Son of Zeus with the skin of a lion. Hercules and the Nemean Lion

The name of Hercules, the hero of Ancient Greece, has long become a household name in the modern world: this is often the name given to men with enormous physical strength, capable of performing tasks that most people cannot cope with.

Hercules, the son of Zeus (the god who knows the whole world) and the daughter of the Mycenaean king Electryon - Alkmena - performed many feats, twelve of which became textbook ones. And the Nemean Lion opens this list. Which in the future became a kind of calling card of the mythical hero.

Where did the monster with the mane come from?

The Nemean lion is a beast, a bloody monster with a skin so strong and hard that no weapon could pierce it, the appearance of which is associated with a number of mythical characters.

According to one legend, the fabulous lion is the son of Typhon, a powerful giant, and the terrible Echidna (a huge half-woman, half-snake); according to another, Selene, the goddess of the Moon, gave birth to the Nemean lion. It is believed that she gave birth to him in terrible convulsions, and then deliberately dropped him on Earth as a punishment to humanity for insufficient sacrifices.

Habitats of the beast

Along with the versions of the birth, there is no consensus among mythologists about the monster’s habitat.

According to some reports, the Nemean Lion lived on the Peloponnese peninsula, near the city of Nemea, in a large mountain cave, and systematically devastated its surroundings. According to the ancient Greek poet Hesiod (XIII-XII centuries BC), as well as the historian Diodorus Siculus (about 90 - 30 BC), the beast lived not only in the region of Nemea, but also near Apesant and Tretus. But the author of “Heraclea” - the epic about Hercules, the ancient Greek poet Paniasides from Halicarnassus (5th century BC), wrote that the Nemean lion lived in the vicinity of Bembina.

But judging by the monster’s nickname, in any case, he hunted near the city of Nemea, destroying all life in its vicinity, keeping local residents and animals in a constant nightmare. People were afraid to even step outside their homes, which led to hunger and disease.

Eurystheus and Hercules

From the moment Hercules was born, Zeus's wife hated him, who was very angry that her husband had a relationship with a mortal woman. The day before the birth of Hercules, Zeus proclaimed that the first of the babies to appear in the line of Perseus's descendants would have power over all his relatives.

Hera, hearing this, gave birth to the Perseid Sthenel, who gave birth to Eurystheus, the cousin of Hercules. Thus, being born second, the future hero lost power. Zeus obliged him to obey the firstborn, but only until he completed twelve labors in the service of Eurystheus.

Tragedy of Hercules

Hercules, who had been distinguished since childhood by his unprecedented strength, already lying in the cradle, managed to strangle two large snakes that were sent by Hera to kill the baby.

But the vindictive Hera did not give up on the son of God, and after Hercules had matured, married Megara, the daughter of the Theban king Creon, and had children, she sent madness to the hero. As a result, he killed his offspring.

To atone for his guilt, the son of Zeus went to the Delphic oracle for advice. Having listened to Hercules, he sent him to Eurystheus to, according to his instructions, perform the twelve labors ordained by fate and God the Father.

The First Labor of Hercules: The Nemean Lion

Hercules, following the orders of the oracle, went to Mycenae to Eurystheus. He greeted him arrogantly, mocking his appearance and weapons, which did not correspond to the status of the “son of God”: the hero was armed only with a homemade bow and a huge club. And according to his plan, the hero’s goal was to be the Nemean Lion: the feat consisted of killing him, and it was impossible to accomplish it with such means.

However, Hercules was not embarrassed by this, and without additional preparations he went in search of the beast.

Finding the lion's lair was already a problem for the hero; none of the residents of the outskirts of Nemea, scared to death, wanted to go to him as a guide. Hercules wandered through the forests and mountains all day in search of the beast, until he came to a huge cave with two entrances. Realizing from its size that the Nemean lion had made his lair here, the hero, having blocked one of the entrances, began to wait for the bloodthirsty creature at the other.

At sunset, a huge beast emerged from the cave. Hercules, choosing the sharpest arrows from the quiver, fired them at the lion, but they only bounced off him without causing the slightest harm. But, nevertheless, this greatly angered the mythical animal. The enraged monster rushed at the hero, intending to destroy him, but Hercules stopped him by hitting him on the head with a club. It only slightly stunned the mythical animal, while scattering into small pieces.

The hero realized that he had no choice but to fight the monster with his “bare” hands. Having contrived, he grabbed the lion by the neck and squeezed it until he strangled the beast.

Son of God in lion's skin

Now Hercules needed to provide evidence of the monster's death. But when he brought the beast to Eurystheus, he fell into indescribable horror at its very sight, ordering the hero to immediately leave the walls of the city and henceforth present the results of his exploits from afar, without entering Mycenae.

Since the lion's skin had unprecedented strength, Hercules decided to keep it for himself and use it as protective armor. But how could this be done, because it is impossible to remove it by ordinary means. And then, looking at the beast’s teeth, sharp as a well-sharpened blade, he found a way out, deciding to use its jaws for this.

Soon the skin of the bloody monster began to serve the hero, protecting him, and the head of the beast replaced his combat helmet.

This is how the first labor of Hercules ended: the Nemean lion was killed by the hero. In memory of this event, the Nemean Games were established, during which a ban on war was declared: Ancient Greece became a territory of peace.

Briefly about the first labor of Hercules

Battle with the Nemean Lion

Hercules is an ancient Greek mythological hero. He is the son of the god of thunder and lightning - Zeus and the daughter of the Mycenaean king Perseus - Alkemene. The daughter of the Mycenaean king was an ordinary mortal; she did not possess the gift of immortality. There are a lot of myths and legends about Hercules. The most famous are his twelve labors. At the request of his father, the god Zeus, he served with the Mycenaean king Eurystheus. Hercules performed his first labors at a young age.

Eurystheus, having become the king of Argolis, summoned Hercules and reminded him that he was his subject. And as you know, subjects serve their rulers faithfully. The ruler instructed Hercules to clear the lands of Nemea from the monstrous lion. The lion instills fear in the local residents and they cannot visit the temple of Zeus in Nemea. Hercules agreed to complete the task and on the same day went to Nemea. He had information that this monster was invulnerable, since it was the product of Typhon and Echidna. Arriving in Nemea, he saw that its lands were neglected: nothing grew in the fields except weeds, and the vineyards had dried up. The lands fell into desolation because they were not cultivated due to the population's fear of the monstrous lion. Hercules first tried to find a way to the lion's dwelling. The inhabitants of Nemea warned that the lion himself would find the hero. At the same time, he did not give up hope of finding the lion first.

Hercules searched for the Nemean Lion for a long time and finally came across a gloomy cave in the forest. A menacing growl of a monster coming out was heard from the cave. The lion was of enormous size, his appearance emanated a threat. The hero immediately realized that the hour of battle had come. Hercules fired three arrows towards the animal. The arrows flew through the air and hit the lion’s skin, without even scratching it (his skin was so invulnerable), and fell to the ground. At the same moment, the monster prepared to jump, Hercules determined its intentions. He pulled out a club and dealt a huge blow to the head of this creature. The lion fell to the ground for a few seconds, but immediately jumped to his paws and rushed at the son of Zeus. Hercules put his hands forward and they closed in a death grip on the lion’s huge neck. Hercules let go of his hands only when the lion no longer showed signs of life.

Hercules tore the skin and head off the monster. He threw it over his shoulders and in this form went to Mycenae. This skin was as invulnerable as armor. The skin of the Nemean lion began to serve as a cloak for the hero and he did not part with it. She also served as armor for him in subsequent battles and saved him from death more than once. Getting rid of the Nemean Lion greatly delighted the inhabitants of this area. Now they could safely leave their homes, work in the fields and graze livestock.
After killing the lion, Hercules made a sacrifice to Zeus. He also organized the Nemean Games, like the Olympic Games, in honor of this event.

Returning to Mycenae, Hercules brought the skin of a killed lion as proof of his completed task. The king, seeing this skin, was very frightened and ordered the hero to never appear in the palace again. But he warned that tasks would be brought to him by a herald. Simply, Eurystheus realized what remarkable power Hercules possessed and most likely was afraid for himself and for his power.

To learn how to atone for an unwitting crime. The oracle ordered the hero to enter the service of his cousin, the king of Mycenae, Eurystheus. This weak and evil ruler, who hated Hercules, then gave him such orders that the hero would inevitably die when they were carried out. However, Hercules, thanks to his strength and courage, overcame all dangers. The glorious deeds performed by Hercules in the service of Eurystheus are called his twelve labors.

When Hercules, at the behest of the oracle, first came to Eurystheus in Mycenae, he greeted him arrogantly.

Hercules did not know this. Seeing his opponent crouching for a killing leap, he grabbed his bow and launched the sharpest of his arrows at him. But Eurystheus was right: the Nemean lion was invulnerable. He jumped; but Hercules deftly dodged to the side and, raising his club, brought it down with all his might on the enemy’s head. And the club recoiled helplessly; Nevertheless, the lion felt pain and, refusing further battle, began to slowly walk away. But Hercules overtook him and, grabbing him with his mighty hands, began to crush his throat. No matter how much the Nemean lion rushed about, Hercules held him tightly in his iron embrace and did not let him go until he said goodbye to life.

The first labor of Hercules was the killing of the Nemean lion. Copy from the statue of Lysippos

Having thrown the huge carcass of the Nemean Lion onto his shoulders, he returned to the peasants and, together with them, made a grateful sacrifice to Zeus the Savior for the successful completion of his first feat. Until later times, she celebrated there in his honor. Then, encouraged by the blessings of the villagers, Hercules proceeded further to Mycenae. The courtiers fled in horror when the hero, who had returned after his first exploit, began to approach with his burden on his shoulders. He entered the royal palace, but it was empty. Hercules wandered back and forth through the rooms and courtyards for a long time - finally it seemed to him that he heard a plaintive squeak coming as if from underground. Coming closer, he saw a huge vat buried in the ground, which served as a tank for rainwater in winter. Now it was empty, and Eurystheus sat at its bottom, dozing. Hercules bent over the edge of the vat to get a better look at him, and the head of the killed Nemean lion appeared on his shoulder, next to his own head. Eurystheus, seeing her, screamed furiously in fear.

- Yes, he’s dead, he won’t bite! – Hercules consoled him, laughing.

But he didn’t want to hear it.

- Go away, go away! – he shouted to him, waving his arms. – And in general, never enter my palace again; My orders about the next exploits will be conveyed to you by my herald.

“I wanted to bow to you with the skin of a lion,” Hercules answered good-naturedly, “but if you don’t want it, so much the better: it will remain with me.”

He went to Iolaus; the friends, together, tore the skin off the Nemean lion, and Hercules, having tanned it, began to wear it around his body from then on, as the best bulwark against the enemy’s damask steel; she replaced both his armor and his shield. This is how Hercules performed the first of the twelve labors.

So, the first in the canonical narrative, according to Rhodes and Kuhn, is

1. Nemean Lion (First Labor) = Age of Leo

Description of the myth according to N.A. Kunu

Hercules did not have to wait long for the first order of King Eurystheus. He instructed Hercules kill the Nemean lion .

This lion, born of Typhon and Echidna, was of monstrous size. He lived near the city of Nemea and devastated all the surrounding areas.

Search

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 midday 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 the terrible lion.

For a long time Hercules searched for the lion's lair along the wooded slopes of the mountains and in the gorges; finally, when the sun began to lean towards the west, Hercules found a lair in a gloomy gorge; it was located in a huge cave that had two exits.

Ambush

Hercules blocked one of the exits with huge stones and began to wait for the lion, hiding behind the stones. Just in the 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 one after another at the lion, but the arrows bounced off his skin - it was hard as steel. The lion roared menacingly, his roar rolled like thunder across the mountains.

Looking around in all directions, the lion stood in the gorge and looked with his eyes burning with rage for the one who dared to shoot arrows at him. But then he saw Hercules and rushed with a huge leap at the hero.

Strangulation

The club of Hercules flashed like lightning and fell like a thunderbolt on the lion’s head. The lion fell to the ground, stunned by a terrible blow; Hercules rushed at the lion, grabbed him with his powerful arms and strangled him.

Having lifted the dead lion onto his mighty shoulders, Hercules returned to Nemea, made a sacrifice to Zeus and established the Nemean Games in memory of his first feat.

“We don’t need such a Hero”

When Hercules brought the lion he had killed to Mycenae, Eurystheus turned pale with fear as he looked at the monstrous lion. The king of Mycenae realized what superhuman strength Hercules possessed.

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- in ancient Greek mythology, a lion of monstrous size with incredibly hard skin, which is why no weapon could take it.

There are different versions of its origin. Http://www.. According to 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 of Echidna and Orff (a two-headed dog) or the offspring of Selene. 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 homes, hunger set in, and illness 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.

B Still, he saw a devastated, scorched earth. All living things hid in their homes. No one could even tell him where the terrible lion’s den was located. All day long Hercules wandered along the wooded slopes of the mountains, but nowhere could he find the monstrous lion. The sun was already setting and it was getting dark.

And then the terrifying roar of the lion reached Hercules, who woke up and waited for complete darkness to begin the hunt... In several giant leaps, Hercules reached the lion’s den, which was a huge cave with two exits. In front of 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 it bent as if it were made of lead. Finally, he swung his club and struck such a blow on 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 sadly at the club broken into splinters, followed him. Knowing now that no weapon could harm the monster, he grabbed the beast by the neck and with great effort strangled it with his hands (at the same time the beast bit off one of the hero’s fingers).

Having thrown a huge beast onto his shoulders, Hercules went to Nemea. There he made a sacrifice to Zeus and established in memory of his first feat Nemean games, during which wars ceased throughout Greece and universal peace reigned. Hercules carried the lion to Mycenae. When Eurystheus saw the monster, he was so afraid 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 at the city walls.

At first, Hercules could not figure out how to skin the 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.