nemean lion- in ancient Greek mythology, a lion of monstrous size with an incredibly hard skin, which is why not a single weapon took it.
There are different versions of its origin. Http://www.. One of them nemean lion- the son of Typhon (the offspring of Gaia and Tartarus, a creature with a hundred dragon heads, continuously spewing flames in all directions) and Echidna (half-woman, half-snake). According to another version, the Nemean lion was born to Echidna and Orff (two-headed dog) or the offspring of Selena. According to Herodorus and Anaxagoras, the Nemean lion fell from the moon.
This monster lived in the mountains near the city of Nemea (hence its name - nemean lion).
With a terrible roar, he rampaged around the city and devastated everything around. Horror gripped people and animals when they heard this roar. The people did not dare to leave their dwellings, famine set in, diseases began. Weeping and wailing were heard in Nemea. No one could save people from the unbearable disaster that all of Greece was talking about.
King Eurystheus ordered Hercules to kill Nemean lion and bring his corpse to Mycenae. Hercules immediately set off.
In Nemea, he saw a devastated, scorched earth. All living things hid in their homes. No one could even tell him where the terrible lion's lair was. All day Hercules wandered through the wooded slopes of the mountains, but nowhere could he find a monstrous lion. The sun was already setting and it was getting dark.
And then a terrifying roar of a lion reached Hercules, who woke up and waited for complete darkness to start hunting ... In a few giant leaps, Hercules reached the lion's den, which was a huge cave with two exits. Before one of the exits, Hercules piled up huge stones, and he hid at the second exit and prepared a bow and arrows. A little time passed, and a giant lion appeared from the cave with a roar. Hercules showered him with arrows, but none of them even wounded the monster - the arrows bounced off the lion, whose skin was harder than iron. Then Hercules resorted to the sword, but he bent, as if he were made of lead. Finally, he swung his club and dealt such a blow to the head of the beast that the lion was forced to retreat into the cave, shaking his head, but not from pain, but only from the ringing in his ears. Hercules, looking dejectedly at the club broken into chips, followed him. Knowing now that no weapon could harm the monster, he grabbed the beast by the neck and strangled it with great effort with his hands (while the beast bit off one of the hero's fingers).
Having put on the shoulders of a huge beast, Hercules went to Nemea. There he sacrificed to Zeus and established in memory of his first feat Nemean Games during which wars ceased throughout Greece and universal peace reigned. Hercules took the lion to Mycenae. When Eurystheus saw the monster, he was so frightened of the strength and power of Hercules that he forbade him to approach Mycenae, and ordered evidence of the fulfillment of his further orders to be shown near the city walls.
At first, Hercules could not figure out how to skin a lion from a lion, but the gods advised him to use the jaws of the lion itself with razor-sharp teeth for this purpose. Soon he already wore an impenetrable lion skin as armor, and the head of the beast served as his helmet.
The great Thunderer Zeus turned Nemean lion into the constellation Leo and left it shining in the sky to remind people of the feat of his son Hercules, who saved people from this terrible disaster.
Nemean Lion Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece
First feat
Hercules settled in Tiryns and became the servant of the weak, cowardly Eurystheus. Eurystheus was afraid of the mighty hero and did not let him into Mycenae. He transmitted all his orders to the son of Zeus in Tiryns through his herald Koprey.
Hercules did not have to wait long for the first order of King Eurystheus. He instructed Hercules to kill the Nemean lion. This lion, begotten by Typhon and Echidna, was of monstrous size. He lived near the city of Nemea and devastated all the surroundings. Hercules boldly set out on a dangerous feat. Arriving in Nemea, he immediately went to the mountains to find the lion's lair. It was already noon when the hero reached the slopes of the mountains. There was not a single living soul to be seen anywhere: neither shepherds nor farmers. All living things fled from these places, in fear of a terrible lion. Hercules searched for a long time on the wooded slopes of the mountains and in the gorges of the lion's lair, finally, when the sun was already leaning towards the west, Hercules found the lair in the gloomy gorge; it was in a huge cave, which had two exits. Hercules blocked one of the exits with huge stones and began to wait for the lion, hiding behind the stones. Towards evening, when dusk was already approaching, a monstrous lion with a long shaggy mane appeared. Hercules pulled the string of his bow and shot three arrows at the lion one after another, but the arrows bounced off his skin - it was hard as steel. The lion roared menacingly, his growl rolled like thunder through the mountains. Looking around in all directions, the lion stood in the gorge and searched with eyes burning with rage for the one who dared to shoot arrows at him. But then he saw Hercules and rushed at the hero with a huge leap. Like lightning, the club of Hercules flashed and fell like a thunderbolt on the head of a lion. The lion fell to the ground, stunned by a terrible blow; Hercules rushed at the lion, grabbed him with his mighty arms and strangled him. Having shouldered a dead lion on his mighty shoulders, Hercules returned to Nemea, sacrificed to Zeus and established the Nemean games in memory of his first feat (a pan-Greek festival that took place every two years in the Nemean Valley in Argolis; they celebrated in honor of Zeus in the middle of summer. During games, which lasted several days, competed in running, wrestling, fisticuffs, throwing discs and spears, as well as chariot races.During the games, general peace was declared throughout Greece). When Hercules brought the lion he had killed to Mycenae, Eurystheus turned pale with fear, looking at the monstrous lion. King Mycenae realized what superhuman strength Hercules possesses. He forbade him even to approach the gates of Mycenae; when Hercules brought evidence of his exploits, Eurystheus looked at them with horror from the high Mycenaean walls.
nemean lion
At first, Hercules was required to perform ten, not twelve, labors. The first task that King Eurystheus gave to Hercules was to bring him the skin of an invulnerable lion that terrified the surroundings of Nemea.
Nemea, temple of Zeus and landscape. View from the southwest
Photo courtesy of Boston University Department of Archeology (Saul S. Weinberg collection)
Having set out on this seemingly impossible task, Hercules came to a city called Cleons, where he stayed in the house of a poor day laborer Molorch. When the owner of the house offered to sacrifice some animal and pray for protection while hunting a lion, Hercules asked him to wait 30 days. If the hero returns with the lion skin, they will sacrifice to Zvs, the king of the gods. If Hercules dies trying to kill the lion, then Molorch will sacrifice to Hercules as a hero.
Philadelphia L-64-185, Attic red-figure stamnos, c. 490 BC Photo by Maria Daniels, courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Museum
When Hercules reached Nemea and began to hunt down the terrible lion, he soon discovered that his arrows did not harm the monster. Hercules threw down his quiver and went after the lion. Following him to a cave that had two exits, Hercules blocked one of them and made his way to the cruel lion through the other. Grasping the lion with his powerful hands, he ignored its strong claws, squeezing it until he killed it.
Hercules fighting the Nemean lion
Mississippi 1977.3.62, Attic black-figure amphora, c. 510-500 BC Photo by Maria Daniels, courtesy of the University Museum, University of Mississippi
Hercules returned to Cleons to Molorchus on the thirtieth day, carrying a dead lion. And Molorkh, together with Hercules, sacrificed to Zeus, instead of honoring Hercules with a sacrifice, as a dead hero.
When Hercules returned to Mycenae, Eurystheus was amazed that the hero had coped with such a difficult task. The king became afraid of Hercules and forbade him to enter the gates of the city. Moreover, Eurystheus made a large bronze vessel, which he dug into the ground. In it, he could hide from Hercules if necessary. After that, Eurystheus sent his orders to Hercules through the messenger, not risking meeting the mighty hero face to face.
Hercules in a lion's skin
Boston 99.538, Attic double-nosed amphora, ca. 525-500 BC
Photo courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, H. L. Pierce Foundation
Often we can distinguish Hercules in Greek vase painting and sculpture because he is depicted in the skin of a lion. Ancient writers disagreed whether Hercules wore the skin of a Nemean lion, or another that he killed when he was 18 years old. The tragedian Euripides wrote that the Heracles lion skin comes from the sacred grove of Zeus in Nemea:
- Feat 1: The Nemean Lion
(First feat)
Hercules told that the gods
They told him to live
Under the supervision of the royal strict
And work alone.
Eurystheus was flattered
Have power over Hercules,
After all, Hercules is a famous hero,
Eurystheus is so-so.
Eurystheus to him in Tiryns
Commanded to live, far away
From the king when I saw
Mace in his hand.
Eurystheus tried his best
Give the task more difficult.
To come back less often
Bogatyr to his hut.
Well, what if he died altogether?
Eurystheus did not regret.
A bunch of problems and a wave of questions
It would fall off on its own.
Eurystheus feared for the throne
And for your royal prestige,
He was just torn from the skin,
To let Hercules know...
Lived near the city of Nevea
Lion robber, cannibal,
He was famous for his strength,
Made a lot of trouble.
Eurystheus is Hera
Whispered in a bad dream.
And pit Hercules with the beast
It suited them just fine.
The dream was by the way Eurystheus -
Hercules will not come alive!
Herald Kopreya sends
With a command like this:
"So that the people of Nevea
Save from death and evil
Exterminate the evil beast there
And bring it to Mycenae."
And without delay, Hercules
I took a weapon, and behold,
Knowing that the fight will be terrible,
In the direction of Nevey goes.
Coming closer to Nevea,
By the path, near the steep mountains,
He saw many huts
But abandoned, empty.
Only in one lived a tiller,
The old gray-haired Molarch.
He lived in poverty, no matter
He endured fear day and night.
Molarch had sheep
Pieces, probably up to a hundred.
But almost all died -
Lion them, the thief dragged.
Molarh wanted a sheep
To stab in honor of Hercules
And roast it in the oven.
Hercules forbade: “Here
If I return victorious
Here in thirty days
Get her ready for dinner.
If I don't come back then
Make a sacrifice to Hades.
And now I'm going to look
I am victory, not death
I must punish the lion.
At noon to the cave
Hercules approached in the mountains.
Can't see any birds or animals
Everyone was driven away by animal fear.
Stone exit from the cave
Failed - do not run away.
He himself sat down in the shade behind the rocks
Near the entrance. Leo began to wait.
Here comes the lion to the cave,
Feels like guests were here.
There were people, not animals,
He cringed in anger.
Hercules shoots three arrows
In the beast, putting all your strength.
How they fly off the wall
Arrows without breaking the skin.
The lion roared, and rockfalls
The steep ones rained down from the mountains,
In an instant, the gorge became hell,
Echo noise did not soon subside.
Like a horse getting ready to jump
The lion stood up on its hind legs.
And Hercules, straightening his belt,
I got my club.
And he brought down on the beast
Crushing blow.
The mind of the beast was lost,
Steam billowed from my ears.
The lion is a little immobilized
But trying to get up
He wheezes, but still breathes,
You have to kill the animal.
And Hercules, like pincers, fingers
He squeezed on the powerful throat of a lion.
I kept it that way for fifteen minutes.
The beast just flinched.
Carcass of a lion for two hundred pounds
Hercules took on himself,
Your trophy, your lime
He dragged me to Mycenae.
Here's to Molarch on the thirtieth day
Entered the hut again
On time and very helpful
Reinforced well.
And Molarch was about to
Bring that sheep
In the kingdom of darkness - Hades kingdom,
To where there is no way...
Hercules came to Mycenae
And he brought a lion with him.
The king climbed the wall out of fear,
After all, the beast has a head
Rising above the throne
And animal fangs
Responded with a loud chime
From the touch of a hand.
From now on, Hercules was forbidden
Even enter the city
It seemed to Eurystheus
He will not be known as a coward.
Zeus, in honor of the victory of his son
He did everything he could:
He threw a handful of stars into the sky,
Leo lit the constellation;
Near Nevea on the plain
He gathered the rich
Compete in running, in strength,
Shine your beauty.
Zeus ordered, henceforth the competition
Conduct once every two years.
Wars, fights, claims
In the days of those games cancel!
And Hercules went to rest
To your Tiryns, to your hut.
On the advice of the good elders
He did not grumble at fate.
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Hercules and the Nemean Lion
The first feat (the Nemean lion). Hercules did not have to wait long for the first order of Eurystheus. The king ordered to kill a huge lion that lived near the city of Nemeus and devastated its surroundings. Terrible was this lion, the offspring of Typhon and the serpentine Echidna; it was impossible to hit him with any weapon, arrows and spears bounced off his skin. Hercules went to the lion's lair, not a single living soul was visible around, everything fled in horror from those places. Here is the cave where the lion lived. She had two options. Hercules filled up one of them with stones, and began to wait for the lion right in the cave. In the evening, a menacing roar was heard - it was a lion returning from a bloody hunt. As soon as he put his head into the cave, a blow of a club fell upon it. The strong club of Hercules shattered into chips, the lion shook his head, but not from pain - from ringing in his ears. Until the beast came to his senses, Hercules rushed at him, threw him to the ground and clutched his neck with his mighty hands. The lion roared furiously, trying to shake off the hero, but his fingers tightened tighter and tighter on his throat. So the terrible predator was defeated, the inhabitants of Nemea got rid of horror. Hercules removed the skin from the killed beast, and she began to serve the hero instead of the shell, he never parted with it and even slept, spreading it under him.
Hercules fights
Lernaean hydra
The feat of the second (Lernean hydra). Soon Hercules received a new task: to kill the hydra - a monster with a snake's body and nine dragon heads. Like the Nemean Lion, she was born of Typhon and Echidna. A hydra lived in a swamp near the city of Lerna, and there was no escape from it. This monster was dangerous: one of the heads was immortal, and therefore two new ones grew in place of each knocked down head. Hercules understood that it was difficult to deal with the Lernean Hydra alone, so he took Iolaus, the son of Iphicles, with him to help him in a fierce duel.
The heroes found a swamp where the hydra lived. Hercules teased her, and the monster crawled out of the cave. With a furious hiss, it rushed at the hero, wrapped its tail around his legs and tried to knock him down, but Hercules stood like a rock; like a whirlwind, his club whistled in the air, heads fell one after another, but not less of them, but more and more! The hero was exhausted in the struggle, besides, a huge cancer crawled out of the swamp and dug his claws into his heel. “Oh, so there are two of you now! cried Hercules. “So I can invite myself an assistant!” And he called Iolaus for help. They began to fight together. Iolaus set fire to a grove located on the shore of a swamp, and began to burn with burning tree trunks those necks from which Hercules knocked down the heads of the hydra. Stopped growing new heads; Finally, the last, immortal head also fell. The terrible monster has come to an end. Hercules buried her immortal head deep in the ground, and chopped her body into small pieces. He moistened the tips of his arrows in the blood of the hydra, and the wounds inflicted by them became fatal, neither man nor god could recover from such a wound.
Hercules returned to Eurystheus, but he refused to recognize his feat. “You did not fight alone, Iolaus helped you,” the king declared. “The conditions stipulate that you must perform feats alone.” But human rumor turned out to be fairer than the king, and no one disputes with Hercules the honor of victory over the hydra.
The feat of the third (Stymphalian birds). Before Hercules had time to take a proper rest from the fight against the hydra, Eurystheus again sent him on his way. “Go to the city of Stymphala and free it from the birds that have turned its surroundings into a desert!” the king commanded. The task was difficult: the birds were the size of large eagles, with copper claws and beaks and with bronze feathers. Like arrows, feathers pierced into the one who would take it into his head to attack the birds. But Hercules came to the aid of his sister, the daughter of Zeus, Pallas Athena. She gave him a ratchet made by Hephaestus; the sound made by the rattle was so strong that not a single living creature could hear it, even Hercules himself had to seal his ears with wax. The birds of a terrible sound were frightened, they rose into the air in a large flock and flew far beyond the borders of Greece, to the shores of Pontus Euxinus (as the Greeks called the Black Sea). No one saw them again in the vicinity of Stimfal.
Hercules and the Cereneian deer
The fourth feat (Keriney doe). Hera realized that while the gods help Hercules, she is powerless against him. She decided to quarrel him with the gods. “Let him bring you from the Kerinean mountain a doe belonging to Artemis, an animal with golden horns and copper hooves!” she ordered Eurystheus. Eurystheus gave the order to Hercules. The hero thought: what to do? After all, you can’t kill an animal dedicated to the goddess! And he decided to capture the deer alive. He went to the mountain, tracked down the doe and began to pursue it. She rushed faster than the wind, but the mighty Hercules did not lag behind her: he was not only strong, but also swift. For a whole year he drove the deer through the forests and mountains, not allowing her to rest. Finally, no longer believing that he would catch her, Hercules shot an arrow from a bow. It was a good shot! The arrow nailed the front legs one to the other, but it passed between the bone and the tendon so that not a single drop of blood fell to the ground! Hercules put the animal on his shoulders and wanted to go to Mycenae, but then an angry Artemis appeared. “Why did you hurt my beloved doe, Hercules? she asked sternly. “After all, you insulted me!” Or do you think that you are stronger than the Olympian gods?” Hercules bowed before her with reverence: “Do not blame me, beautiful goddess! Not of my own free will, I shot a deer, Eurystheus ordered me, and the immortal gods ordered me to serve this king! Artemis forgave the hero and allowed him to take the doe to Mycenae. Hercules completed the task.
Fifth feat (Erimanfsky boar).“Well, you coped with a harmless doe, let's see how you master a wild boar!” Eurystheus thought and sent Hercules to the slopes of Mount Erimanf, where the largest and most ferocious boar lived in all of Hellas.
Hercules set off. On the way he went to visit the wise centaur Fall. All the centaurs, half-humans, half-horses, were wild and ferocious, only two of them, Phol and Chiron, were distinguished by wisdom and kindness. Foul received the guest with honor in his cave. From time immemorial, Foul kept wonderful wine, saving it for treating the most honored guests. He decided to pour this wine and Hercules. Foul uncorked the vessel: the smell of wine spread far, other centaurs smelled it, crowds fled to the cave and attacked the feasting Hercules and Foul. A terrible battle began here. Hercules grabbed the bow and began to hit the attackers with arrows. Many centaurs died, and the survivors fled in fear to the cave of Chiron, in the hope that he would save them. Chiron went out to meet Hercules, with whom they were friends; but Hercules was heated by the battle, he did not have time to stop his hand. An arrow whistled through the air and pierced Chiron's leg. Great sorrow seized Hercules: he knew that he could no longer help his friend, that there was no healing from the wound. Chiron knew this too. But he could not die - immortality was granted to him by the gods - for a long time Chiron had to suffer on earth ...
In deep sadness, Hercules left Chiron and soon found himself at the foot of Mount Erimanth. It was not difficult to find a boar here. Hercules drove him into deep snow on top of a mountain, tied him up and brought him alive to Mycenae. Eurystheus saw what kind of booty Hercules was returning with, fear seized the cowardly king, he began to rush around the palace, not knowing where to hide, and, finally, took refuge in a large bronze cauldron.
