Mantua, Hall of Troy:
”The Labours of Hercules"

The relief of this sarcophagus was part of Duke of Sabbioneta Vespasiano Gonzaga's antiquarian collection. Ten of the twelve labours of Hercules, imposed on the hero by the King of Mycenae, Eurystheus, can be seen on the front. A further two appeared on the sides of the sarcophagus, though these were not in the Sabbioneta collection. The famous hero appears beardless in the first four labours, and bearded in those that follow. He is always in action. From the left we can see: the killings of the lion of Nemea and the hydra of Lerna; the capture of the Erymanthian boar in the presence of a terrified Eurystheus, who is hiding in a jar; the killing of the deer of Cerinea and, after that, the birds of Lake Stymphalus prone to feeding on human flesh; the clash with the Amazon Hippolyta; Hercules cleaning the Augean stables; the capture of the Cretan bull; Hercules stunning Diomedes' horses; and the fight with the three-bodied giant Geryon. On the sides there were Hercules in the garden of the Hesperides, and Hercules with Cerberus. After his feat of killing the Nemean lion, the hero is seen wearing the skin of the slain beast (leonté). This was to become his trademark, worn on either his head or shoulders. The funerary symbology of the myth of Hercules lies in the fact that he was one of the few mortals to return alive from Hades, the afterworld.