HeraclesOmphale1.0000_Reid

Heracles and Omphale.
As punishment for his murder of Iole's brother Iphitus, Heracles (Hercules) was sent to serve Queen Omphale of Lydia for a year. There, he was forced to perform women's work, such as spinning, and to dress in women's garb, while the queen took over the hero's lion-skin cloak and club.
    The roles of Omphale and Iole have become conflated in this episode, perhaps because Heracles' servitude resulted from his passion for Iole. In the postclassical arts, therefore, Iole is sometimes identified as dominatrix; alternatively, Omphale and Heracles are sometimes shown as lovers.
    Another story, recounted by Ovid [Fasti 2], tells that Heracles found Faunus in Omphale's bed and (literally) kicked him out.

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