From myth to Empire: Heracles to Alexander the Great

by Sean McLachlan on


Today’s royals have nothing on the ancients.

Alexander the Great and his predecessors enjoyed a sumptuous lifestyle that beats anything William and Kate will ever enjoy, not to mention real power as opposed to lots of TV time. Now an amazing new exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, gives an insight into the life of the royal family of Macedon.

Alexander the Great conquered much of the known world before his death in 323 BC, but he didn’t come out of nowhere. He was the second-to-last king of a proud royal lineage that traced its roots to the legendary Herakles. Heracles to Alexander the Great: Treasures of the Royal Capital of Macedon, a Hellenic Kingdom in the Age of Democracy looks at the development of one of the ancient world’s greatest royal families. Their palace was almost as big as Buckingham Palace and what remains shows it was much more luxurious. There was gold, silver, ivory, and jewels everywhere, and plenty has made it into this exhibition. There’s everything from ornate golden wreaths to tiny ivory figurines like this one, which graced a couch on which a king once quaffed wine and consorted with maidens. It’s good to be the king.

The displays focus on more than 500 treasures from the royal tombs at the ancient capital of Aegae (modern Vergina in northern Greece). Three rooms show the role of the king, the role of the queen, and the famous banquets that took place in the palace.

%Gallery-122395%Especially interesting is the gallery about the role of the royal women, who are often overlooked in all the accounts of manly battles and assassinations. Women had a big role to play in religious life and presided at holy festivals and rites alongside men. They also wore heaps of heavy jewelry that, while impressive, couldn’t have been very comfortable.

The banqueting room shows what it was like to party in ancient times. Apparently the master of the banquet diluted the wine with varying proportions of water to “control the time and degree of drunkenness”!

There are even items from the tomb of Alexander IV, Alexander the Great’s son with princess Roxana of Bactria. Alex Jr had some pretty big shoes to fill, what with dad conquering most of the known world and all, but he didn’t get a chance to prove himself because he was poisoned when he was only thirteen. At least he went out in style, with lots of silver and gold thrown into his tomb with him.

This is the first major exhibition in the temporary galleries of the recently redesigned Ashmolean. Expect plenty of interesting shows from this world-class museum in coming years.

Heracles to Alexander the Great: Treasures of the Royal Capital of Macedon, a Hellenic Kingdom in the Age of Democracy runs until August 29, 2011. Oxford makes an easy and enjoyable day trip from London.

[Image © The Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism – Archaeological Receipts Fund]

Hercules at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna

by Annie Scott on

The legend of Hercules is a favorite of many – including, apparently, the Habsburgs. The southern entrance of Hofburg Palace in Vienna (pictured from the inside) is flanked with a series of totally awesome statues known as “The Labors of Hercules” by Lorenzo Matielli.

There are many fables about Hercules, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena, and many of the tallest tales come from his Twelve Labors.

Hera, Zeus’ wife, was none too fond of her husband’s mortal mistress’ son. One of her attempts to ruin his life was to make him temporarily insane so that he killed his own wife and children. Naturally, he was devastated when he came back to his senses, and he prayed to Apollo for guidance. Apollo told him his punishment should be to serve Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae for twelve years. Eurystheus sent him on twelve quests, including battling a hydra, cerberus, The Cretan Bull and others, which he accomplished with the help of Hermes and Athena. Click here for more info on each of those quests.

The coolest story, if you ask me, is not a labor, but how he died: a tricksy centaur tried to rape Hercules’ wife Deianeira, and Hercules shot him with a poison arrow. The centaur, while dying, told Deianeira to keep a vial of his blood, stating that if she ever thought Hercules was being unfaithful, it would restore his love. As fate would have it, she did eventually think he was being unfaithful, so she smeared some of the blood on a shirt and sent it to him. The blood was poisoned (the same poison from the arrow which killed the centaur) and when Hercules donned the shirt, it caused him so much pain he made his friends burn him alive. Whoa.

Moral: never trust a centaur who says his blood is a love potion. Now, enjoy the muscular, manly, glorious sculptures from the Hofburg Palace.
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My visit to Vienna was sponsored by the Vienna Tourist Board and Cool Capitals, but the opinions expressed in the article are 100% my own.