Expert: Maria - 8/6/2003

Question
Did really Hercules/Herakles fight Triton? Is there a myth about this battle which appears on some ancient vases ?
Thanks a lot for your time and help.

Answer
Hello Ann,

Actually there is no mythical  reason for this struggle between Hercules/Herakles and Triton, though this combat  appears on an archaic  pediment of  Athens Acropolis and  “is a favourite subject on Attic vases of the second half of the sixth century B.C.- this despite the fact that it is not one of the twelve labours and is in fact an episode completely unknown to the literary sources.
Triton is mentioned by Hesiod (Hes. Th. 930-33) as a son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, though not as an opponent of Herakles”, as we read in Harvey Alan Shapiro, "Art, Myth, and Culture: Greek Vases from Southern Collections".

Moreover  Shapiro suggests that Triton is probably none other than another sea creature, i.e. NEREUS, a god of water, who after turning into many shapes,reveals to Herakles the place of the Hesperides (11th labour).

It is in fact with Nereus, NOT Triton,  that Hercules fights when this sea god tries to escape by turning into many shapes.

All the other hypotheses seem to have no foundation.

Best regards
Maria