PLATE XXI
Herakles and the Lion of Nemea
Herakles is leaning forward, his knees almost touching the ground, and is throwing the weight of his body on the lion's head and shoulders; at the same time with his right hand he seizes the beast by a hind quarter and powerfully draws it toward himself, while his left arm, passing under the lion's throat, is choking him to death. The hero's quiver and sheathed sword are suspended in the background. Athene, partly armed, stands at the left eagerly watching the fray. From a black-figured amphora of about 500 B.C., found at Gela (Monumenti Antichi, xvii, Plate XL). See pp. 80-81.
