Haardplaat met Hercules met de leeuw, BK-BFR-405

The Lion of

Cithaeron Cithaeron or Kithairon (Κιθαιρών, -ῶνος) is a mountain and mountain range about sixteen kilometres (ten miles) long in Central Greece. The range is the physical boundary between Boeotia in the north and Attica in the south. It is mai ...

was a lion in Greek mythology which was harassing the lands of king

Amphitryon Amphitryon (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιτρύων, ''gen''.: Ἀμφιτρύωνος; usually interpreted as "harassing either side", Latin: Amphitruo), in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis. His mother was named ei ...

and king

Thespius In Greek mythology, Thespius (; Ancient Greek: Θέσπιος ''Théspios'') or Thestius (; Ancient Greek: Θέστιος)Pausanias, 9.27.7 was a legendary founder and king of Thespiae, Boeotia. His life account is considered part of Greek mythology ...

Apollodorus, Library, 2.4.9
/ref> or of king

Megareus In Greek mythology, Megareus (Ancient Greek: Μεγαρεύς) may refer to: *Megareus, king of Onchestus in Boeotia and father of Hippomenes. *Megareus, son of Eurydice of Thebes, and a defender of Thebes during the war of the Seven against Thebe ...

.Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.41.3
/ref> According to the ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...

'', it was also called

Thespian Thespian may refer to: * A citizen of the Ancient Greek city of Thespiae * An actor or actress ** Thespis, the first credited actor * A member of the International Thespian Society The International Thespian Society (ITS) is an honor society ...

lion and ravine lion ( grc, Χαραδραῖος λέων, ''Charadraios leōn'') because it lived in a place called "Ravine" (χαράδρα, ''charadra'').Suda, chi.88
/ref> Some myths say that it was killed by

Herakles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

, while others by

Alcathous Alcathous (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκάθοος) was the name of several people in Greek mythology: * Alcathous, a Calydonian prince as the son of King Porthaon and Euryte, daughter of Hippodamas. He was the brother of Oeneus (successor of Porthao ...

or by the god

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

.A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, William Smith, Agraeus
/ref>

Heracles

One account of the myth has it that king Thespius asked Heracles to kill the lion. Heracles hunted it for fifty days and finally killed it. During each night of the hunt Heracles slept with a different daughter of the king; they each gave birth to a son.Apollodorus, Library, 2.4.10
/ref> After he slew the animal, Heracles dressed himself in the skin of the animal and wore the scalp as a helmet. According to the Suda it was killed near Thespiae. Heracles killed the lion while he was eighteen years old, and before killing the Nemean lion.

Alcathous

Another account of the myth has it that the lion was killed by Alcathous. The lion had killed many including Euippus, a son of the king of

Megara Megara (; el, Μέγαρα, ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, befo ...

Megareus. The king promised that he who would kill the Cithaeronian lion would marry his daughter

Evaechme In Greek mythology, the name Evaechme, Euaechme or Euaichme (Ancient Greek: Εὐαίχμη) may refer to: *Evaechme, a Megarian princess as daughter of King Megareus and Iphinoe, daughter of King Nisus, thus sister of Evippus and Timalcus. She w ...

and succeed him in the throne. Alcathous killed the lion and when he became the king, he built the sanctuary of

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

Agrotera Agrotera ( Gr. , "the huntress") was an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis, the most important goddess to Attic hunters. At Agrae on the Ilissos, where she was believed to have first hunted after her arrival from Delos, Artemis Agrotera had a ...

(Huntress) ( grc, Ἀγροτέραν Ἄρτεμιν) and Apollo

Agraeus Agraeus ( el, Ἀγραῖος, ''Agraios'') was the name of a number of personages from ancient myth, but was primarily known as an epithet of the god Apollo in Greek mythology, which meant "the hunter". After Apollo had killed the Lion of Citha ...

(Hunter) ( grc, Ἀπόλλωνα Ἀγραῖον).Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.41.6
/ref>

Apollo

Another account of the myth has it that the lion was killed by the god Apollo. Because the god killed the lion, he was called Agraeus (Hunter) and Alcathous erected a temple for him at Megara under the name of Apollo Agraeus.

References

{{reflist Heracles Monsters in Greek mythology Mythology of Heracles Mythological lions