A complete suite of twelve etchings, all in their first state, of Beham's famous and sought after scenes from the life of Hercules. The series is usually known as the 'Labours of Hercules,' though only three in the series are true representations of the canonical twelve 'Labours' from classical myth. Of the remaining nine illustrations, four cover events or adventures that occurred during the carrying out of the twelve tasks. The remaining five, the final scenes in the series, provide the story of the hero's death and apotheosis, as well as providing a background for the later events of the Trojan War. It is unclear what level of understanding Beham himself had of the myth cycle of Hercules, whether he intended the set to represent the famous 'Labours,' or whether he was simply creating a series showing popular stories centred on the most famous hero of the classical world. Beham's own title, the 'Aerumnae Herculis' is regrettably imprecise. 'Aerumna' meaning 'toil' or 'hardship' certainly provides a strong suggestion of the famous twelve tasks, though the much more commonly used word 'Labores,' the usual Roman translation of the Greek 'athloi,' would surely have demonstrated this more clearly if that was the artist's intention. The fact that there are twelve in the series seems telling, but perhaps the number is coincidental rather than deliberate. Beham was working on them over the course of almost a decade, alongside many other works, and the dates engraved in each of Beham's scenes do not follow the established chronology for Hercules' adventures. The so-called 'title' plate is dated 1542, and is thus traditionally seen as the first, laying out Beham's intention for a series. The traditional second plate shows the slaying of the Nemean Lion, canonically Hercules' first Labour and the source of the lion-skin cloak that identifies him in most of the other scenes, though most print scholars have read the engraved date to the left of the lion as 1548, rather than 1542, which would make it one of, if not the, last scene Beham engraved. Confusingly the only other plate clearly dated 1542 is traditionally plate nine, with the centaur identified as Nessus, the scheming attempted-rapist of Hercules wife, and the progenitor of the events that will eventually lead the hero to his funeral pyre in the final plate. Next in order of creation is plate ten, the abduction of Iole, an appropriate partner to the Nessus plate as the other key event leading to Hercules death. Hercules' love of Iole provoked the insecurity of his wife Deianira, who, in a misguided attempt to create a love potion at the urging of Nessus, accidentally poisoned her husband with the very venom with which he killed the rapacious centaur. The story of Iole comes towards the traditional end of Hercules life, so from here Beham seems to have gone back to events surrounding the Labours, producing six of the twelve plates in 1545. The final two plates, the last events in Hercules life, are the depiction of Hercules presented with the poisoned robe by Lichas, the only undated plate of the twelve, and the vigil of Philoctetes by Hercules' funeral pyre, dated 1548. The following list of plates follows Hollstein, who prefers the thematic ordering of the plates by Pauli, rather than the chronological order given by Bartsch. Plate I: [Hercules fighting against the Centaurs] Aerumnae Herculis HSB 1542. (Bartsch 96, Pauli 98, Hollstein i/v) Hercules, wearing a billowing lionskin and holding his knotted club in his right hand, grabs the hair of a marauding centaur, who holds aloft a stick to strike at the hero. Despite the scene's description, the central figure is the only centaur in the image, with the figures fighting behind, two of whom also bear strong resemblance to Hercules, being on foot or on horseback. The mythological origin of Beham's scene is not immediately clear. The best known story of Hercules' conflict with centaurs occurred as part of his fourth Labour, to catch the Erymanthian Boar. On his way, Hercules stopped at the cave of the wise centaur Pholus for food. The smell of a jar of wine intoxicated a herd of nearby wild centaurs, who accosted the cave, and were pursued and slain by the hero. In some versions of the myth, both Pholus and Chiron, tutor of many Greek heroes, became collateral damage, shot or poisoned accidentally by Hercules' venom-tipped arrows. Beham's scene though, even ignoring the fact that there is only one centaur, is clearly a contest between multiple adversaries, rather than the central hero against a pack of enemies. Fights between centaurs and lapiths were popular in classical art, though in all the surviving myths, it is Theseus, not Hercules, as the central hero. An alternative reading of the scene would be to see Beham's title not as a signifier of the suite of twelve, but of just this first engraving, a composite image in which Heracles appears thrice, in three separate conflicts. Plate II: [Hercules killing the Neumaeic Lion] Leonis Suffocati Exuviis Induitur Hercules HSB 1542. (Bartsch 106, Pauli 99, Hollstein i/ii) Following a madness sent upon him by the goddess Hera that resulted in him killing his own children, Hercules was ordered to complete a series of Labours for King Eurystheus. The killing of the monstrous lion of Nemea was the first. The lion's pelt proved impervious to Hercules' arrows, so the hero was forced, as shown by Beham, to strangle the beast. His weapons are discarded to the right of the scene. As Beham states in his title for the plate, Hercules then dressed himself in the skin of the lion. Plate III: [Hercules slaying the Hydra] Hercules una cum Iolao Hydram Occidit HSB 1545. (Bartsch 102, Pauli 100, Hollstein i/iv) The second labour was to slay the serpentine Hydra of Lerna. In the most popular and enduring versions of the myths, the monster grew back any heads that the hero cut off, until his companion Iolaus was inspired to cauterize the necks of the creature. Although some versions have Hercules brandish a sickle, Beham prefers the hero's iconic club. In some iterations of the story, Eurystheus argued that the involvement of Iolaus invalidated the terms of the contest, and set extra tasks for the hero to complete. After killing the beast, Hercules dipped his arrows in its venom. The virulent nature of the monster's venom would later be the cause of Hercules death through the blood of the centaur Nessus. Plate IV: [Hercules carrying the columns of Gaza] Gaditanas Columnas Statuit Hercules HSB 1545. (Bartsch 103, Pauli 101, Hollstein i/iii) The traditional naming of this plate by print historians is a misreading of 'Gaditanas' as referring to Gaza, rather than Gades, modern Cadiz, identified by ancient mythographers as the location of the island of Erytheia, lair of the three headed giant Geryon. The cattle of Geryon were the target for Hercules' tenth Labour, the first of a pair of Labours that took the hero to the western limits of the known world. Upon reaching the point where the Mediterranean gave way to the Atlantic, Hercules set up two mighty pillars of stone, often said to relieve the titan Atlas from his eternal task of holding apart the earth from the sky. In Beham's scene, the hero demonstrates his great strength by carrying two massive classical columns across the piazza of an Italianate hilltown, presumably intended to represent Gades. Plate V: [Hercules killing Cacus] Cacum Flammivomum Opprimit Hercules HSB 1545. (Bartsch 104, Pauli 102, Hollstein i/iv) Having slain Geryon, Hercules drove his cattle back across the Mediterranean to Eurystheus. While passing the Aventine Hill, part of the future city of Rome, Hercules excited the attention of the fire-breathing man-eating giant Cacus, who stole some of the cattle and sealed them in his cave. When the lowing of the cows alerted the hero, he slew the giant and reclaimed the cattle. In most versions of the story, Hercules strangles Cacus in the smoking cave, having torn part of the mountain apart to get to him. Beham's scene once more prefers Hercules' signature club, the fire-breathing Cacus attempting to block the hero's blows with a broad shield, while a cow peeks from the arcades of the Aventine. Plate VI: [Hercules killing Anthaeus] Antaeum Libiae Gygantem Suffocat Hercules HSB 1545. (Bartsch 105, Pauli 103, Hollsteini /iv) Following the successful rustling of Geryon's cattle, Hercules was once more sent to the far west, this time to claim the golden apples of the Hesperides, the nymphs of the evening. Travelling through northern Africa, he encountered the giant Antaeus, whose mother, the earth goddess, made him invulnerable to Hercules' attacks. Beham's plate follows the standard tales. By lifting him high, Hercules successfully killed his opponent, squeezing him until he suffocated. Plate VII: [Hercules capturing Cerberus] Hercules Cerberum Tricipitem ad Superos Pertraxit HSB 1545. (Bartsch 100, Pauli 104, Hollstein i/iii) Plate seven represents the final 'Labour,' capturing Cerberus, the monstrous three-headed canine guardian of the Underworld. In Beham's scene, the hero struggles to coax the dog, depicted here in a much more benign manner than one might expect, to accompany him back to Eurystheus. Cerberus' three necks are collared, and Hercules' drags the beast on a leash, away from the flaming ruins of the Underworld. His club and a shield lie abandoned at his feet. Plate VIII: [Hercules fighting against the Trojans] Hercules Multis Bellis Lacessit Troiam HSB 1545. (Bartsch 101, Pauli 105, Hollstein i/iii) Hercules, on horseback, contends with a group of Trojan warriors, some mounted and some on foot. A slain enemy lies to the left, near his fallen horse, which is trampled by Hercules' steed. The hero wears his lionskin, which billows out behind him, and a plumed helmet. His immediate adversary wields a long javelin. Beham's depiction of Hercules' club is a departure from its representations in other scenes in the series. In this plate, it is a long and slender branch, topped with knotted roots, bearing a much closer resemblance to the staff held by the Hercules character in Durer's Hercules at the Crossroads (1498). Beham's scene recalls one of Hercules' adventures post-Labours, and introduces yet another intersection between Hercules and the Trojan myth cycles. After ridding Troy of a monster, Hercules' prize, a team of magical horses, was denied him by the Trojan ruler Laomedon. Hercules' vengeance was typically full-throated. Troy was sacked, and Laomedon and all but one of his sons were killed. The survivor was the unfortunate Priam of Homeric fame. Plate IX: [Hercules killing Nessus] Herculis HSB 1542. (Bartsch 97, Pauli 106, Hollstein i/v) In an Arcadian landscape, Hercules, bow in hand, has loosed an arrow into the back of a fleeing centaur. His club lies abandoned at his feet and his lionskin billows behind him. The centaur, his long hair tied up in a braid, throws his arms in the air and rears up on his hind legs at the pain of the envenomed shaft in his back. The usual attribution for the scene is Hercules' killing of the treacherous centaur Nessus, though Beham's scene raises questions. The tale, and its consequences, is among the best known of the Herculean myth cycle. Hercules' wife Deianira is ferried across the river Euenos by the centaur, who, fired by desire, decides to abduct her while her husband is stuck on the opposite bank. The hero quickly grabs his bow and shoots his foe, who, with his dying breath, tricks Deianira by claiming that his blood, now tainted by the venom of the Hydra, will one day make a powerful love potion. In Beham's scene however, Deianira is nowhere to be seen, nor is the river, though the lake surrounding the hilltown in the distance is an appropriate substitute. The centaur also differs strongly in character and appearance from another of Beham's works likely produced immediately after the present series, in which the characters are clearly labelled by the artist as 'Nessus' and 'Deianira.' This latter pair is a clear derivative from Durer's Hercules at the Crossroads (1498). These artistic inconsistencies are compounded by Beham's title 'Herculis' (of Hercules). While it is tempting to dismiss this as a mere spelling error or irritating mistake in the engraving process, Beham's other plates otherwise seem correct and deliberate in their choice of the nominative, genitive, and dative forms of the hero's name, so this plate stands as an outlier. The centaur is regrettably unnamed, so it is possible that the scene may represent an earlier event in the hero's life. His courtship of Deianira involved the slaying of another centaur, a suitor called Eurytion, who is often conflated with the more famous centaur of the same name whose attempt to carry off the bride of Perithous provoked the famous conflict between the centaurs and the Lapiths discussed above. Alternatively, the relatively subdued attitude of Hercules in Beham's scene may point to another encounter with a centaur, this time the accidental slaying of the wise and gentle Chiron during the hero's pursuit of Chiron's wilder and more bestial brethren. The earlier date of this plate when compared to others in the series is also intriguing, and perhaps we should see this plate as a partner to the so-called title plate. Plate one, which also features a conflict with an unknown centaur, is also the only other plate in the series in which the hero's name appears in the genitive. Perhaps the use of 'Herculis' in the current plate is deliberate, a linking device to elaborate upon the Aurumnae (hardships) which title the previous example. Plate X: [Hercules raping Jole] Euryti Regis Filiam Iolam, Occiso Patre, Abduxit Hercules HSB 1544. (Bartsch 99, Pauli 107, Hollstein i/iv) The traditional tenth plate in the series recounts the story of Hercules abduction of Iole, daughter of the Oechalian king Eurytus. Eurytus, a talented archer and one-time tutor of the young Hercules, offered his daughter as the prize to any man who could best him and his sons in an archery contest. When Hercules expressed his desire to compete, Eurytus forbade him, having heard of the madness which had led the hero to kill his previous wife and children, and fearing for his daughter's safety. This provoked another of Hercules' infamous rages, and he sacked the city of Oechalia, taking Iole captive and murdering her father and brothers. In Beham's scene, Hercules is clearly the figure on horseback to the left, as he wears the lionskin and brandishes his club with Iole seated behind him, but the identity of the other mounted figure is obscure. The title of the scene, as well as the prominent crown on his head, would suggest it is King Eurytus, though his gaze seems fixed on the fallen figure below the hooves of his mount and not the hero looming before him. He wears a roman-style breastplate and kilt, and brandishes a long club that bears the most resemblance to the one held by Hercules in the Trojan scene in Plate eight. Figures on the extreme right and left of the scene both appear to be in the act of attacking the central figures, one firing an arrow, a possible allusion to the archery contest that began the conflict, the other swinging a large fish or dolphin, presumably an ornament repurposed as an impromptu weapon. Plate XI: [Lichas bringing the Garment of Nessus to Hercules] Deianira Nessi Vestem per Licham Servum Herculi Mittit, HSB. (Bartsch 98, Pauli 108, Hollstein i/ii) In the only undated plate in Beham's series, we see the consequence of Hercules' reduction of Iole to concubinage in the anxiety and jealousy of his wife Deianira. Threatened by Hercules' desire for Iole, Deianira recalls the advice of the insidious Nessus from years earlier, who led her to believe that his envenomed blood would form a potent love potion for ensuring the devotion of her husband. The unfortunate woman sends Hercules a tunic soaked in the centaurs blood, which is delivered by Hercules' servant Lichas. In Beham's scene, Hercules is shown receiving the gift in an Italianate landscape. He wears Roman armour, rests against his long club, and has draped his lionskin over one arm in preparation for throwing on the gift of his wife. In the background, the immediate result is shown. Having donned the cloak, the Hydra's venom immediately began to burn the hero. Assuming treachery by Lichas, he turned his fury on the hapless servant. Plate XII: [Death of Hercules] Nessi Veste Rabidus Se Comburit Hercules, Philocrasses HSB 1548. (Bartsch 107, Pauli 109, Hollstein i/ii) The final plate in the series completes the myth cycle of Hercules' mortal life. The pain of the venom from Nessus' shirt drove the hero to build a massive funeral pyre, upon which he begs for death. In many versions of the story, it is his friend Philoctetes who relents and agrees to light the pyre, for which he is rewarded by the hero with the gifts of his bow and the quiver of envenomed arrows, which were both the agents of many of his successes but also his ultimate undoing. The passing on of the arrows are yet another Herculean foreshadowing of the events of the Trojan wars, with the arrows of Philoctetes being one of a number of items required to bring about a Greek victory against Troy, Paris becoming yet another victim of the Hydra's venom. In Beham's scene, Hercules' mortal body is consumed in the flames of the pyre, while Philoctetes, here named Philocrasses by the engraver, keeps his vigil, the bow and quiver at his feet. Although his mortal body burned, the immortal part of Hercules' dual nature endured, and after his many toils and hardships, ascended to Olympus where he was finally made a god.