Leo is one of the 48 constellation created by Claudius Ptolemy. It has an area of 947 square degrees and contains 118 ecliptic eye stars. It is one of the twelve constellation.

In Greek mythology, the Leo is said to be the man-eating lion of the Nemean marsh, slain by Hercules. The lion was the son of Typhon and Echidna, and was immortal. Leo, Hercules chased it into a cave and killed it by strangling it without using any weapons.

This slaying of the lion was one of the 12 labors of Hercules, and the Katasterismoi and Astronomical Poems also introduce the myth that Zeus made the lion constellation because the lion is the king of all beasts.


[Source of the story]

Encyclopedia of the Cultural History of Stars, Hakusuisha Publishing (December 2019)
Encyclopedia of constellation Shinsha (February 2011)