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Lot Essay
Herakles' fourth Labour, set by Eurystheus, was to bring back alive the fiercesome boar that lived on Mount Erymanthus, the haunt of Artemis. The beast was lured out of its lair by Herakles' shouts; he then drove it through the deep snow which covered the countryside until it was exhausted, thus enabling him to capture it. This amphora depicts the moment the hero brought it back on his shoulders to Mycenae, at the sight of which, the terrified Eurystheus hid himself in a large pithos he had prepared as a refuge in time of danger. The female figure to the right of the scene may be Eurystheus' mother, Nikippe, whose raised hand suggests she is imploring Herakles to stop. Three days later Herakles was dispatched to complete his fifth task, the cleaning of the Augean stables.
On the identification of the Antimenes Painter, Beazley commented, 'I name him after the inscription on a vase in Leyden, a hydria with a representation of youths washing, which has always seemed to me one of the prettiest black-figure pictures' ('The Antimenes Painter', JHS, 1927, vol. 47, p. 63). The pairing of a Scythian archer and hoplite on the reverse is rarely seen in Attic black-figure vase painting.
On the identification of the Antimenes Painter, Beazley commented, 'I name him after the inscription on a vase in Leyden, a hydria with a representation of youths washing, which has always seemed to me one of the prettiest black-figure pictures' ('The Antimenes Painter', JHS, 1927, vol. 47, p. 63). The pairing of a Scythian archer and hoplite on the reverse is rarely seen in Attic black-figure vase painting.