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The people of Nemea, in deep distress, are calling for Hercules to kill a lion that devastates their land. Hercules responds but decides to abandon the weapons which hinder his progress, trusting instead to his club for protection. The people are dismayed to find him without arms but Hercules proceeds undaunted. He suddenly comes upon the ferocious beast but stands his ground instead of running away. Hercules rushes towards it, shouting wildly, and it flees before him. Eventually he tracks it to its lair, a cave with two entrances where, by blocking up one opening, he traps it. Now, with no exit for either of them, Hercules faces the lion, and chokes and kills it with his bare hands. He then strips it of its skin and displays it to the Nemean people, now free to live in peace. In triumph, Hercules returns to his teacher, his success acknowledged by gaining permission to wear the lions skin, but who also warns, the lion and serpents must be slain again and once again.
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North Africa/Middle East
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