According to some sources, this enormous and extremely ferocious beast was the offspring of a liaison between the 100-headed monster known as the Typhon and the half-maiden/half serpent called Echinda. In addition, the Nemean Lion is credited with being the brother of the Theban Sphinx.When Molorchus offered to sacrifice an animal in order to ensure a safe lion hunt, Hercules asked the workman to wait thirty days. Then, if the hero returned with the lion's skin, a sacrifice would be made to Zeus. However, if Hercules perished during the course of his quest, Molorchus agreed to make the sacrifice instead in honor of the deceased hero. Upon reaching Nemea, Hercules began to track the terrible lion. However, he soon discovered that arrows were useless against the creature. Picking up his club, Hercules followed the lion to a cave which had two entrances. Blocking one of the doorways, the hero approached the fierce lion through the other. Then, grasping the beast within his mighty arms and ignoring its powerful claws, Hercules held the lion tightly until he had choked it to death. Returning to Cleonae carrying the dead lion, Hercules reunited with Molorchus on the thirtieth day after his departure. Thus, instead of sacrificing to a deceased hero, Molorchus and Hercules were able to make a sacrificial offering together to the King of the Gods. When Hercules arrived back in Mycenea, Eurystheus was so amazed that the hero had managed to achieve such an impossible task that he grew fearful of Hercules and forbade him from entering through the gates of the City. Further, the King of Mycenea ordered that a large bronze jar be fashioned and buried partway in the ground, where he could hide from Hercules if the need arose. After that, Eurystheus communicated his commands regarding the future labors of Hercules through a herald, refusing to meet the intrepid hero face-to-face.
Hercules is often depicted on ancient Greek vase paintings or in sculptures wearing the skin of a lion...its jaws forming the peak of a helmet while the great clawed paws are knotted at the hero's chest, the whole forming a hooded cape. However, historians have traditionally disagreed as to whether the skin Hercules is portrayed wearing in such works of art is that of the Nemean Lion or that of different lion entirely...one which Hercules is said to have killed when he was eighteen years old. Indeed, the playwright Euripides wrote that Hercules' lion skin garb actually came from the Grove of Zeus, also known as the Sanctury at Nemea.
Later, it is said that it was Zeus who hung the lion's likeness in the heavens. There, the creature slain by Hercules spends much time snoozing in his den. Despite his fangs, he is perceived as a friendly and affectionate beasta loving father to his cubs and most protective of his lioness.
背景故事: 面对挑战者,直来直往单打独斗的王者风范,是狮子座的象征,相传狮子座的由来与赫五力有关。赫五力是宙斯与凡人的私生子,他天生具有无比的神力,天后希拉也因此妒火中烧。在赫五力还是婴儿的时候,就放了两条巨蛇在摇篮里,希望咬死赫五力,没想到赫五力笑嘻嘻的握死了它们,从小赫五力就被奉为"人类最伟大的英雄"。 希拉当然不会因为一次失败就放弃杀死赫五力,她故意让赫五力发疯候打自己的妻子,赫五力醒了以后十分懊悔伤心,决定要以苦行来洗清自己的罪孽,他来到麦西尼请求国王派给他任务,谁知道国王受希拉的指使,果然赐给他十二项难如登天的任务,必须在十二天内完成,其中之一是要杀死一头食人狮。 这头狮子平时住在森林里,赫五力进入森林中找寻他,只是森林中一片寂静,所有的动物,小鸟、鹿、松鼠都被狮子吃得干干净净,赫五力找累了就打起嗑睡来。就在此刻,巨狮子从一个有双重洞口的山洞中昂首而出,赫五力睁眼一看,天啊!食人狮有一般狮子的五倍大,身上沾满了动物的鲜血,更增添了几分恐怖。赫五力先用神箭射他,再用木棒打他,都没有用,巨狮子刀枪不入,最后赫五力只好和狮子肉搏,过程十分惨烈,但最后还是用蛮力勒死了狮子。食人狮虽然死了,但希拉为纪念他与赫五力奋力而战的勇气,将食人狮丢到空中,变成了狮子座。
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