Catalog Entry by Peter C. Sutton

Hercules' labors were penance for slaying his own children in a fit of madness. Having offended the Olympians, he was given a menial role serving a mortal. The Delphic oracle ordered that he serve Eurystheus, king of the Tiryns, for twelve years. Among the twelve labors imposed on Hercules by the king, the first was the killing of a lion that had terrorized the citizens of Nemea. When his weapons proved inadequate, he strangled the creature. Following this initial victory Hercules wore the lion's pelt as his emblem. Initially celebrated simply as tales of victorious strength, the labors acquired moral associations as the triumphs of good over evil...

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