Nemean Lion

The mythical lion lived in a cave in Nemea (in Argolida), where he caught women and then lured men who wanted to rescue them. The hero Heracles was to kill him as the first of his quests.

Heracles first tried to shoot the lion with an arrow. What he didn't know was that his skin was bulletproof. He then found two entrances to the lion's cave, so he blocked one of them and rushed to fight the lion. After a long struggle, he stunned it with a club and then strangled it with his hands. But he was unable to skin the lion until the goddess Athena advised him to use the fang of the lion itself to skin it.

Upon returning to Mycenae, the king was dismayed that Heracles had passed the test and warned him that the next tasks would be much harder. From then on, Heracles wore the lion's skin as armor.