Cypriot Limestone Statue of Herakles in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2008

Limestone Statue of Herakles
Cypriot, Classical, 2nd half of the 4th century BC
Said to be from the temple at Golgoi

From the Cesnola Collection, Accession # 74.51.2660

In the late 6th century BC, a local Cypriot god was assimilated with the powerful animal-slaying Greek hero, Herakles. On Cyprus he is shown bearded or beardless, wearing a lion's skin and a short tunic and holding a miniature lion in his hand. Herakles was the male divinity most often represented in Cypriot sanctuaries. In the Classical period, King Evagoras of Salamis placed images of Herakles as a Panhellenic hero on his coinage. At the same time the Phoenician kings at Kition identified him with the Phoenician god Melqart, who was worshiped at Kition.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.