Heracles of Antikythera

The Heracles of Antikythera (Greek: Ηρακλής των Αντικυθήρων) is a large ancient Greek marble sculpture of the Greek hero Heracles, found in the wreck of Antikythera among several other findings, and now housed in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.^[1]

Heracles of Antikythera
Greek: Ηρακλής των Αντικυθήρων
The statue in the NAMA
Year	4th century BC
Catalogue	No 5742
Medium	Marble
Movement	Hellenistic
Subject	Heracles resting
Dimensions	2.50 m (98 in)
Condition	Head missing; marble eroded
Location	National Archaeological Museum, Athens
Owner	Greece
Website	https://www.namuseum.gr/

Description

After spending centuries at the bottom of the sea, the sculpture is eroded with fragments missing.^[2] It was retrieved gradually, its discovery made in several stages: the body was brought to light by divers who discovered the wreck of Antikythera in 1901, while his left hand was found in 2016 and his (presumed) head in 2022.^[1] The body is 2.50 m. tall and its unattached head is 65 cm, making it a larger-than-life statue.^[1]

The sculpture represents Heracles at rest, leaning on his club; it is a Hellenistic copy of the Heracles of Lysippus (dated around 320 BC), of the same type as the Farnese Hercules.^[2][3]

See also

• Ancient Greece portal
• Greece portal
• Visual arts portal

• Antikythera wreck
• Farnese Hercules
• Ancient Greek sculpture