Herakles Wrestles Away Triton—Noah’s Authority
Below, we see a depiction from ca. 520 BC of Herakles coming to grips with Noah’s authority represented by the fish-tailed Triton. If the artists had wanted to show Herakles killing a monster, they would have made it very obvious as they did on many other vases where killing was part of the action. But on these vases and many others, the artists make Herakles’ grip on Triton the focal point of the encounter. The artists invented Triton as a symbol with which Herakles was able to grapple. He is wrestling away Triton—Noah’s authority and power—seizing it for the developing Greek religious system. After the Flood, humanity ceased fearing the God of Nereus/Noah, and instead began to fear the great hero, Herakles, and worship the gods of Zeus-religion.
Figure 31: Herakles wrestles away Triton, who represents the authority
of Nereus/Noah.
On the vase above, one of the daughters of Nereus sees what is happening and gestures to her father as if to say, “What’s happening, Dad? Aren’t you going to do something about this?” The answer is no. Nereus will do nothing. According to Genesis, Yahweh actually spoke to Noah, then guided him for a hundred years in the building of the ark, and then took him and his family through the Flood. Noah had a profound understanding of what was happening, and he knew that the One “Who is operating all in accord with the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11) had a purpose in it. The Greek artists faithfully recorded the historical facts that Nereus/Noah was never harmed and that he never physically resisted the takeover of Zeus-religion.
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