The Nemean lion (; ;
Mythical origins
Hesiod writes that the Nemean lion is the offspring of
Orthus and an ambiguous "she". This "she" is often understood as probably referring to either the Chimera, Echidna, or possibly
Ceto.
[The referent of "she" at Hesiod, Theogony 326 is uncertain, see Clay, pp. 159–160, with n. 34; Most, p. 29 n. 20 ("Probably Chimaera"); Hard, p. 63 ("Chimaira (or conceivably with his mother Echidna)"); Gantz, p. 23 ("Chimera ... or just possibly Echidna"); Caldwell, p. 47 lines 326 ("either Echidna or Chimaira"); West 1966, p. 356 line 326 ἡ δ' ἄρα ("much more likely ... Chimaera" than Echidna).] The Nemean lion is also, depending on its parentage, brother to the Theban
Sphinx and is of the same lineage as others within the Heracles myth, those being
Cerberus and the
Lernaean Hydra.
Apollodorus, however, depicts the lion as the offspring of
Typhon.
[Apollodorus, 2.5.1] According to Hesiod, the lion was raised by
Hera and sent to terrorize the hills of Nemea.
[Hesiod, Theogony 327–329] In another tradition, told by Aelian (citing Epimenides) and Hyginus, the lion was "sprung from" the moon-goddess
Selene, who threw him from the Moon at Hera's request
[Hard, p. 256; Aelian, 12.7; Hyginus, Fabulae 30] to mount
Apesas.
Hera allowed the Nemean lion to hunt within her lands, knowing it would cause more problems for
Heracles.
In
Bibliotheca,
Photius wrote that the dragon Ladon, who guarded the
Golden apple, was the Nemean lion's brother.
First labour of Heracles
Beginning of the myth
The first of
Heracles' twelve labours, set by King
Eurystheus (his cousin), was to slay the Nemean lion.
Heracles wandered the area until he came to the town of Cleonae. There, he met a boy who said that if Heracles slew the Nemean lion and returned alive within 30 days, then the town would sacrifice a lion to Zeus; if he did not return within 30 days or he died, then the boy would sacrifice himself to Zeus.[Apollodorus, 2.5.1] Another version claims that he met Molorchos, a shepherd who had lost his son to the lion, saying that if he came back within 30 days, then a ram would be sacrificed to Zeus, and that if he did not return within 30 days, then it would be sacrificed to the dead Heracles as a mourning offering.
Slaying of the Nemean lion
While searching for the lion, Heracles fetched some arrows to use against it, not knowing that its golden fur was impenetrable. When he found the lion and shot at it with his bow, he discovered the fur's protective property after the arrow bounced harmlessly off the creature's thigh. Sometime after this first encounter, Heracles made the lion return to his cave. The cave had two entrances, one of which Heracles blocked; he then entered through the other, making sure the lion had no way to escape. In the dark and close quarters, Heracles stunned the beast with his club. He eventually killed it by strangling it with his bare hands.
Skinning the Nemean lion and implications for other labours
After slaying the lion, he tried to skin it with a knife from his belt but failed. He then tried sharpening the knife with a stone and even tried with the stone itself. Finally,
Athena, noticing the hero's plight, told Heracles to use one of the lion's own claws to skin the pelt.
Theocritus, an ancient Greek poet, describes the same circumstance. However, instead of giving the inspiration for the idea to Athena to then give to Heracles, what Theocritus writes is that "Then some god made me think of cutting the Lion's skin with its own claws."
When Heracles returned on the thirtieth day carrying the carcass of the lion on his shoulders, King Eurystheus was amazed and terrified. Eurystheus forbade him from ever entering the city again, and in the future, he was to display the fruits of his labours outside the city gates. After being terrified by Heracles' heroic feat, Eurystheus also had a bronze jar, large enough for him, created and had it dug into the earth so that he could hide in it when Heracles came back for future labours. The Jar can be seen in other labours such as the Erymanthian boar and bringing Cerberus from the Greek underworld. After this labour, Eurystheus would only communicate to Heracles through the use of an intermediator named Copreus or the "Dung-man".
According to Alexander of Myndus, Heracles was helped in this labour by an Earth-born serpent, which followed him to Thebes and settled down in Aulis. It was later identified as the water snake which devoured the sparrows and was turned into stone in the prophecy about the Trojan War.[Daniel Ogden, Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds]
Post labour and symbolism
Heracles wore the Nemean lion's coat after killing it, as it was impervious to the elements and all but the most powerful weapons. Others say that Heracles' armour was, in fact, the hide of the Lion of Cithaeron. It is also stated in Euripides that the lion pelt Heracles is known for wearing came from the lion he slew within Zeus' grove.
No matter where Heracles got the lions pelt from, however, this element of the myth may have been created post-Homerically, as Stesichorus was the first to give Heracles the costume he is known for. Instead, before this, he seemed to be shown more in line with how a warrior would dress at the time but with no lion skin on him. Thus, as March supposes, the wearing of the lion's fur must have only come after the lion had gained the invulnerability to mortal weapons.
The lion could also be seen as a symbol of death, and thus by skinning and then wearing the pelt himself, Heracles took away the threat of death and turned it into deliverance from death.
While the Homeric myth itself does not give any indication on what happens to the lion's skin upon Heracles' death on the pyre, most ancient artistic depictions of this scene show him wearing the pelt as he is set aflame.
The symbolism of the Nemean lion's pelt was also used by some to create a connection between them and Heracles, such as Alexander the Great, who is depicted on the Alexander Sarcophagus wearing a lion's pelt on top of his head as he rides into combat.
To celebrate the heroic accomplishment of Heracles' labour, Zeus used the Nemean lion to create the constellation Leo.
In art
While most forms of art depict the Nemean lion in battle with Heracles (who is normally depicted in various stages of dress or nudity) wresting against one another, the Mosaic at the beginning of this article is one of the few images of the Nemean lion not either locked in combat with Heracles or dead and being worn by the Greek Hero.
File:Herakles Nemean lion BM B621.jpg|Oinochoe, , from Vulci. Currently held in the British Museum, Main floor, room 14, Greek & Rome
File:Herakles Nemean lion Louvre L31.jpg|White-ground lekythos, , from Athens, by Diosphos Painter. Currently held in the Louvre, Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Sully, 1st floor, room 39, case 5
File:Boeotian black-figure kylix, Heracles, Nemean lion, MCA, 225417x.jpg|Boeotia Greek pot, , depicting Heracles fighting the Nemean lion. Currently held in the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens.
File:Mètopa del temple de Zeus d'Olímpia amb representació d'Hèracles i el lleó de Nemea (Museu Arqueològic d'Olímpia).jpg|Temple of Zeus at Olympia metope 1, . Currently held at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.
File:Met, gandhara, hercules and the nemean lion, 1st century.JPG|Gandhara relief, 1st century. Currently held by The Met Fifth Avenue. Gallery 235
File:Mathura Herakles.jpg|The Mathura Herakles, 2nd century. Currently held in the Indian Museum in Kolkata.
Notes
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Hesiod, Theogony, in Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia, Edited and translated by Glenn W. Most. Loeb Classical Library No. 57. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2018. . Online version at Harvard University Press.
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Most, G.W., Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia, Edited and translated by Glenn W. Most, Loeb Classical Library No. 57, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2018. . Online version at Harvard University Press.
See also
External links
