APOLLON AND HERACLES STRUGGLE FOR THE TRIPOD OF DELPHI

Classification
Period
Material
Inventory
Ag.529
ID
Hyp-6758
References
Hekler, Gipszgyűjtemény, no. 435

The relief depicts a myth popular in antiquity: Heracles tried to seize the sacred tripod guarded at the sanctuary of Delphi from his brother, Apollon. The hero, clad in lion’s skin, is taking the tripod; there is a club in his right hand, and a bow in his left hand. He is chased by Apollon, who grabs the tripod with his right hand, draped in a mantle and holds his bow in his left hand. The arched, conical navel-stone (omphalos) kept at the sanctuary appears between the hero and the god; it refers to the central role of Delphi in the Greek world. The archaistic style of the relief, carved in the early Roman Imperial period, is meant to suggest that the myth took place a long time ago. The relief in Dresden decorates a three-sided marble base, that probably belonged to a candelabrum.