Otto von Bismarck wird als Herkules dargestellt. Auf seinem Hemd ist die Aufschrift "Opposition" zu lesen. An Fuß und Kopf packt er "Geffcker", um ihn über seinen Kopf hinweg zu schleudern. Zu Otto von Bismarck' s Füßen liegt ein Tigerfell mit Kopf sowie ein Holzstock, welcher die Aufschrift "Policy" trägt. Bildunterschrift: "Eros, ho! The shirt of Nessus is upon me: teach me, Alcides, thou mine ancestor, thy rage: Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o' the moon, and with these hands, that grasp' d the heaviest club, Subdue my worthiest self." Antony and Cleopatra, Act IV., Scene 10. The Shirt of Nessus! Teuton Hercules, art on thine Aeta? Hot and ill at ease at least thou seem' st. As when Alcides tore Rooted Thessalian pines, and raised a roar that sounded far o' er the Euboic wave, [rave. so crossed or thwarted dost thou ramp and every luckless soul who dares to stand erect within the reach of thy strong hand, wouldst treat like Lichas, hurling him afar to plunge, like Vulcan or a falling star, Headlong through air to ocean. So the gods set heroes' muscles with their wits at odds, in the old Titan times. Achilles raged, and Ajax, foiled by sage Ulysses, waged a foolish war with flocks, making mad way amidst "the mingled mulitude of prey the herdsman' s yet unparted care."* So, too, Alcides, whose god-given strength could hew the hydra down, its poison felt as last, and luckless Lichas from the hill-top cast, because a woman' s jealousy had foiled his eager passion and his purpose spoiled. Thrice the great Hera-hated hero lost his reason' s balance, proud and passion-tost. Is it that brawn and brain close-wedded work wild mischief, that the seeds of madness lurk." * Sophocles' Ajax.

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