Egypt's Narmer Palette Vs. Greece's Heracles Vase Painting

King Narmer of Ancient Egypt was a great and powerful leader, ruling over his kingdom and expanding it by conquering neighboring territories. He was so impressive that his triumphs were depicted in art designed to display and highlight his success, his wealth, and his godly status. The most famous of these works, the Narmer Palette, shows the king conquering many groups of people, dominating their lands completely. Also included is proof of his divine right to rule, as he is shown as a figure who is with and as important as the gods. However, Narmer is not the only ruling figure immortalized in siltstone. The Greeks were similar to the Egyptians in that they etched the most important figures into pieces of art. The Greeks, however, preferred to create art on painted vases, as opposed to the siltstone palettes of the Egyptians. Since parts of the Greek's artistic focus were their gods and their heroes, it seems only fitting that one of the greatest heroes of their myths have art created about him. That hero is Heracles. While he is a figure of mythology, he is also a figure intrinsic to Greek culture. Heracles, also known as the strongest man to ever live, was a son of the Greek god Zeus and was gifted with immense strength. He preformed many remarkable deeds during his human life such as holding the sky for Atlas and then tricking him back under it, joining the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece, and rescuing Prometheus from having his entrails repeatably ripped out of his body by an eagle for centuries. However, Heracles is best known for a series of adventures appropriately named the 12 Labors of Heracles. The myth goes that the goddess Hera drove Heracles into madness out of jealousy (because he was her husband's son from an affair with a mortal), forcing him to slaughter his wife and his children. To garner forgiveness for his deed, Heracles was obligated to preform 10 (which turned into 12) Labors for his enemy, Eurystheus. The vase below depicts Heracles' 12th and final labor, capturing and bringing back Cerberus, the hound of Hades, from the Underworld. Eurystheus chose this labor in the hopes that it would be impossible for even Heracles to complete. However, Heracles overpowered Cerberus, slung him over his shoulder, and dragged him out of the Underworld, once again proving his strength. In the painting, Eurysteus is partially hiding, his arms thrown up in surprise as he is presented with the demon dog. Heracles is wearing the skin of the Nemean Lion (whom he slayed for his first labor), which serves of a representation of his strength and his achievements, because only the greatest and bravest of heroes could go against the feared Nemean Lion and come out victorious. The painter would've purposely portrayed Heracles with his trophy because it symbolizes his strength and bravery. He carries a club, his signature weapon, which shows he needed no more than a piece of wood and his bare hands to overpower a great beast of the Underworld. Cerberus is the largest figure in the painting, because he is the result of Heracles' final labor, proof that he has finally purified himself of the murder of his family. Heracles is painted as much larger than Eurysteus, because Eurysteus was a bitter coward who, in the painter's eyes, didn't deserve any more than the upper half of his body to be in the picture. Heracles however, is standing as a much larger figure than Eurysteus and much more of his body is showing, including his armor and his lion skin, both displaying his braver and his power. Although Heracles was not a king like Narmer, the deeds of his myth were just as worthy proven by the way in which Heracles is painted. Like the Egyptians with Narmer's Palette, the Greeks focused on Heracles' triumph, his bravery, his importance, and his victories in Heracles' vase. It is easy to see the qualities that the Greeks valued in Heracles: bravery, strength, perseverance, and greatness, by looking at the vase painting. Much like the Egyptians, the Greeks created their art by emphasizing the things they valued, and highlighting greatness. All in all, although they were very unique cultures, Egypt's palette of Narmer and Greece's vase painting of Heracles both clearly display what each culture felt was important about their respective hero.