The constellation Leo is located between Cancer and Virgo. It represents the lion which lived in a cavern near the city of Nemea, next to Corinth. It was a fierce and invulnerable beast who's skin could not be transfixed by any weapon. During his first labour, Hercules killed the beast by suffocating it with the strength of his arms. He then used it's claws to detach it's skin, which he wore as a garment.
To the anient Egyptians the constellation was called The House of The Sun, and Pliny stated that it was worshiped because the anual rise of the Nile coincided with the sun's entrance into Leo. Both Leo and the Dog Star (Sirius) were believed to contribute to the heat and storms of summer. Medieval christians reguarded Leo as a symbol of the Lion's Den of the book of Daniel but yo earlier Hebrews the Lion was the traditional sign of Judah as found in the text of the 49th chapter of Genisis.
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