OMPHALE AND HERACLES, A KNOTTED LIFE in V. Dasen and F. Spadini (ed.), Bijoux antiques: de l'ornement au talisman. Identités et pratiques sociales, Gemmae. An International Journal on Glyptic Studies, 3, 2021, 61-82. Uncorrected version. VÉRONIQUE DASEN ABSTRACT ∙ In Roman period glyptic, the category of ‘magical’ intaglios, usually worn as rings or pendants, combined the power of material, images, and inscriptions to ward off malevolent influences or heal diseases. This paper discusses the iconography of a specific group usually engraved on red jasper where a naked woman is depicted fighting a donkey. She is identified as the queen Omphale by inscriptions and attributes, and is paired with Heracles throttling the Nemean lion. The pictures convey an unexpected metaphorical discourse about the female body, gender, and sexuality, reversing a victimised image of women, and displaying a powerful agency in the form of Omphale combining the role of lover, mother, ruler as well as of magician. KEYWORDS ∙ Amulet, Baubo, birth, fecundity, gem, gender, Heracles, knot, Omphale, magic; sexuality. INTRODUCTION In the late Roman Republic and imperial period, a number of engraved stones belonged to the broader category of charms which were ubiquitous in ancient daily life. These intaglios form a series within Roman glyptic, conventionally labelled ‘magical’, which are characterised by the combination of three features. 1 First, they were made of specific stones (jasper, hematite, ...) with particular colours (red, yellow, black, ...) selected for their therapeutical or symbolical efficacy. Second, inscriptions, usually in Greek alphabet, were carved to be read directly on the stone, unlike seals, and empowered the stone with divine names, mainly Greek or Jewish, along with magical formulae or voces magicae, as well as charaktêres or non-linguistic signs summoning higher powers. 2 Third, the images usually depict divine figures: beside Greco-Roman and Egyptian gods from the pantheon of Roman Egypt (Heracles, Aphrodite, Isis, Osiris, Serapis, ...), new images were created and adapted for a magical context, such as the lion-headed snake Chnoubis or the Anguipes. 3 This combination of Greco-Roman, Egyptian, Jewish, and occasionally Eastern elements, reflects the transcultural koine of magica in the Roman period, as well as a continuing process of transmission and adaptation to new religious and social contexts. Like other amulets, physical contact with the stone was ensured by various means in order to transmit its properties to the wearer. Intaglios were attached to various parts of the body, such as neck, finger, ankle, thigh, ... either inserted in rings and pendants or wrapped in little bags; some were even broken to be consumed as a drink. 4 This paper revisits the meaning of a group of dark red stones, mainly jasper, depicting a naked woman often paired with a donkey, identified as Omphale, which I first discussed in 2008. 5 Since the series has increased: it is today composed of twelve gems with common formal and structural features, as well as of a wider series of related figures, in particular Heracles paired with the veronique.dasen@unifr.ch; Université de Fribourg / Paris, UMR8210 ANHIMA. 1 On the type, DASEN, NAGY 2019. See also MASTROCINQUE 2014a, FARAONE 2018. For the dating, ZWIERLEIN- DIEHL 2019. The examples are cited here after the Campbell Bonner Magical gems Database abridged CBd. 2 On charaktêres, GORDON 2014. 3 On Chnoubis, DASEN, NAGY 2012; DASEN 2019. On the Anguipes, NAGY 2002 and 2019. 4 On the Greek notion of periapton or periamma, in Latin ligatura or amuletum, meaning ‘what is tied, attached or suspended on a person’, JOUANNA 2011, 44-77, esp. 48-49, and NAGY in this volume. On the bodily geography according to the expected influence of stones, also ingested as drinks, DASEN in press. 5 DASEN 2008, with additions in DASEN 2015a.