Hercules’ Tenth Labor – The Cattle of Geryon

289, Lot: 277. Estimate $750. Sold for $1800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Drachm (34mm, 24.16 g, 12h). Dated RY 10 (AD 146/7). Laureate head right / L ΔЄ-KA-TOV, Hercules standing left, grabbing horn of one of two bulls charging left with right hand, holding club and lion skin in left; at feet to left, the dead body of Eurytion lying left. Köln 1542; Dattari (Savio) 2621; K&G 35.341; Emmet 1542 (R4). Fine, brown patina. Very rare.

Ex Cornelius C. Vermeule III Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 50, 23 June 1999), lot 1171.

Hercules, made temporarily insane by the goddess Hera, murdered his wife and children. Once recovered, and distressed by his actions, Hercules consulted the Delphic Oracle to find a means of expiating his sin. As a punishment, Apollo replied that the hero would have to serve his cousin Eurystheus, the king Tiryns, a man whom Hercules despised, for a period of twelve years. Because Eurystheus also hated Hercules, he devised a series of ten feats of such difficulty that they would be either insurmountable, or Hercules would die in the attempt. Because Hercules received assistance in completing two of the tasks, Eurystheus added two more. Each labor became more fantastic, and eventually Hercules was compelled to break the bonds of the supernatural in order to complete his task. Once he accomplished the Labors, Hercules was absolved of his guilt, and preceded to perform many other heroic feats.

Hercules’ Tenth Labor required him to travel to Erytheia to capture the Cattle of Geryon. En route, while crossing the Libyan Desert, he became so frustrated by the heat that he shot an arrow at the sun. Impressed by the hero’s courage, Helios allowed Hercules to use the craft with which he sailed nightly across the Ocean in order for him to reach Erytheia. Upon arriving, Hercules was confronted by the two-headed watchdog, Orthrus, and the herdsman Eurytion, each of whom he killed with his club. Hearing what was happening, Geryon, armed with three shields, three spears, and wearing three helmets, pursued Hercules to the River Anthemus. Once there, Hercules shot Geryon dead with an arrow he had poisoned with the blood of the Lernaean Hydra. To annoy Hercules as he drove the cattle back to Eurystheus, Hera sent a gadfly to scatter the herd by biting them. After a year’s labor, Hercules recovered the herd, but was further hindered by a flood, also caused by the goddess. Hercules eventually returned to Tiryns, and Eurystheus sacrificed the cattle to Hera.