Hercules did not have to wait long for the first order of King Eurystheus. He instructed Hercules to kill the Nemean lion. This lion, born of Typhon and Echidna, was of monstrous size. He lived near the city of Nemea and devastated all the surrounding areas. Hercules boldly set out on a dangerous feat. Arriving in Nemea, he immediately went to the mountains to find the lion's lair. It was already midday when the hero reached the slopes of the mountains. There was not a single living soul to be seen anywhere: neither shepherds nor farmers. All living things fled from these places in fear of the terrible lion. For a long time Hercules searched for the lion’s lair along the wooded slopes of the mountains and in the gorges; finally, when the sun began to lean towards the west, Hercules found a lair in a gloomy gorge; it was located in a huge cave that had two exits. Hercules blocked one of the exits with huge stones and began to wait for the lion, hiding behind the stones. Just in the evening, when dusk was already approaching, a monstrous lion with a long shaggy mane appeared. Hercules pulled the string of his bow and shot three arrows one after another at the lion, but the arrows bounced off his skin - it was hard as steel. The lion roared menacingly, his roar rolled like thunder across the mountains. Looking around in all directions, the lion stood in the gorge and looked with eyes burning with rage for the one who dared to shoot arrows at him. But then he saw Hercules and rushed with a huge leap at the hero. The club of Hercules flashed like lightning and fell like a thunderbolt on the lion’s head. The lion fell to the ground, stunned by a terrible blow; Hercules rushed at the lion, grabbed him with his powerful arms and strangled him. Having lifted the dead lion onto his mighty shoulders, Hercules returned to Nemea, made a sacrifice to Zeus and established the Nemean Games in memory of his first feat. When Hercules brought the lion he had killed to Mycenae, Eurystheus turned pale with fear as he looked at the monstrous lion. The king of Mycenae realized what superhuman strength Hercules possessed. He forbade him even to approach the gates of Mycenae; when Hercules brought evidence of his exploits, Eurystheus looked at them with horror from the high Mycenaean walls.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru