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Greek Mythology >> Galleries >> Greek Vase Paintings 4 >> L3.3

L3.3 GERYON & ORTHRUS

Geryon & Orthrus | Attic black figure vase painting
DETAILS
Museum Collection Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge
Catalogue No. Harvard 1972.42
Beazley Archive No. 301042
Ware Attic Black Figure
Shape Amphora
Painter Attributed to Group E
Date ca. 550 - 530 B.C.
Period Archaic

DESCRIPTION

Detail of the three-bodied giant Geryon battling Heracles (not shown). The giant is depicted as three men standing side by side, implicitly conjoined at the waist. They are armoured and equipped with shields and spears. The two-headed guard-dog Orthrus crouches at his master's feet.

"Alcmena bore that dauntless son [Heracles], to whom long since the fierce hounds of Geryon yielded in trembling terror." - Pindar, Isthmian Ode

IMAGE DETAIL

Orthrus | Attic black figure vase painting

Detail of the hound Orthrus.

ARTICLES

Geryon, Orthrus