Dirce, in Greek mythology, daughter of Helios and wife of Lycus, king of Thebes, who had repudiated Antiope, his first wife. Dirce, jealous of the latter, had her put in chains, but Zeus aided her to escape to Mount Cithaeron, where she gave birth to two sons by him, Amphion and Zethus. To. revenge the injury to their mother, these two went to Thebes, slew Lycus, and tied Dirce to the horns of a bull, by which she was dragged about until dead. The punishment of Dirce is the subject of the celebrated marble group known as the Farnese bull, in the national museum at Naples. According to Pliny, it was the joint work of the Rhodian sculptors Apollonius and Tauriscus, who cut it from a single block of marble, and was sent from Rhodes to Rome. It was discovered in 1546 in the baths of Caracalla, much injured, and was restored by Bianchi under the superintendence of Michel Angelo. It was at first placed in the Farnese palace in Rome, but in 1780 was removed to Naples, it represents Amphion and Zethus restraining the struggling bull, and preparing to bind Dirce to his horns, with Antiope standing near.

Several animals are represented about the base.