The new Magic: The Gathering set is almost out and its shaping up to be one of the sweetest sets for Flavor in years. One of the coolest things is that so many of the cards are pulled directly from Greek Mythology. Cards like Fleecemane Lion.
But while you might think that thanks to the name Fleecemane its a reference to Jason, The Argonauts, and the quest for the Golden Fleece I think you'd be wrong. It's totally a Hercules riff.
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| No, not this guy. |
The first Labor of Hercules was to kill the Nemeian Lion, a seemingly invulnerable lion that had been stalking... Nemea. Hercules found that both arrows and clubs were unable to damage the beast, so he did what any idiot would do. He went into hand to hand with a freaking monster lion and god damned choked it to death. Hercules was many, many things but he wasn't a quitter. Or overly intelligent. And to add insult to injury some versions say that he skinned the bastard and wore him as a cloak after.
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Nah, it was no big deal. Lemmie tell you
about the snake in my nursery... |
And this was just Herc's first Labor. It's also not the only one that gets referenced in Theros, but that'll be for another post.
Oh man, I haven't played Magic in years. I miss it. I wish I could use that Lion card, seems pretty good.
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