Attic Red-Figure Volute Krater

Scenes from the labors of the Greek hero Herakles encircle the neck of this Athenian red-figure volute-krater. On the front of the vase, Herakles' companion Iolaos prepares to drive off four cattle, while Herakles and the goddess Athena prepare to attack the sleeping giant Alkyoneus. He reclines on a rocky landscape underneath a leafless tree, club resting along his left arm. Behind and to the right of the giant are two more cattle. A small winged figure, Hypnos, sleeps nestled on Alkyoneus' torso. On the back of the vase, Herakles first subdues an ithyphallic, antlered mule – perhaps intended as the Keryneian hind. To the right, Herakles beheads the Lernean Hydra, while Iolaos stands on the other side of the monster, ready to cauterize the wounds with torches. To the right of Iolaos, Athena sits facing left holding out her helmet with her right hand and carrying a spear and shield with an owl device with her left. To the right of the goddess, a nude Herakles performs a third labor – wrestling the Nemean lion as a seated Iolaos looks on with club in hand.

An intense red glaze covers the body of this volute-krater. Coral-red technique, the application of an intentional red surface on a vase, was an unusual process used almost exclusively on cups and small vessels. It may have entailed using a subtly different clay or firing the vase more than once. Its use on a large vase like this krater is extremely rare.