Heracles had that bull First

 #Heracles #cretanbull #greekceramics 

The Bull Theseus caught at Marathon was supposedly the same one Heracles caught in Crete and shipped to Tiryns. It allegedly escaped and somehow wandered north all the way to Attica possibly because it had been dedicated to Poseidon and no one dared to kill it expect Theseus who offered it up as a sacrifice to dear maybe dad Poseidon or maybe just to annoy the Minoans who were supposed to give sacrificed it earlier. 

  

We know this is Heracles and not Theseus as he is bearded and has tied his archers quiver to the branch of a nearby tree. Heracles favorite weapon apart from his club was his bow.

You might want to compare this to the famous Vaphio cup.

Note the bull is lassoed and bound by the hind legs not the horns or neck. 

This black figure vessel has been dated to about 510 BCE so early Classical

ATHENA as a Warrior

 #Athena 

A series of posts featuring Images of Athena in Classical Greek Art 

Here we see Athena as a warrior defeating Encelados the Giant a child of Gaia who is said to be buried under Mount Etna in Sicily.

We can see the shield straps telling us something about how the Greeks used and carried round shields.

She has the elaborate embroidered robe of an upper class woman but the helmet of a warrior.

The battle of Athena and Encelados is depicted on various ceramics and is mentioned by Euripides in his ION, and also Callimachus, Apollodoros, Pausanias, Nonnos,  and the Latin poets Virigil, Statius,Horace, and Claudian, though some writers attribute his defeat to Dionysios or Zeus.