Hercules was given the task of slaying a lion that was ravaging the area around the Greek city of Nemea. The lion was unhurt when he struck it with his club. But Hercules’ reputation as a brave hero with colossal physical strength started when he strangled the lion with his bare hands instead. This was the first of altogether twelve tasks he was ordered to fulfil after having killed his own children in an outburst of anger. The punishment, decreed by the Delphic oracle, was that for twelve years, Hercules should do everything that his brother, King Eurystheus, demanded. Hercules’ mother was a woman of the earth and so Hercules was mortal from birth. However, his father, the god Jupiter, ensured that the hero Hercules became an immortal god when he carried him to Olympus after his death. The Roman Hercules corresponds to the Greek Herakles.
Some artists have produced dramatic pictures of Hercules fighting the lion. When Thorvaldsen modelled Hercules in 1843 (inv. no. A14), he chose – like Rosso Fiorentino – the conquering hero. The lion skin hangs over Hercules’ should with a paw and the lion’s tail to catch the eye.
