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

Heracles and the Cretan Bull

#Heracles and the #CretanBull

#greekmyths

The Labours of Heracles 7

You've heard of Theseus and the Minotaur but Theseus wasn't the only Greek hero into bullfighting or ritual acrobatics or men wearing bull marks or whatever  possible historical events or Minoan rituals underlie the story about the Minotaur.

Minos ruler of Crete had a sacred bull allegedly fire breathing which had escaped and was ravaging farms and orchards tearing down fences damaging crops and reaking havoc.

Heracles managed to capture this bull and ship it to the mainland where it was turned loose.

I choose this particular vase painting cos the artists has given some thought to how one would actually catch a wild bull and take it alive without the modern benefits of tranquillizer darts or trained cattle dogs or horses trained to work with you while lassoing an animal. 

The end of the story suggests the mainlanders had better cattle herding skills.

The bull was driven across Greece and ended up in Attica probably siring calves on various herds of cows on the way.