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Leo · Zodiac Spirit Animal

Leo Spirit Animal

Leo the Lion: Babylonian origins as UR.GU.LA ('Great Lion'), the Greek myth of Heracles's first labor (the Nemean Lion), and the modern zodiac-animal associations.

Published

Engraved illustration of the Lion (Leo) from Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary, 1908.
Leo the Lion, from Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (1908). The Nemean Lion slain by Heracles as his first labor was placed among the stars by Zeus; the constellation appears in Babylonian star catalogs as 'Great Lion' (UR.GU.LA) as early as 1200 BCE. Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (1908). Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Leo is the Lion (July 23 – August 22, Fire element). Babylonian MUL.APIN names the sign UR.GU.LA ('Great Lion'). The Greek myth is the Nemean Lion of Heracles's first labor: invulnerable to weapons, Heracles strangled it and wore its pelt thereafter as his iconographic attribute. Apollodorus Library 2.5.1 and Hesiod Theogony 326–332 preserve the narrative. See our full lion-spirit-animal page for the broader Mesopotamian, Egyptian, biblical, and Buddhist lion traditions.

Leo is the Lion. Babylonian UR.GU.LA. The Greek catasterism is the Nemean Lion of Heracles’s first labor. See our lion page for the full multi-civilizational lion treatment.

Frequently asked

What animal is Leo?
The Lion. Babylonian UR.GU.LA ('Great Lion') in MUL.APIN. The Greek myth is the Nemean Lion of Heracles's first labor (Apollodorus 2.5.1). See our lion page for the broader Mesopotamian (Inanna-Ishtar), Egyptian (Sekhmet), biblical (Judges 14, Revelation 5:5), and Buddhist (Shakyasimha) traditions.

Sources

  1. PRIMARYMUL.APIN (UR.GU.LA) — Hunger & Pingree, 1989.
  2. PRIMARYHesiod, Theogony 326–332 — Loeb Classical Library.
  3. PRIMARYApollodorus, Library 2.5.1 — Loeb Classical Library.
  4. PRIMARYPtolemy, Tetrabiblos — Loeb Classical Library.