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 .

So , after hearing this , Heracles marched off to Tiryns to get on with the task Eurystheus had set for him . First up , he was told to grab the Nemean Lion’s skin . Now , this lion was basically indestructible , since it had been born from the monster Typhon , who was basically a walking disaster . Anyway , Heracles set off towards the lion , and along the way , he ended up in Cleonae , where he crashed at the house of a local guy named Molorchus , who was , by all accounts , a very friendly farmer .
Molorchus , wanting to do a little divine worship , said he’d hang around for 30 days waiting to see if Heracles survived . He promised that if Heracles made it back in one piece , he’d sacrifice to Zeus Soter ( the " Savior " ) , but if Heracles didn’t make it , well , then he’d just have to sacrifice like he was a hero or something . So , Heracles finally got to Nemea , where he started hunting the lion . He tried shooting it with an arrow at first—classic move .
But , when he realized that the lion was pretty much immune to arrows ( like it was wearing armor or something ) , he decided to up his game and grab his big ol’ club . The lion , not wanting to mess with him , ran into a cave with two entrances . Heracles , being the smart guy he is , blocked one of the entrances , then slipped in the other , like he was sneaking into a secret party . Inside , he tackled the lion , got it by the throat , and choked it out like he was giving it a bear hug of doom . Afterward , he tossed the lion over his shoulders like it was just a heavy coat and marched back to Cleonae .

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 .