Nemean lion
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The Nemean lion was a monster in Greek mythology that lived at Nemea. Eventually, it was killed by Heracles (Hercules). Because its golden fur was impervious to attack, it could not be killed with mortals' weapons. Its claws were sharper than mortals' swords and could cut through any strong armour. In Bibliotheca, Photius wrote that the dragon Ladon, who guarded the golden apples, was his brother.
Heracles slaying the Nemean lion. Detail of a Roman mosaic from Llíria (Spain).
Hercules' fight with the Nemean lion, Pieter Paul Rubens.
Oinochoe, 520–500 BC, from Vulci
White-ground lekythos, ca. 500-475 BC, from Athens, by Diosphos Painter
Labours of Hercules
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The Labours of Hercules or Labours of Heracles are a series of tasks carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the Greek heroes, whose name was later romanised as Hercules. They were accomplished in the service of King Eurystheus. The episodes were later connected by a continuous narrative.
Roman relief (3rd century AD) depicting a sequence of the Labours, representing from left to right the Nemean lion, the Lernaean Hydra, the Erymanthian Boar, the Ceryneian Hind, the Stymphalian birds, the Girdle of Hippolyta, the Augean stables, the Cretan Bull and the Mares of Diomedes
Mosaic of Llíria (Valencia, Spain)
The Heracles Papyrus, a fragment of a 3rd-century Greek manuscript of a poem about the Labours of Heracles (Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 2331)
The Origin of the Milky Way by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1575