The Abduction of Ganymede

This relief depicts the abduction of a young hero from Troy, Ganymede. He is being taken by Zeus in disguise of an eagle, because the god fell in love with the youth's beauty and wanted him to be a cup-bearer in Olympus. This is a reproduction of a famous bronze original, attributed to Leochares, of which many copies are known. These copies were used as decoration, or for funerary purposes. This one in particular could have served as a cover for a funerary monument.