Hercules and the Hydra and Hercules and Antaeus, Photograph of two paintings that depict the Seven Labors of Hercules, first Hercules slaying the Hydra and Hercules fighting Antaeus. Both scenes are depicted in an outdoor landscape. On the left, Hercules and the Hydra, takes place near a serpentine river, likely meant to depict Lake Lerna- where the hydra was said to live. Hercules holds his notorious club and wears a lion fur on his head. On the right Hercules battles Antaeus, the half giant child of Poseidon and Gaia who could not be defeated as long as he had contact with the earth-his mother. Hercules, instead chose to hold Antaeus aloft, defeating him by crushing him above ground.

Hercules and the Hydra and Hercules and Antaeus, Photograph of two paintings that depict the Seven Labors of Hercules, first Hercules slaying the Hydra and Hercules fighting Antaeus. Both scenes are depicted in an outdoor landscape. On the left, Hercules and the Hydra, takes place near a serpentine river, likely meant to depict Lake Lerna- where the hydra was said to live. Hercules holds his notorious club and wears a lion fur on his head. On the right Hercules battles Antaeus, the half giant child of Poseidon and Gaia who could not be defeated as long as he had contact with the earth-his mother. Hercules, instead chose to hold Antaeus aloft, defeating him by crushing him above ground., spc-mss0088-s02-ss02-i1573. Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives. https://collections.library.vanderbilt.edu//repositories/2/digital_objects/36453 Accessed October 07, 2026.