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# In all likelihood, a depiction of a theatrical staging of Euripides' play "Heracles", which tells the myth of Heracles gone mad
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/po-vsei-veroiatnosti-izobrazhenie-teatralnoi-postanovki-pesy-evripida-gerakl-rasskazyvaiushchei-mif-o-gerakle-soshedshem-s-uma/
- Published: 2026-02-09T20:11:49.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:27:02.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Art, Madrid, Museums

On the stage of a theatre we see Heracles, driven to despair by the spirits of madness. The hero is ready to destroy his own family: he is about to throw his son, whom he holds in his arms, into a fire in which all his possessions are already burning. At the door his terrified wife Megara clasps her hands above her head. From the gallery above, Heracles' mother Alcmena and his friend Iolaus watch what is happening. On the left is the goddess Mania, the personification of madness.

According to the myth, the jealous Hera sent madness upon Heracles, who had already accomplished the Twelve Labours, by means of her helper, the goddess Ate, who crept unnoticed, with only a slight creak of the door, into Heracles' house and threw an invisible magic blindfold over his eyes, confusing his mind. And now, in a fit of madness, he sees the tiger skin lying at his feet come to life, and his sons turn into two-headed monsters.

A krater of the 4th century BC from the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_19673@09-02-2026_23-11-49.jpg)