Hercules arrived in Cleonea, near Nemea, where he lodged with a poor shepherd, Molorchus, who has lost his son to the lion, Molorchus offered to sacrifice a ram, to assure success for Hercules’ mission, but Hercules refused saying, “No, wait thirty days, if I return with the lion’s pelt, we will sacrifice the ram to Zeus, my father, King of the Gods, if I don’t return, sacrifice the ram to me, as a hero”. Once the brave warriors entered the lion’s den, in search of their kidnapped maidens, the lion hid the hapless women at the back of his cave, transformed himself into their likeness and the moment the warriors came close, grabbed them by the neck, gobbled them up and gave their bones to Hades (God of the underworld). Hercules and the Nemean Lionįor his first task, Hercules was instructed by Eurystheus, to bring him the pelt of the Nemean lion, which was said to roam the hillsides around Nemea, taking women to his cave as hostages, where he would then lay in wait for their rescuers to appear. Like any Greek worth his salt at that time, Hercules knew he would find the answer from the oracle at Delphi, Pythia, so off to Delphi it was, little did Hercules know though, Pythia was guided by Hera! When his madness had been cured with hellebore by Antikyreus, (founder of Antikyra), Hercules realized what he had done, his remorse knew no bounds, how was he to atone himself of this dreadful act?
Hercules, it seems was no angel either, after killing his music teacher, Linus, with a lyre, he was sent to tend cattle in the mountains and later, whilst living in Thebes, he fell in love with Megara, daughter of Creon, King of Thebes, whom he married and went on to have children with.įor Hera, out of sight did not mean out of mind, with her super powers, she managed to get inside Hercules’ head and sent him completely crazy, where upon, in a fit of frenzy, Hercules murdered his wife and children.
Hera, Queen of the heavens, Goddess of marriage, women and childbirth, daughter of Cronus and Rhea, was out for revenge, and poor Hercules was the one about to pay. Zeus tried to smooth things over, he even went to the extent of changing the child’s name, who had been born Alcaeus but was given the name Hercules, meaning “Glorious gift of Hera” in Greek, in the hope it would mollify Hera but to no avail! It was bad enough for Hera, Zeus’s wife, to know she was married to an unfaithful old goat but to see the living proof of his infidelity, right under her nose every day, in the shape of Hercules, whom she hated, made her blood boil. Hercules was the result of an illicit affair, between Zeus, King of the Gods of Mount Olympus, and Alcmene, who was nothing but a mere mortal. This is the story of a woman scorned and we all know, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Well, maybe they liked the one about the Stymphalian Birds, as Stymphalia is only a stone’s throw away from Nemea.Īnyway, I decided to find out about “The Twelve Labours of Hercules” for myself. This is how I came to hear about Hercules and his twelve labours, I only ever heard the first one, which is, of course, the slaying of the Lion of Nemea, I’m not too sure they were interested in the other eleven, as they didn’t take place in their neck of the woods. When in Nemea, if you don’t have much time, avoid mentioning the Nemean Lion, you will get the story, chapter and verse, if you do have time, sit down and listen, a wonderful story it is.
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