The Labors of Hercules: Hercules Killing the Lernean Hydra
Medium
engraving
Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis B. Williams Collection
Accession Number
1950.464
Tags
male
About this artwork
Hercules and his nephew Iolaus work together to defeat the multiheaded hydra of Lerna. To stop the hydra from regrowing its heads, Iolaus torches each neck as Hercules removes the head with his club. Meanwhile, a lobster aids the hydra by attacking Hercules’s heel. According to legend, Hercules dipped his arrowheads in the dead hydra’s blood to make them poisonous. Beham was one of several German printmakers referred to today as the “Little Masters.” They established their artistic prowess by e...