--- title: Putin is as Manly as Hercules and Russians Made Art to Prove It description: Russians organized an art gallery with depictions of Putin as the ultimate Greek hero canonical: https://time.com/3481393/putin-hercules/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-08T14:34:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:48:23.452Z og:title: Putin is as Manly as Hercules and Russians Made Art to Prove It og:description: Russians organized an art gallery with depictions of Putin as the ultimate Greek hero og:url: https://time.com/3481393/putin-hercules/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d5189a978b41f85/69875f2ca988ca73226a9a1c/vladimir-putin-hercules.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2650 og:image:height: 1491 og:image:alt: A visitor takes photos of the paintings during the "12 Labours of Putin" art exhibition on Oct. 6, 2014 marking the 60th birthday of Russia's President Vladimir Putin at the design workshop in Moscow. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Putin is as Manly as Hercules and Russians Made Art to Prove It twitter:description: Russians organized an art gallery with depictions of Putin as the ultimate Greek hero twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d5189a978b41f85/69875f2ca988ca73226a9a1c/vladimir-putin-hercules.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Russians Made Artwork to Prove Putin Is as Manly as Hercules > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=754e3512-4fc4-487c-a5d0-824fc453a87a&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Oct 8, 2014 2:34 PM UTC  A visitor takes photos of the paintings during the "12 Labours of Putin" art exhibition on Oct. 6, 2014 marking the 60th birthday of Russia's President Vladimir Putin at the design workshop in Moscow. A visitor takes photos of the paintings during the "12 Labours of Putin" art exhibition on Oct. 6, 2014 marking the 60th birthday of Russia's President Vladimir Putin at the design workshop in Moscow. Vasily Maximov—AFP/Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Oct 8, 2014 2:34 PM UTC Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 62nd birthday was celebrated around his country Tuesday, with parades, a children’s choir performance, and, of course, a pop-up art gallery exhibition depicting the Russian leader as the Greek hero Hercules. A pro-Putin group organized a gallery with art showing Putin as Hercules completing “The 12 Labors of Putin.” The artwork compared Putin’s fight against terrorism, for instance, to Hercules’ battle against the Nemean Lion; his confrontation with the United States over Ukraine, Syria and economic sanctions was shown as Hercules’ fight against the three-headed dog from Hell, Cerberus. Even though Putin doesn’t quite pull it off like Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson in the [recent Hercules movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JZhGYrgCPg), he has been photographed many times over the years [packing the buffness](http://time.com/95422/vladimir-putin-action-figure/). Putin is widely admired in Russia as he challenges Europe and the West this year; his popularity rating at home well exceeds 80 percent. ### See 23 Photos That Prove Vladimir Putin Thinks He's an Action Figure  President Vladimir Putin participates in a gala ice hockey match between Russian amateur players and ice hockey stars during the Night Hockey league tournament in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Krasnodar region, Russia, May 10, 2014. Alexey Druginyn—Ria Novosti/EPA  Russia's President Vladimir Putin submerges on board a C-Explorer 5 submersible to explore the sunken Russian Imperial Navy fregate Oleg, in the Gulf of Finland, July 15, 2013. Alexei Nikolsly—ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis  President Vladimir Putin holding a huge pike fish, after he caught it in the Tyva region on July 20, 2013 during his vacation. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/ Getty Images  Putin carries artifacts he recovered whilst diving at an archaeological site off the Taman peninsular in southern Russia, Aug. 10, 2011. Alexsey Druginyn/Pool—Ria Novosti/Reuters  Putin, center, scuba diving at the archaeological site, Aug. 10, 2011. Alexsey Druginyn/Pool—RIA Novosti/Reuters  As pro-Kremlin youth activists look on, Putin attempts to bend a pan during his visit to a summer camp run by the Nashi youth group at Lake Seliger in the central Tver region of Russia, Aug. 1, 2011. Alexei Nikolsky—AFP/Getty Images  Putin scales a climbing wall during his visit to the summer camp, located 248 miles north of Moscow, Aug. 1, 2011. Mikhail Metzel—AFP/Getty Images  Putin, left, prepares to arm wrestle during his Nashi camp visit, Aug. 1, 2011. Mikhail Metzel—AFP/Getty Images  Then Prime Minister Putin rides a horse in the foothills of Karatash, near the capital of the Khakassia region in Siberia, Feb. 25, 2010. Alexei Druzhinin/Pool—RIA Novosti/AP  Putin snowmobiles in Krasnaya Polyana near the Black Sea resort of Sochi, southern Russia, Jan. 3, 2010. Alexei Druzhinin/Pool—RIA Novosti/AP  During a trip to Siberia, Putin, then 56, posed for a series of photographs showing off a variety of manly skills. Here, he pilots a motorboat in the waters outside Kyzyl, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Russian commentators noted that the photographs evoked associations with the mythic heroes of Russia, like the many horsemen who once rode the Russian steppe, defending it from foreign invaders, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Putin hooked at least one fish from this perch, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Putin prides himself on staying in peak physical condition, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  In the Russian press, this photo drew comparisons to Nightingale the Robber, a popular Russian folk character who lives in a nest and has mystical powers, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  The photographs were taken in the same region where Putin vacationed with Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2007\. During that trip, he was photographed shooting a tiger with a tranquilizer dart, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Putin's choice of a rustic vacation resonated with many Russians, who tend to be suspicious and resentful of the moneyed élite, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Earlier in the trip, Putin visited the Architecture and Ethnography Museum in Irkutsk, where he worked with a pair of blacksmiths, Aug. 1, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Putin strokes a beluga whale named Dasha at a conservation facility in Khabarovsk, July 31, 2009. Alexei Nikolsky—RIA Novosti/Reuters  Dasha is fitted with a satellite tracking device, courtesy of the Prime Minister, July 31, 2009. Alexei Nikolsky—RIA Novosti/Reuters  At majestic Lake Baikal, Putin descended 4,500 ft. (almost 1,400 m) to the bottom, Aug. 1, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  The ostensible purpose of the four-hour underwater trip was to inspect crystals containing natural gas, Aug. 1, 2009. 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