What lion with an invulnerable hide was strangled by Heracles?

What lion with an invulnerable hide was strangled by Heracles? The answer is the Nemean Lion.

The Nemean Lion was a monstrous lion that lived near Nemea and formed the first of Heracles’ twelve labours. Its golden hide could not be pierced by ordinary weapons, so arrows and blades were useless against it. The lion’s claws were likewise said to be sharper than mortal weapons.

Heracles first discovered the hide’s power when an arrow bounced harmlessly off the beast. He then forced the lion into a cave, blocked one entrance, and confronted it in the confined darkness. After stunning it with his club, he killed it by strangling it with his bare hands. Because a normal knife could not cut the hide, he used one of the lion’s own claws to remove the pelt.

Heracles thereafter wore the hide as protective armour, making it his most recognizable attribute. The Nemean Lion should not be confused with the Cithaeronian Lion, another beast connected with Heracles in some traditions. The labour also established the hero’s reputation before his remaining eleven tasks.