Ercole Saettante (Hercules shooting arrow)

This is a sculpture depicting Hercules, a Roman hero and god, in a moment of shooting his bow. He was the equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, who was the son of Zeus (Roman equivalent Jupiter) and the mortal Alcmene. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. Hercules used his bow when firing at the Stymphalian birds, the destruction of which was the sixth of his Labors. These voracious creatures ate human flesh, had brazen claws, wings and beaks and used their feathers like arrows. Their habitat was a lake near Stymphalus in Arcadia. On hearing of the task that Hercules had been allotted, Athena provided the hero with a brass rattle, by the noise of which he startled the birds, killing them one by one with his arrows as they flew away.本雕塑刻画的是罗马英雄与神祇赫拉克勒斯（Hercules）拉弓射箭的瞬间。他对应希腊神话中的神圣英雄赫拉克勒斯（Heracles），为众神之王宙斯（Zeus，罗马对应朱庇特Jupiter）与凡人阿尔克墨涅（Alcmene）之子。在古典神话体系中，赫拉克勒斯以超凡膂力与诸多旷日持久的冒险事迹享誉于世。赫拉克勒斯在讨伐斯廷法利斯湖怪鸟（Stymphalian birds）时动用了弓箭，剿灭这群怪鸟乃是他十二试炼中的第六项任务。这些贪婪凶残的异兽以人肉为食，生有黄铜铸就的利爪、羽翼与喙部，甚至能将自身羽毛当作箭矢投射。它们的栖息地位于阿卡迪亚（Arcadia）地区斯廷法洛斯（Stymphalus）附近的湖泊之中。雅典娜（Athena）得知赫拉克勒斯所领受的这项任务后，赠予他一面黄铜摇铃。赫拉克勒斯借助摇铃发出的声响惊扰了怪鸟，待它们四散逃窜之际，逐一以弓箭将其射杀。