Drawn for revision of the OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation topic.
Heracles’ third Labour from King Eurystheus sends him off to hunt the Ceryneian Hind. A favourite of Artemis, the deer is very special, apparently being gold from head to hoof, and very large.
It was also so fast, Heracles ended up tracking it for an entire year before he caught it.
Artemis was incensed at his having caught the hind, but Heracles promised to send it back as soon as Eurystheus had seen proof of his catch. Feeling sorry for him, Artemis let him go.
The comic is based on the metope from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, but has additions in order to help students remember both the metope and the story.
This metope guides the eye by putting the Hind and Heracles into an inverted V shape, so that you follow the figures up to their heads to see their expressions. The space is filled effectively in this way – they are the only two characters.
Heracles is shown defeating the Hind using just his brute strength – he has no club, but only uses his hands and knee to hold the animal tight. However, his cleverness is suggested by the story in that he tracks the animal and catches it – it does take him a year to catch it, but only because it’s so fast!
NOTE: Heracles isn’t wearing the lion skin or holding the club – his hands are full! – but his interaction with the Hind is famous enough to clarify him as the portrayed character.
In the illustration, I’ve added the lion skin aove to remind you that he tracked the Hind for a whole year – he’d have been cold! Artemis has also been added in the background of the illustration, to remind you of the part of the story where she tells Heracles off for stealing her favoured creature.
Greek Myth Comix 