Labor III

Abstract

The Cerynean Hind serves to cast Heracles as a problematic hero. It is delicate and beautiful, and defeating it constitutes no great act of force or valor (though it does require fleetness of foot). Moreover, it is sacred to Artemis, and its capture therefore constitutes a serious religious transgression. This chapter examines the exploitation of this problematic quality in literature (such as Pindar) and art, and also discusses the localizations of the story, both in Hyperborea—the northern margin of Heracles’ travels—and the heartland of the Peloponnese. However, unlike the Stymphalian Birds, the Hind has no real place in the myth-historical identity of any Greek community.