Georgian Hercules Seal Fob
A remarkable figural seal fob pendant dating from the late Georgian era, circa 1810. The fob itself is modelled after Hercules, the Grecian Hero of the ancient pantheon, locked in mortal combat with the Nemean Lion while his infamous club lies on the ground at their feet. It's crafted in 18ct gold with a bloodstone panel set into the base, engraved with an intaglio carved monogram (I believe it reads EB, the design utilising symmetry so that it reads the same read both forwards and backwards).
Heroes are the mortal offspring of gods, who prove their worth by daring and courageous deeds. Hercules (aka Heracles or Herakles) is probably the best known hero of them all... the mortal son of Alkmene and Zeus, he murdered his family while afflicted by a madness induced by Hera (who had already tried to kill him as an infant by sending serpents to his crib... the baby, already showing superhuman strength, promptly strangled the two snakes, one in each hand). When his head cleared and he realised what he'd done (to his family, not the snakes), the young lad was distraught with grief. He sought out Apollo, who told him the only way to atone for his crime was to seek out Eurystheos, the king of Mycenae, who would assign him seven tasks: the famous Labours of Herakles.
The first task was to kill a troublesome lion that was terrorising the folk of Nemea in the Peloponnesos. Eurystheos instructed Herakles to slay the beast, but his weapons were useless against the Nemean lion's impenetrable hide. Instead, he wrestled the lion to the ground, strangled it, and removed the creature’s tough hide with its own claws. Eurystheos was somewhat surprised to see the hero return with the lion pelt slung over his shoulder, so proceeded to set him more-and-more dangerous and/or apparently impossible tasks: slay the Lernaean Hydra; capture Artemis's sacred deer, Hind of Keryneia (and this incur the wrath of the goddess); capture the wild boar of Erymanthos; clear out the Augean Stables (in one day); purge the man-eating birds of Lake Stymphalia; and finally to capture the Cretan bull. The bull, Eurystheos decided, was to be sacrificed in honour of Hera, who obviously refused the offering as it was a sign of Herakles's success, so the Mycenaean king set him an eighth labour (to return with the man-eating horses owned by the Thracian king Diomedes). And then a ninth. And then a tenth... eleventh... and finally a twelfth. The last was by far and away the most dangerous, the most impossible, requiring our weary hero to venture down to the underworld and return with Kerberos, the three-headed guard dog belonging to Hades himself. Which he naturally accomplished using nothing more than brute strength. Can you even imagine what Hera must have thought?
Era: Georgian, circa 1810
Height: 2.5cm
Base: 14.6mm by 13.0mm
Stone: Bloodstone agate
Marks: None, tested as 18ct gold
Condition: Great antique condition, light wear consistent with age
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