Heracles, Cercopes, and Paracomedy

At Euripides, Her. 1380?81 Heracles imagines his weapons talking to him in direct speech, and rebuking him for the murder of his wife and children. Such a conceit is out of place in tragedy. The authors suggest that it is best explained as an allusion to the Cercopes, who figure prominently, and utter stinging rebukes, in one of Heracles' comic exploits. The distinctive moment in Euripides' play is read as representing and reevaluating the hero's complex and unfinished identity. Finally, the authors trace the effect of this allusion after Euripides, situating the reassessment of the hero within a larger dialogue involving sculpture, vase-painting, comedy, and satyr-drama.