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Nemean lion
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The '''Nemean Lion''' was a vicious monster in
Greek mythology that lived in
Nemea. It was eventually killed by
Heracles. The lion was usually considered the offspring of
Typhon and
Echidna (mythology) Echidna, but it was also said to have fallen from the moon, offspring of
Zeus and
Selene. A third origin has it being born of the
Chimera (creature) Chimera.
The slaying of the lion
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The first of
Heracles'
The Twelve Labours twelve labours was to slay the Nemean Lion and bring back its skin.
The lion had been terrorising the area around Nemea, and had a skin so thick that it was impenetrable to weapons. When Heracles first tackled it, using his bow-and-arrow, a club made from an olive tree (which he pulled out of the ground himself) and a bronze sword, all were ineffective. At last Heracles threw away his weapons and wrestled the lion to the ground, eventually killing it by thrusting his arm down its throat and choking it to death.
Heracles spent hours trying unsuccessfully to skin the lion, and gradually growing angrier as it appeared he would be unable to complete his first task. Eventually
Athena, in the guise of an old crone, helped Heracles to realise that the best tools to cut the hide were the creature's own claws. Thus, with a little divine intervention, Heracles completed his first task.
Thereafter, he wore the impenetrable hide as armour. King
Eurystheus, Heracles' taskmaster for the labours, was so frightened by Heracles' fearsome guise that he hid in a large bronze jar, and from that moment forth communicated all his instructions to Heracles through a
herald.
Origin
category:Greek legendary creatures
Category:Twelve labours of Herakles
Category:Fictional lions
ast:Lleón de Nemea
bg:Ð?емейÑ?ки лъв
de:Nemeischer Löwe
el:ΛιοντάÏ?ι της Î?εμÎας
es:León de Nemea
fr:Lion de Némée
ko:네메아� 사�
it:Leone di Nemea
nl:Nemeïsche leeuw
no:Løven fra Nemea
pl:Lew Nemejski
zh:尼米亚猛狮
see
Nemean Lion
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