| Title: | Weary Herakles type |
| Context: | From Sikyon (Agora) |
| Summary: | Nude aged Herakles |
| Object Function: | Unknown |
| Sculptor: | Suggested attribution to Lysippos |
| Material: | Bronze |
| Sculpture Type: | Free-standing statue |
| Category: | Original/copies |
| Style: | Late Classical |
| Technique: | In-the-round |
| Original or Copy: | Original (lost) |
| Date: | ca. 330 BC |
| Scale: | Over life-size |
| Region: | Corinthia |
| Period: | Late Classical |
Subject Description:
According to Libanios' description, this statue shows a nude Herakles, bearing tokens of his feats, holding his right arm behind his back, while leaning on his club that supports him under his left armpit, and with his head bent toward the ground. This type is represented by ca. 50 copies, the most famous of which is the colossal 'Herakles Farnese,' now in Naples.
The Weary Herakles type is depicted on various late Roman coins (Vermeule figs. 11-13).
Form & Style: Lysippan traits are the extreme expression of emotion, the fact that the statue type is conceived completely in the round, and the allegorical function: in most copies Herakles is depicted with the skin of the Nemean lion (reminding of his first labor) as well as the Apples of the Hesperides behind his back (indicating his last labor), which together represent the complete dodekathlos (twelve labors) of Herakles (Stewart 190).
Condition: Lost
Sources Used: