Hercules deliberately murdered his good friend, Iphitus because he had been insulted by Iphitus' father, King Eurytus. In order to be purified for his crime, the Gods declared that Hercules must be sold into slavery, and the price he fetched given to king Eurytus. The beautiful, Lydian queen, Omphale was the buyer and Hercules became her slave. For three years, she ordered him to do the labors customary for a hero of his stature, but she also amused herself, making him dress up as a woman and do woman's work such as weaving and spinning. The account of their relationship in Ovid states that they had a son, Lamus. In the Forbes painting, Boulanger shows the triumphant Omphale tauting her slave - Hercules holds a spool of thread and is dressed in a diaphonous pink garment while Ompale wears his traditional lion's skin.

Boulanger travelled to Algeria for eight months in 1845, and like many of his co-patriots was taken with the exotic surroundings. He recorded these sights in drawings (see lot 213) that would supply him with ideas for his Salon paintings when he returned to Paris. While the story of Hercules and Omphale is mythological (a popular Salon choice), the background elements such as the architecture were most likely inspired by Boulanger's Algerian trip.