That well-muscled man brandishing a large olive-wood club and wearing a lion-skin can only be the ultimate high-testosterone uncouth hero, Hercules.
Spranger
Scylla accosted by the grotesque sea-god Glaucus. When she runs away from him, he seeks the help of Circe, only for her to turn Scylla into a pack of hounds, then into a hazard to navigation.
When the nymph Salmacis falls in passionate love with the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, he resists, and they are joined together in single body.
A simple story of an unsuccessful attempt at abduction and rape becomes a compositional struggle. It also results in the death of Heracles.
The curious myth of the swashbuckling hero Hercules dressed in women’s clothing and forced to serve Queen Omphale.
The best known scene in the story of Angelica and Medoro, as painted by Spranger, Ricci, Tiepolo and others.
Was he a monster or a god? When Glaucus rises from the surface of the sea, Scylla runs away in terror. With a superb painting by JMW Turner.
The last of the stories told by the daughters of Minyas, and among the most unusual of myths. Ovid’s account has depth, and these paintings are as thought-provoking.
At the heart of Deianira’s letter to Hercules was the strange story of his enslavement to Omphale. Here are the paintings.
Some stories sound plausible, but are problematic when you try to paint or photograph them. Here’s a good example, with attempted solutions by Reni, Rubens, Moreau, and others.
The Eclectic Light Company 