Erymanthian Boar
The Erymanthian Boar was a gigantic wild boar that ravaged the lands around Mount Erymanthos in Arcadia — the fourth labour of Heracles.
The Myth of Erymanthian Boar
The Erymanthian Boar was a massive beast that terrorised the region around Mount Erymanthos in Arcadia. For his fourth labour, Heracles was commanded to capture it alive — a far harder task than simply killing it. On the way, he stopped at the cave of the centaur Pholus, where the opening of communal wine led to a battle with the other Centaurs and the accidental death of the wise Chiron. Heracles then tracked the boar through deep snow on the mountain, driving it into a drift where it became trapped. He bound it in chains and carried it on his shoulders back to Mycenae, where King Eurystheus was so terrified he hid in a bronze storage jar. This labour showed Heracles as hunter rather than warrior — using endurance and cunning rather than the strength that served him against the Hydra and Nemean Lion.
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Fun Fact
The image of Eurystheus hiding in a jar while Heracles dangles the boar overhead became one of the most popular comic scenes in Greek vase painting.
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Erymanthus
🏛 placegeography
An Arcadian mountain where the monstrous Erymanthian Boar lived, target of Heracles' fourth labour.
Nemean Lion
🐉 creatureInvulnerable beast of Nemea
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🐉 creatureDestruction, monsters
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🏛 placegeography
An Aetolian city whose king's neglect of Artemis brought a devastating divine boar to ravage the land.
Phaea
🗡 heroNone recorded
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💭 conceptNarrative
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🐉 creaturelabour, sacred
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🐉 creatureThree-bodied giant of the west
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🐉 creaturebeasts
A heavy-headed bull-like beast from Ethiopia whose downward gaze could kill
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🐉 creaturelabour, Crete
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