291. Herakles tuant les oiseaux stymphaliques

også kaldet:

Herakles og de stymfaliske fugle

1927, brændt ler.
h. 67 b. 65,2 d. 18,5 cm.
Datering baseret på tegningen Herakles dræber de stymphaliske Fugle, 1927.. Sagnet fortæller, at Herakles fik 12 opgaver af kong Eurystheus for at sone en ugerning og blive udødelig. En af dem var at udrydde de stymfaliske fugle. Det var rovfugle som kunne sende deres fjer som dødelige pile mod mennesker og dyr. Da Herakles kommer til den sø hvor fuglene gemmer sig, kommer gudinden Athene ham til hjælp og giver ham en skralde af kobber. Med den kan han skræmme fuglene og jage dem op af deres skjulesteder. Lyden fra skralden jager fuglene til vejs, og Herakels nedlægger dem med sine pile.

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259. Herakles tuant les oiseaux stymphaliques

1927, fired clay.
Also called "Hercules with the Stymphalian Birds". The dating is based on the drawing Hercules Killing the Stymphalian Birds, 1927. In Greek mythology, Stymphalian birds were man-eating birds with sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims. Furthermore, their dung was highly toxic. They had migrated to Lake Stymphalia in Arcadia and took over the countryside, destroying local crops and fruit trees. Ridding the land of these birds was one of Heracles' Twelve Labours. The forest around Lake Stymphalia was very dense, making it so dark as to impair vision. Athena aided Heracles by forging for him huge bronze clappers (crotala), which scared the birds into flight. Hercules shot them down with his arrows.

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