The Cretan Bull - Herakles' Seventh Labor

260, Lot: 378. Estimate $150. Sold for $400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THRACE, Deultum. Tranquillina. Augusta, AD 241-244. Æ (24mm, 10.04 g, 7h). Draped bust right, wearing stephane / Herakles standing right, wrestling the Cretan bull. Draganov 1489-1490 (O148/R584); Jurukova, Deultum 401; Varbanov 2923. VF, green patina.

Herakles, made temporarily insane by the goddess Hera, murdered his wife and children. Once recovered, and distressed by his actions, Hercules consulted the Delphic Oracle to find a means of expiating his sin. As a punishment, Apollo replied that the hero would have to serve his cousin Eurystheus, the king Tiryns, a man whom Herakles despised, for a period of twelve years. Because Eurystheus also hated Herakles, he devised a series of ten feats of such difficulty that they would be either insurmountable, or Heakles would die in the attempt. Because Herakles received assistance in completing two of the tasks, Eurystheus added two more. Each labor became more fantastic, and eventually Herakles was compelled to break the bonds of the supernatural in order to complete his task. Once he accomplished the Labors, he was absolved of his guilt, and preceded to perform many other heroic feats.

Compelled to capture the bull as his seventh Labor, Herakles sailed to Crete. Minos, the king of Crete, gave the hero permission to take the bull away, as it had been causing destruction on the island. Herakles subdued the Bull with his bare hands, and shipped it back to Athens. Although Eurystheus wished to sacrifice the Bull to Hera, the goddess refused the sacrifice because it reflected glory on her sworn enemy. The bull was released and wandered into the town of Marathon, where it became known as the Marathonian Bull.