Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Zethus.
The gallery
The Farnese Bull
Apollonius of Tralles and Tauriscus of Tralles (Roman copy), c. 2nd century BC (original); Roman Imperial copy
The monumental Naples marble: Zethus and Amphion bind Dirce to the bull — Hellenistic pathos for the Theban twins' revenge, the largest ancient sculpture group to survive.
Zethus and Amphion Binding Dirce
Unknown (after the Farnese type), 16th century
Rijksmuseum engraving of the Farnese subject: Zethus named in the title as he and Amphion lash Dirce to the horns — print culture spreading the bull revenge.
Zethus and Amphion
Julius Troschel, c. 1840–1850
Troschel's Neue Pinakothek sculpture: the Theban twins as nineteenth-century marble — Zethus the strong builder beside Amphion the lyre.
Punishment of Dirce (pelike)
Unknown (Lucanian), c. 4th century BC
Lucanian pelike in Policoro: Dirce's punishment with the twins present — South Italian vase-painting of the myth the Farnese Bull later monumentalized.
Amphion and Zethus (Yusupov Palace)
Unknown, c. 18th–19th century
Decorative pair in the Yusupov Palace, Saint Petersburg: Amphion and Zethus as twin founders — Zethus the strength that raised Thebes' walls.