What is the "bag on a stick" Hercules is holding in this picture?
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The object in question in the right hand of the seated person, identified in the question title as Hercules, but later revealed to be in reality Omphale, queen of Lydia, is not unambiguously identifiable.
Other scholars have attempted this, but could not reach a definitive conclusion. It may indeed represent a flail, but if does, the actual form is a bit unusual for the practical purposes.
When interpreting this picture with an emphasis on the one instrument in her right hand, it seems noteworthy the he has too 'feminine' objects in his hands, while she has his club leaning casually within her left hand or arm, while the instrument seems to be hers wielded at Hercules.
Together with a certain peculiarity of this privately ordered amuse oeil this leads to the least common denominator reading:
She appears covered with the clamid, veils her head with the leonine skin, while in her left hand she carries the claub and in her right she wields what has been interpreted as an instrument of punishment. […]
As we have already mentioned, despite having been described on several occasions, no study has questioned the intentionality underlying the choice of the theme of the mosaic. In the construction process of a house, the ornamental apparatus selected responds to the cultural level of the owner; the higher the level, the greater the initiative in the choice of the motif, the lower the level, the greater the active participation of the workshop master. Iconographic studies reveal to what extent we are contemplating scenes copied from a cardboard or copy book, adapting pre-existing models with a certain dose of personalism, or if we are faced with a work that is the fruit of creativity (Neira 2003: 98), in our case we consider that it is a combination of motifs coming from the owner's selection.
— Tamara Peñalver Carrascosa: "Más allá del mito: una lectura social del mosaico de los Doce Trabajos de Hércules (Liria, Valencia)* Beyond the myth: A social interpretation about the mosaic of the Twelve Labours of Hercules (Liria, Valencia)", Archivo Español de Arqueología 2018, 91, págs. 163-181. doi
Upvote:-2
I think it's a beehive on a stick. The story of Hercules and Samson (from the Bible) have a common motif. Samson found a beehive in the carcass of a dead lion, but I can't seem to find a related story for Hercules. I'm surprised that I can't seem to find any definitive evidence of this interpretation, though. If I look at it long enough, I can convince myself easily that it is a beehive more than any other thing.
One article that explains how the story of Samson seemed to be inspired by the story of Hercules is here: https://isthatinthebible.wordpress.com/2018/11/23/shamgar-son-of-anat-and-israels-age-of-heroes/
I wish I could find a more authoritative source, but I found this reddit that summarizes the Herakles-figures motif quite well. https://www.reddit.com/r/AcademicBiblical/comments/dglzhz/is_it_possible_that_the_story_of_herculesheracles/
Upvote:22
I can't find anything specific saying this, but my suspicion is that is meant to be a flail/scourge. Also, the question has the subjects a bit wrong.
As a bit of background, the central mural is depicting Hercules' year of servitude to Queen (regnant) Omphale of Lydia. During that time, the myth has it that she did her best to wound his male pride by doing things like forcing him to help with the (women's work) of knitting, and taking his lion-skin cloak and club for herself.
So what you see in this central mural bit is Omphale sitting on her throne (with breasts exposed, so you get the gender), and the much more swarthy Hercules standing, holding a couple of spools of wool spinning thread. You can even see the thread leading from one to the other. Omhpale for her part is clearly wearing a lion skin, and holding a very un-royal looking club.
Here are 3 more bits of art depicting this same event from her Wikipedia page. As you can see, Hercules being more swarthy, and Omphale either having or being given his club and lion skin cloak are common themes.
So now how about the object in her right hand? I believe this is most likely supposed to be a flail. This was a traditional symbolic pictoral element to represent royalty in the ancient near east, particularly representing the ruler's dominion over their subjects. In this case it would be serving double duty showing both that the holder was a reigning monarch, and that Hercules specifically, who she's brandishing it at, was her slave. Its usually shown with a crook held in the left hand, but in this picture Hercules' pilfered club is standing in for that implement.
Here's an Egyptian artifact showing a crook and flail. Note particularly the bend in the middle, the length of the flail half being nearly identical to the stick half, and the larger width at the end of the flail half (presumably to accommodate more scourging elements).
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