Hercules Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull. Egypt, from Oxyrhynchus, c. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 3/8 x 14 3/4 in. (34 x 37.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128
Reliefs in some of the pagan tombs included images of gods and mythic figures, which were apparently meant to remind visitors of the deceased. Nymphs could suggest young women. Heroes like Hercules, here shown slaying his enemy, Acheloos, who was disguised as a bull, would have suggested powerful or authoritative men. As on most of these reliefs, all the empty spaces are filled with intertwining plants.
Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum
