Ancient Fragments

Adventures of Heracles (3rd century)
"[Heracles] built up the one entrance and came in upon the beast through the other, and putting his arm round its neck held it tight till he had choked it...."—Apollodorus, The Library, Book II

While it might look like part of an ancient comic strip, this colored drawing comes from what was likely a schoolboy's reading assignment. The fragment and its accompanying text illustrate the first of the 12 famous labors plaguing the demigod Heracles: slaying the supposedly unconquerable Nemean Lion and bringing back its skin.

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