HeraclesOmphale1.0013

HeraclesOmphale1.0013_Tintoretto

The figurative emasculation of Hercules and the empowerment of Omphale is depicted in the various objects. The once-hero (note his earring) wears some lacey clothing in bed. His mistress in a nearby bed holds his club and wears his Nemean Lion's skin, sort of. Ovid omits all the royal attendants but makes Faunus' ouster the central focus of the moment.

The scandalous role-reversal is also treated thus in Ovid's Ars Amatoria 2.217-24: "That hero who outlasted his step-mother's putting monsters in his way and gained heaven, which he earlier held on his own shoulders; people believe that he joined Ionian girls, that he grasped the distaff and carded slubby wool. / The hero of Tiryns obeyed the command of his mistress! Come, consider whether you wouldn't also endure what Heracles endured!" (RTM trans.)