Game Piece with Hercules Feeding Diomedes to His Horses

A circular game piece decorated with a bearded Heracles holding Diomedes upside down by his ankle as four horses bite into him. Heracles and Diomedes are dressed in mid-calf length tunics. Diomedes grasps one of the horses by its neck as it attacks his face. A second bites his arm, the remaining two his leg. The horses' heads look more like dogs; their coats are rendered by lines of etched squares. A geometric border is covered around the edge.

Ivory game piece showing Heracles feeding Diomedes to his horses. Made in Cologne, Germany. Metropolitan Museum of Art 16.106.

Online Resources
Metropolitan Museum of Art 16.106.
Subjects
Heracles
Horses of Diomedes
Diomedes
Type
Image
License
Creative Commons Attribution
Date
ca. 1150 CE
Culture
German
Medium
Elephant Ivory
Dimensions
diameter 2 3/4 x 13/16 in. (7 x 2 cm)
Location
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Image Credit
Metropolitan Museum of Art
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