Apollodorus Library 2.5.1
Ella Perry /
- Created on 2024-11-06 17:46:20
- Modified on 2024-11-18 14:22:15
- Translated by R. Hard 1997
- Aligned by Ella Perry
Ἑλληνική Transliterate
English
τοῦτο ἀκούσας ὁ Ἡρακλῆς εἰς Τίρυνθα ἦλθε , καὶ τὸ προσταττόμενον ὑπὸ Εὐρυσθέως ἐτέλει . πρῶτον μὲν οὖν ἐπέταξεν αὐτῷ τοῦ Νεμέου λέοντος τὴν δορὰν κομίζειν · τοῦτο δὲ ζῷον ἦν ἄτρωτον , ἐκ Τυφῶνος γεγεννημένον . πορευόμενος οὖν ἐπὶ τὸν λέοντα ἦλθεν εἰς Κλεωνάς , καὶ ξενίζεται παρὰ ἀνδρὶ χερνήτῃ Μολόρχῳ . καὶ θύειν ἱερεῖον θέλοντι εἰς ἡμέραν ἔφη τηρεῖν τριακοστήν , καὶ ἂν μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς θήρας σῶος ἐπανέλθῃ , Διὶ σωτῆρι θύειν , ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ , τότε ὡς ἥρωι ἐναγίζειν . εἰς δὲ τὴν Νεμέαν ἀφικόμενος καὶ τὸν λέοντα μαστεύσας ἐτόξευσε τὸ πρῶτον · ὡς δὲ ἔμαθεν ἄτρωτον ὄντα , ἀνατεινάμενος τὸ ῥόπαλον ἐδίωκε . συμφυγόντος δὲ εἰς ἀμφίστομον σπήλαιον αὐτοῦ τὴν ἑτέραν ἐνῳκοδόμησεν εἴσοδον , διὰ δὲ τῆς ἑτέρας ἐπεισῆλθε τῷ θηρίῳ , καὶ περιθεὶς τὴν χεῖρα τῷ τραχήλῳ κατέσχεν ἄγχων ἕως ἔπνιξε , καὶ θέμενος ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων ἐκόμιζεν εἰς Κλεωνάς . καταλαβὼν δὲ τὸν Μόλορχον ἐν τῇ τελευταίᾳ τῶν ἡμερῶν ὡς νεκρῷ μέλλοντα τὸ ἱερεῖον ἐναγίζειν , σωτῆρι θύσας Διὶ ἦγεν εἰς Μυκήνας τὸν λέοντα . Εὐρυσθεὺς δὲ καταπλαγεὶς αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀνδρείαν ἀπεῖπε τὸ λοιπὸν αὐτῷ εἰς τὴν πόλιν εἰσιέναι , δεικνύειν δὲ πρὸ τῶν πυλῶν ἐκέλευε τοὺς ἄθλους . φασὶ δὲ ὅτι δείσας καὶ πίθον ἑαυτῷ χαλκοῦν εἰσκρυβῆναι ὑπὸ γῆν κατεσκεύασε , καὶ πέμπων κήρυκα Κοπρέα Πέλοπος τοῦ Ἠλείου ἐπέταττε τοὺς ἄθλους . οὗτος δὲ Ἴφιτον κτείνας , φυγὼν εἰς Μυκήνας καὶ τυχὼν παρʼ Εὐρυσθέως καθαρσίων ἐκεῖ κατῴκει .
On
hearing
this
,
Heracles
went
to
Tiryns
and
fulfilled
what
Eurystheus
demanded
of
him
.
Eurystheus
began
by
ordering
him
to
fetch
the
skin
of
the
Nemean
lion
;
this
was
an
invulnerable
beast
fathered
by
Typhon
.
As
he
was
travelling
to
confront
the
lion
,
Heracles
arrived
at
Cleonai
and
stayed
with
a
labourer
called
Molorchos
;
and
when
Molorchos
wanted
to
offer
a
victim
in
sacrifice
,
Heracles
told
him
to
wait
for
thirty
days
,
and
then
,
if
he
had
returned
safely
from
the
hunt
,
to
offer
a
sacrifice
to
Zeus
the
Saviour
,
but
if
he
had
died
,
to
offer
it
to
himself
as
a
hero
.
On
reaching
Nemea
,
he
sought
out
the
lion
,
and
began
by
shooting
arrows
at
it
,
but
when
he
discovered
that
the
beast
was
invulnerable
,
he
raised
his
club
and
chased
after
it
.
When
the
lion
took
refuge
in
a
cave
which
had
two
entrances
,
Heracles
walled
up
one
of
them
and
went
in
through
the
other
to
attack
the
beast
;
and
throwing
his
arm
round
its
neck
,
he
held
it
in
a
stranglehold
until
he
had
throttled
it
.
And
hoisting
it
on
to
his
shoulders
,
he
carried
it
back
to
Cleonai
.
Coming
upon
Molorchos
on
the
last
of
the
thirty
days
as
he
was
about
to
sacrifice
to
him
as
a
dead
hero
,
Heracles
sacrificed
to
Zeus
the
Saviour
instead
,
and
proceeded
to
Mycenae
with
the
lion
.
Astounded
by
his
bravery
,
Eurystheus
refused
him
entry
to
the
city
from
that
day
forth
,
and
told
him
to
exhibit
his
trophies
in
front
of
the
gates
.
They
say
,
furthermore
,
that
in
his
alarm
he
had
a
bronze
jar
made
for
himself
to
hide
in
beneath
the
ground
,
and
that
he
conveyed
his
commands
for
the
labours
through
a
herald
,
Copreus
,
a
son
of
Pelops
the
Elean
.