The Nemean Lion.
     In the first of his labors, Heracles (Hercules) was commanded to bring to King Eurystheus the invulnerable pelt of the Nemean lion, a fierce monster produced by the union of Echidna (or Chimaera) and Orthus (or Typhon). When Heracles found its cave and shot at it, the arrows bounced off. Heracles therefore cornered it in its lair, clubbed it, and strangled it with his bare hands.
     As the hero approached Eurystheus with the dead lion slung over his shoulder, the king fled in terror. Heracles flayed the lion by using its own claws, the only objects sharp enough to penetrate its hide. He then donned the pelt as a cloak, with the scalp as a hood. The lion’s hide and the club he used against it became Heracles’ most common attributes.
     In another adventure unrelated to this labor, Heracles also killed the marauding lion of Mount Cithaeron.

Further Reference:
Galinsky, G. Karl. 1972. The Herakles Theme: The Adaptations of the Hero in Literature from Homer to the Twentieth Century. Totowa, N.J., Rowman & Littlefield.


Listings for Heracles' Labors are arranged under the following headings:
Heracles Labors, General List
The Nemean Lion
The Lernean Hydra
The Erymanthian Boar
The Ceryneian Hind
The Stymphalian Birds
The Stables of Augeas
Heracles and Antaeus
The Cretan Bull
The Mares of Diomedes
The Girdle of Hippolyta
The Cattle of Geryon
The Apples of the Hesperides
Cerberus

For Heracles entries generally:
Heracles