The Nemean Lion was the subject of Hercules’ first labor in Greek mythology.
The lion was said to have an impenetrable hide, making ordinary weapons useless against it. Hercules first tried to fight it with his club and arrows, but neither could pierce its skin. He eventually trapped the lion in its cave and strangled it.
Afterward, Hercules used one of the lion’s own claws to cut through the hide and wore the skin as armor. Ancient and later artistic traditions commonly identify the lion skin as one of Hercules’ defining attributes.
The first labor is sometimes confused with the Lernaean Hydra, which was the second labor. The Nemean Lion was associated with Nemea, a region in the northeastern Peloponnese.