ISAURIAN SCULPTURAL DEPICTIONS OF HERAKLES’ CAPTURE OF THE KERYNEIAN DEER

One of the most famous ancient myths is herakles’ twelve tasks. this semi-god and semi-human hero, whose origins can be traced back into earlier anatolia, successfully accomplished twelve tasks he was charged with, each of which was so difficult. clearly, such stories emerged in an attempt to express the life-struggles of those who faced great hardships in their lives and overcame them, and in an appeal to them. in antiquity, when the literacy rate was low, archaeological monuments depicting such stories of triumph were of great importance in the absence of epigraphic sources. by studying these monuments, one can determine the geographical distribution of myths, as well as the traces of gods and goddesses, and hero and emperor cults. archaeological and epigraphic finds reveal that herakles was worshipped in lycaonia and cilicia tracheia. this study shows that the cult of herakles was also well known in the remote region of isauria, as revealed by the archaeological finds, depicting herakles’ capture of the keryneian deer. it is also shown that the isaurian iconography of the scene does not differ from other examples found outside isauria.