The statue of Weary Heracles awaits you in Antalya after an unexpected visit to the USA. The statue was smuggled from the ancient city of Perge (Antalya province) to the USA where it remained in the collections of the Boston Museum for 30 years. It was there discovered by Özgen Özer - a journalist who recognised the statue. Afterwards the campaign to repatriate the statue began.

The top half of the Weary Heracles returned to Turkey in 2011 and was attached to its lower half, found by professor Jale İnan during the excavations in Perge in the 1980s. The complete statue was then put on display at the Antalya Archaeological Museum.

Now, in July 2014, the statue has been the huge attraction of this museum for nearly 1000 days. During this period over 400,000 visitors have seen this magnificent sculpture. It is a Roman copy of original bronze statue called Hercules Farnese created by Lysippos, a Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC. There are numerous copies of the original Lysippos work - one of the most famous sculptures of Antiquity - made in Roman period as well as in later times.

Professor Jale İnan who studied well-known replicas of Hercules Farnese claims that the statue displayed in Antalya is superior to them in terms of art quality. For this reason she suggested that the statue should be called 'Herakles Farnese of Perge'.

The Weary Heracles depicts a muscular yet weary hero leaning on his club with a lion-skin draped over it. He has just performed one of the last of his Twelve Labours. Sorrowful and introverted expression of the hero's face is one of the main features of late classical and early Hellenistic period.

Visitor tips

In summer (April-October) Antalya Archaeological Museum is open daily, from 9am to 7pm. In winter it is closed on Mondays and on other days is open from 8am to 5pm. The admission fee in 2014 is 20 TL.

The museum is located on the south-western part of Antalya, on Konyaaltı Caddesi No:1. The distance from the historical centre of Antalya (Kaleiçi) is 2.5 km. It is possible to get there by tram (Nostalji Tramvay line) that connects a beach district called Lara in the east with Kaleiçi and the museum in the west.