Young Hercules

On display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's newly renovated Greek and Roman Galleries is this statue of YOUNG HERCULES. The youthful Hercules is depicted with the two items most associated with him -- his club and the skin of the Nemean lion. The lion's skin represents the first of Hercules' twelve labours, where he had to slay and skin the lion that had been terrorizing the area around Nemea. The lion had skin so thick that it was impervious to weapons, even Hercules' club (made from an olive tree that he pulled out of the ground. In the end, Hercules choked it to death eventually managed to skin the beast. Thereafter, Hercules wore the impenetrable hide as armor. The sculpture itself dates from the Flavian period (68 - 98 AD), and most likely was excavated from public baths near the Pantheon in Rome which were constructed under rule of Nero.