Hercules labours III. To kill Nemean lion.

Hercules choking Nemean lion with his
own hands.

One day, Hercules was summoned by king Eurystheus, who gave him another labour: to kill the Nemean lion.

In Nemea, a town of ancient Greece, there was a giant lion, a man - eater. It was a formidable rival because its golden skin was immune to any weapon: nor swords, nor arrows nor spears could trespass it. Furthermore, its claws were stronger than any human knife. People was terrified by the creature, and they did not dare to go out of home. Some even were abandoning the town.

Hercules with the lion
skin on his shoulders.

Hercules arrived to Nemea, and he proposed himself to hunt the lion. After some days he finally found the beast. With his bow and arrows he tryied to kill him; but he couldn't, because the resistance of the skin. So, he decided to let the bow aside, and with his own hands he choked the animal, killing it by asphyxia.

Then, Hercules skinned the lion and he used the fur as a cloak. For this reason, in many representations Hercules appears like a very strong man with a lion skin on this shoulders.