Heracles's weariness and apotheosis in Classical Greek art Agotamiento físico y apoteosis de Heracles en el arte clásico griego Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais, Brasil douradolopes@letras.ufmg.br Resumen: Este estudio propone una interpretación general de las imágenes realizadas en Grecia, a partir del siglo V a. C. en monedas, joyas, pinturas de vasijas y esculturas, que muestran el agotamiento físico de Heracles y su apoteosis divina. Luego de una extendida consideración de los principales trabajos académicos que abordaron el tema desde finales del siglo XIX, procuro mostrar que la representación iconográfica del agotamiento de Heracles y de su apoteosis da testimonio de la influencia de nuevas concepciones religiosas y filosóficas en su mito, fundamentalmente del pitagorismo, del orfismo y de los cultos mistéricos, así como del fuerte intelectualismo de la Atenas del siglo V a. C. En lugar del destino de extremo esfuerzo y de los excesos característicos de sus representaciones literarias e iconográficas anteriores, el período clásico presenta a Heracles como un modelo de virtud y de dominio de sí, lo que simboliza la victoria del mérito sobre la persecución divina y las adversidades. Palabras clave: Heracles, Héroe, Apoteosis, Arte clásico griego. Abstract: In this paper, I propose a general interpretation of images showing the physical exhaustion and apotheosis of Heracles that were produced during the Classical period. @ese images appear on or take the form of coins, jewels, vase paintings, and sculptures. Building on the major scholarly work on the subject since the late 19 th century, I suggest that the iconography of Heracles shows the influence of new religious and philosophical conceptions of his myth, in particular relating to Pythagoreanism, Orphism, and mystery cults, as well as the intellectual climate of 5 th century Athens. Rather than appearing as an example of infinite toil and excess in the manner of earlier literary and iconographic representations, Heracles is presented in the Classical period as a model of virtue and self-restraint and a symbol of the triumph of merit over adversity and divine persecution. Keywords: Heracles, Hero, Apotheosis, Classical Greek art. 1. Symbolic aspects of the figure of Heracles in the context of 5 th century Greek beliefs In order to contextualize Heracles's iconography historically, I first consider narratives that describe his immortalization as a reward for his labors. In one well-known version, Heracles performs these labors under the oversight of his cousin Eurystheus, who rules over Mycenae and Tyrinth; in another, the labors are imposed on the hero by the Pythia of Delphi as a means of purification for killing his children in a fit of madness. In both cases, the labors are brought on by the harassment of Hera, who is infuriated by the fact that the hero is a product of her husband Zeus's love affair with the mortal Alcmene. 1 @e protracted evolution of representations of Heracles's exploits in the Archaic and Classical periods assimilated and established mythological, literary, and iconographic elements of Greek culture, some of which may have traced back to the Bronze Age. @ese elements are blended in the Homeric poems, each of which presents the hero's prowess in distinct ways. In general, the Iliad emphasizes the psychological and genealogical aspects of the heroes' destinies, oHen in a deterministic manner reminiscent of Athenian tragedy, whereas the Odyssey highlights individual effort and the suffering that is characteristic of the human condition. In both poems, diverse and intense pressures on human initiative enhance the psychological and theological significance of the characters' experiences through narratives about their acceptance of mortality. When considered together with the main Homeric heroes, Heracles, who belongs to an earlier generation, is conspicuous for his greater proximity to the gods, his greater exploits, and his greater suffering. At the same ARTÍCULO / ARTICLE Synthesis, vol. 25, nº 2, e042, diciembre 2018. ISSN 1851-779X Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación. Centro de Estudios Helénicos Cita sugerida: Dourado Lopes, A. O. (2018). Heracles's weariness and apotheosis in Classical Greek art. Synthesis, 25(2), e042. https://doi.org/10.24215/1851779Xe042 Esta obra está bajo licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.es_AR