broke: the Nemean Lion was a beast and it’s good that Heracles killed it bc it kept randomly terrorizing Nemea
woke: the Nemean Lion was a child of Zeus and Selene, and was raised by Hera. The lion didn’t randomly terrorize, but instead brought women back to wherever the lion lived and then would kill men who tried to take the women away. Knowing Hera and understanding the way Medusa was similarly cast as a “monster” despite being a protector and literal guardian of brutalized women, in this essay I will
Keep going.
essentially I propose that the myth of the Nemean Lion, much like the myth of Medusa, has been seen through the lens of the patriarchal “heroes” for thousands of years.
A male lion, once he finds his pride, is a fairly chill dude. He only becomes violent when his pride is threatened, most often by other males. Most versions of the myth have the lion “kidnapping” the women of Nemea, as opposed to killing them.
Why wouldn’t the women leave when the lion goes out again? Answer: living with the lion is better than living with the men in Nemea.
So, like Medusa, the lion becomes an enemy who is “stealing women,” when in actuality the lion is protecting them. Additional support for this comes from his mother being Selene, of the moon, and being raised by Hera, both are amazing goddesses who are full of the Female Spirit. One of the symbols of Hera is this lion, in fact, and once he died he became the constellation Leo. Tell me, why would Hera immortalize the lion in this way if he was just some violent beast, as opposed to a brave, valiant son she raised who died protecting women who needed it?
In conclusion, the lion did nothing wrong and was cast as a villain because men don’t like when they don’t have control over women.
Caucasian Eagle sent by Zeus to feed on Prometheus’ liver.
Origin: Greek mythology.
Parents/Maker: Various described as a bronze automaton constructed by the god Hephaistos, or as a member of the brood of fell creatures spawned by the daemon Ekhidna.
Siblings: Nemean Lion and Hydra.
The Aetos Kaukasios (Caucasian Eagle) was a gigantic eagle sent by Zeus to feed on the ever-regenerating liver of the Titan Prometheus, after he was chained to the peak of Mount Kaukasos as punishment for stealing fire from the gods.
When Heracles set out to free Prometheus from his bonds, he shot down the eagle with a volley of arrows. Afterwards the Eagle, the Titan and Arrow were placed all amonst the stars in the form of the constellations Aquila, the Kneeler and Saggita.
All right, moving on to big momma! i dont want to give her backstory this time, as i like posing the questions to you all as a guessing game. so I’m going to list the visual symbols i have incorporated into the image, and hopefully some informed tumblrs can come by and describe the deeper meanings.
The Nemean games, one of the four great national festivals of the Greeks. It was held at Nemea, a place near Cleonae in Argolis. The games were revived by Hercules, after he had slain the Nemean lion; and were from this time celebrated in honour of Zeus. They were at first of a warlike character, and only warriors and their sons were allowed to take part in them; subsequently, however, they were thrown open to all the Greeks. The various games were horse-racing, running in armour in the stadium, wrestling, chariot-racing and the discus, boxing, throwing the spear and shooting with the bow, to which we may add musical contests. The prize given to the victors was at first a chaplet of olive-branches, but afterwards a chaplet of green parsley.
