Hydria with Herakles and Cerberus

Place of OriginAthens, Greece

Dateabout 510 BCE

Dimensions19 1/2 × 14 1/4 × 11 1/2 in. (49.5 × 36.2 × 29.2 cm)
to top of handle: 19 11/16 × 8 3/8 × 5 7/8 in. (50 × 21.2 × 15 cm)
10 3/4 in.

MediumWheel-thrown, slip-decorated earthenware with incised details

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1969.371

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionA black-figure hydria decorated with two narrative scenes. The main panel depicts Herakles capturing the three-headed hound Cerberus, aided by Athena and Hermes. A column on the right symbolizes the entrance to Hades, while an owl perches on Athena’s chariot. The shoulder panel shows a departure scene with warriors and hunters, including two seated old men, a woman with libation vessels, and several armed figures with horses. The vessel features finely incised details and areas of added red and white color.

Label TextThis scene unfolds at the very entrance to Hades, the Greek Underworld, as indicated by the column at the far right. With the aid of Athena, standing behind, and Hermes, crouching, Herakles, dressed in his lion skin and wielding his trademark club, leads the chained Cerberus from the realm of the dead. Forced to bring back the ferocious three-headed guard dog as his final of twelve labors, Herakles defeated the creature without a weapon (as dictated by Hades, God of the Underworld) in his most difficult task. Keeping his promise to Hades, Herakles later returned Cerberus unharmed, completing his labors and atoning for his crimes (see gallery card).Published ReferencesBeazley, John D., Attic Black-figure Vase-painters, Oxford, 1956, p. 360, no. 11.

Brommer, Frank, Vasenlisten zur griechischen Heldensage, Marburg, 1956, p. 53, no. 53.

Brommer, Frank, Vasenlisten zur griechischen Heldensage, 2nd ed., Marburg, 1960, p. 73, no. 73.

Münzen and Medaillen A.G., Auktion 40. Kunstwerke der Antike. 13. Dezember 1969. Basel, pp. 41-42, lot no. 71.

Luckner, Kurt T., "Greek Vases: Shapes and Uses," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 68-69.

Brommer, Frank, Vasenlisten zur griechischen Heldensage, 3rd ed., Marburg, 1973, p. 93, no. 10.

Sourvinou-Inwood, C., "Three Related Cerberi," Antike Kunst, vol. 17, 1974, pp. 30 ff.

Boulter, Cedric G., and Kurt T. Luckner, Corpus vasorum antiquorum: Toledo Museum of Art, U.S.A. Fasc. 17, Toledo, 1976, p. 18-19, repr. pl. 25,2 and 26,2, graffito drawing fig. 5.

Johnston, Alan, "Greek vases in the marketplace," in Rasmussen, Ted, ed., Looking at Greek vases, Cambridge, England, 1991, pp. 222, 223, fig. 95.

Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae, Zurich, 1990, v. V, pt. 1, p. 90, no. 3599, p. 329, no. 515b, repr., v. V, pt. 2, pl. 243.

Hatzivassiliou, Eleni, Athenian Black Figure Iconography between 510 and 475 B.C., Rahden/Westf., Leidorf, 2010, p.21, cat no. 213 p.123, pp. 40, 49, cat. no. 596 p. 150.

Exhibition HistoryTampa Museum of Art, Ceramics and society: making and marketing ancient Greek pottery, 1994, no. 42, pp. 72-73, repr.