This bronze archer holding back his bow represents Heracles, a hero of Greek mythology whose story is told by several ancient writers. To atone for murdering his wife and sons in a moment of madness, Heracles is forced to perform twelve almost impossible tasks by his enemy Eurystheus, King of Mycenae. The sixth of these twelve labours is depicted here: the hero has to kill the monstrous, deadly birds of Lake Stymphalia in Arcadia.

The sculptor chose a friend of his from the military with an athletic, muscular build as the model for this work. The expressive, stylised way he portrays the action is an ode to physical strength. As his model asked to remain anonymous, the artist replaced the head with one sculpted several years earlier, employing an assembly technique he learned in Rodin's studio where he was an apprentice and assistant. Yet, in a break from the style inherited from his mentor, Bourdelle’s approach is more personal. He did not draw on Classical Greek style, as had been the custom since the Renaissance, but instead chose to model his work on the kouroi, statues of young men from Archaic Greece whose power and simplicity can be found in this piece.