The god of Greece Hercules at birth received the name Alcides. His cult spread throughout the country of the Hellenes and moved to Italy. There the hero of myths performed under the name with Latin transcription - Hercules. The constellation in the real sky is named that way.
Biography lines
Hercules' life was short. According to myths, he died at fifty-two years, according to divine canons - a scanty term. The same Zeus, his father and the father of all Greek gods and deities, lived with his third wife for 300 years. Hercules spent his years fighting various zoomorphic and anthropomorphic creatures. He boldly attacked a lion, a hydra, a boar, a centaur, a Cerberus dog, and fought with other characters.
They are known for the twelve canonical exploits of Hercules. But there are many more. And rarely any battles or fights did not take place due to the fault of his stepmother Hera and cousin Eurystheus. From the first days of the birth of Hercules and almost until his death, they harmed him.
Infant Hercules killing snakes
The wife of the Thunderer made it so that the premature Eurystheus was born before Alcides, who would become the ruler of the Peloponnese, and not Hercules. A little later, Hera planted a snake in Alcis's crib to kill him. But the baby himself finished with the snakes, after which Hera and Eurystheus became his main enemies. From the very first feat.
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Nemean lion
The first feat of Hercules: read the summary below. The cowardly Eurystheus, like the king of Nemea, was preoccupied with finding a giant lion on his territory, nicknamed Nemean in myths. He gave no peace to either the farmers or the townspeople.
But this is not the main motive for sending the son of Zeus to reprisal the bloodthirsty beast. Despite the fact that Hercules actually spent 12 years in slave submission to a cowardly relative, the king hoped that a mighty lion would put him out of action, if not forever, then for a long time. This was the desire of the mother of King Nemea.
The ancient Greek city of Nemea in the northeast of the Peloponnese was ruled by King Lycurgus and Queen Eurydice. And even earlier it was the sanctuary of Zeus. The lion was not needed here. But he was elusive, running and hurting for decades.
Hercules kills the Nemean lion. Ancient sculpture
Description of the feat
The hero began to complete the task. He took with him his personal weapon - a bow and arrows and an oak club, which was too heavy for anyone but him. He also received pompous instructions from his brother. First of all, he recalled that the lion is invulnerable with conventional weapons, but he has no right to refuse the task. This was necessary in order to restore the visit of the pilgrims to the temple of the supreme god of Hellas, who were scared away by a malicious beast. And he also reminded me that the lion's den was in a luxurious green corner of Nemean.
Hercules took his nephew Iolaus with him as an assistant. He left him to wait for his return from hunting at the walls of the palace. Although the main work was performed by the hero alone, later Eurystheus, due to this circumstance, will not count the feat, but instead will appoint an additional one to the required ten.
The battle of Hercules with the Nemean lion. Image on a vessel 490 BC
The young hero approached the grove. Soon the lion, whom no one had seen in such a mighty appearance and ominous ugliness, came out to meet. He was of a special fighting breed, invulnerable to the weapons that existed in the mythical heroes. The breed was fostered by giants so that lions helped to deal with the gods of ancient Hellas.
Hercules did not yet know that a bow and arrows would be useless against such an enemy. Evading the lion's jump on him, the young man nevertheless released a hail of arrows at the enemy. In other cases, the formidable weapon did not misfire, but today the arrows bounced off the lion's skin like a flint rock. Even the formidable club did not help tame the monster.
Hercules and the Nemean lion. Ancient mosaic
The king of Nemea was still right, speaking about the invulnerability of this lion. Still, the pain cooled the ardor of the Nemean lion somewhat. And he gradually began to retreat from the attacking giant.
And then Hercules put the power of his mighty hands into action. He hugged the lion and squeezed his throat, choking him until he gave up his ghost. He brought the carcass of a lion to Eurystheus, but he hid in a metal barrel out of fear.
In other interpretations of this feat, Hercules finds the lion's den in a cave and deals with it there. Skinning him, which will become armor for him in the future when performing other tasks of King Nemea.