Nemean Lion
Also called Leon of Nemea, Nemeios Leon.
In Greek mythology, the Nemean Lion is a monstrous lion with a hide impervious to weapons that terrorized the region of Nemea until Heracles strangled it bare-handed as the first of his Twelve Labors.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Greek mythology
- Region
- Nemea (habitat)
- Trait family
- The Monstrous Broods
- Symbols
- Claw/ NailLion
Kinship
Lines of descent added by hand and approved one at a time.
- Typhon derived from
why
Other tellings give it different parentage: Apollodorus's Bibliotheca instead makes it the offspring of Typhon, while Hyginus says it was bred by, or fell from, the Moon (Selene).
- Echidna derived from
why
In Hesiod's Theogony it is the offspring of Orthrus, the hound of Geryon, upon Echidna, making the Sphinx its sibling in that passage and connecting it only indirectly, through its father, to the broader monstrous brood Echidna bore to Typhon, which includes the Hydra, Cerberus, and the Chimera
Near this figure
and 1 more
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Claw/ Nail bears image-domain The claw denotes the fierce efficiency of tearing and clutching, kept as talisman, while nails hold soul-substance and grow uncannily on after death.
why
Accounts vary as to how he solved this, with some tellings holding that Athena advised him, or that he thought to use one of the lion's own claws, which alone could cut its hide.
- Lion is The lion is ambivalent: solar majesty, courage, justice, guardianship, and resurrection coexist with lunar maternity, cruelty, war, destructive heat, and death.
why
In Greek mythology, the Nemean Lion is a monstrous lion with a hide impervious to weapons that terrorized the region of Nemea until Heracles strangled it bare-handed as the first of his Twelve Labors.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Impervious hide resists conventional weapons
why
The Nemean Lion is a monstrous lion of Greek mythology whose skin no blade, arrow, or spear could pierce.
Behaviour
- Strangled bare-handed
why
he cornered it in its cave, which had two entrances, blocked one, and grappled the lion bare-handed, ultimately strangling it to death.
- Skinned with its own claw
why
or that he thought to use one of the lion's own claws, which alone could cut its hide.
Omens
- Petrified into constellation
why
In some tellings the constellation Leo commemorates the lion, said to have been placed among the stars by Zeus or Hera after its death.
Defensive powers
- Invulnerability
why
The Nemean Lion is a monstrous lion of Greek mythology whose skin no blade, arrow, or spear could pierce.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Death meets
5 citations
- Apollodorus, translated by J. G. Frazer, The Library, p. 184.
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Nemean Lion."
- Hesiod, translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns and Homerica, p. 9.
- Maria Leach, editor, Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, s.v. "Nemean Lion."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Nemean Lion."
- Hero meets
5 citations
- Apollodorus, translated by J. G. Frazer, The Library, p. 184.
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Nemean Lion."
- Hesiod, translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns and Homerica, p. 9.
- Maria Leach, editor, Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, s.v. "Nemean Lion."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Nemean Lion."