Heracles and the Nemean Lion (1)

Text
One of Heracles’ tasks was the killing of the Nemean Lion. Although lions featured in Greece as well, there may still be a link with the Near East, as they featured in art and literature much more often there than they did in Greece. The defeat of a lion was a traditional heroic accomplishment of Near Eastern kings and heroes. Ningirsu killed ‘the Lion, the terror of the gods’ (Gudea Cylinder A 26.7). Enkidu and Gilgameš killed lions routinely. Samson in Judges 14:5-6 tore a lion asunder in his bare hands. Heracles too, according to the prevailing version, used only his bare hands in killing the Nemean Lion. He subsequently wore its skin, as many poets and artists testify. In this he may have a precedent in Gilgameš, who is described in the epic as roaming the world after Enkidu’s death clad in the skin of lion instead of his civilized clothes.

Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Gudea Cylinder A 26.7
Judges 14:5-6

Bibliography

Amar Annus

URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0001289.php