 Gustave Moreau's 19th-century depiction of the Hydra, influenced by the Beast from the Book of Revelation | |
| Family | Child of Typhon and Echidna |
|---|---|
| Folklore | Greek mythology |
| Country | Greece |
| Region | Lerna |
The Lernaean Hydra or Hydra of Lerna (Ancient Greek: Λερναῖα ὕδρα, romanized: Lernaîa Húdrā), more often known simply as the Hydra, is a serpentine lake monster in Greek mythology and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, which was also the site of the myth of the Danaïdes. Lerna was reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld,[1] and archaeology has established it as a sacred site older than Mycenaean Argos. In the canonical Hydra myth, the monster is killed by Heracles (Hercules) as the second of his Twelve Labors.[2]
According to Hesiod, the Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna.[3] It had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its scent was deadly.[4] The Hydra possessed many heads, the exact number of which varies according to the source. Later versions of the Hydra story add a regeneration feature to the monster: for every head chopped off, the Hydra would regrow two heads.[5] Heracles required the assistance of his nephew Iolaus to cut off all of the monster's heads and burn the neck using a sword and fire.[6]
- ^ Kerenyi (1959), p. 143.
- ^ Ogden 2013, p. 26.
- ^ Hesiod, Theogony 310 ff.. See also Hyginus, Fabulae Preface & 151
- ^ According to Hyginus, Fabulae 30, the Hydra "was so poisonous that she killed men with her breath, and if anyone passed by when she was sleeping, he breathed her tracks and died in the greatest torment."
- ^ Ogden 2013, p. 29–30.
- ^ Greenley, Ben; Menashe, Dan; Renshaw, James (2017-08-24). OCR Classical Civilisation GCSE Route 1: Myth and Religion. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781350014886.