his twelve labours but in the process accidentally snaps off
one of its horns. The goddess Artemis arrives on the scene to protest the mistreatment of her sacred animal. The
hero wears a lion-skin cape and behind him the goddess Athena stands holding his scabbarded sword. Artemis
carries a bow.
The antlered hind is a mythic anomaly as female deer don't actually grow horns.