The constellation Leo is also known as the Lion.
It was said during ancient Egypt, when the lions of the desert came close to the valley of the Nile during the dry season whenever the river flooded. The Sun during this period can always be found in Leo; hence its name.
Ancient mythology for Leo tells of Hercules' first tasked labor, which was to kill the Nemean Lion; a fierce beast that took on the form of a meteor from the Moon and devastated the countryside of Corinth. Hercules had no trouble finding the cave with two entrances where the beast was known to reside at. As he approached the cave, he spotted the lion and aimed an arrow at its heart but it bounced off the Lion, not scarring it. Angry, Hercules sealed off one of the entrances to the cave and pursued the lion right in through the other. So immense was his strength that he seized the lion and strangled it to death by ramming his fist down its throat. He then flung the beast over his shoulder in proof to King Eurystheus that he'd completed his task. Hercules then skinned the lion and used its tough hide as a protective shield as well as for exhibitionistic reasons.
So angry was Hera; Goddess of Feminimity at Hercules' success that she raised the soul of the lion high into the sky, and created the constellation Leo.
Henceforth, the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, Persians, Syrians, Greeks, and Romans, all recognized this constellation as a lion.
