Leo (constellation) thus, the warriors' clubs, swords, and spears were rendered useless against it. Realizing that he must defeat the Lion with his bare hands, Hercules slipped into the Lion's cave and engaged it at close quarters. When the Lion pounced, Hercules caught it in midair, one hand grasping the Lion's forelegs and the other its hind legs, and bent it backwards, breaking its back and freeing the trapped maidens. Zeus commemorated this labor by placing the Lion in the sky. The Roman poet Ovid called it "Herculeus Leo" and "Violentus Leo". "Bacchi Sidus" (star of Bacchus) was another of its titles,
Cape lion Cape lion The Cape lion was a "Panthera leo melanochaita" population in South Africa's Natal and Cape Provinces that has been extirpated in the mid-19th century. The type specimen originated at the Cape of Good Hope and was described in 1842. Until 2017, the Cape lion was considered a distinct lion subspecies. Phylogeographic analysis showed that lion populations in Southern and East Africa are closely related. In 2017, lion populations in Southern and East Africa were subsumed to "Panthera leo melanochaita". "Felis (Leo) melanochaita" was a black-maned lion specimen from the Cape of Good Hope that was described by Ch.