#hydra of lerna

[briefbestiary]

A large lake monster with regenerating heads. She made her den by or within the ancient lake at Lerna, an alleged entrance to the underworld.

Her immortal head is either killed with a golden sword granted by Athena, or pinned beneath a boulder for eternity.

A beast of intense toxin, from both breath and blood, and by dipping his arrows into her corpse Heracles' obtained his famed poisonous arrows.

[themooninthestars]

It throve on wounds: of all its hundred heads I cut off one but from its neck two more sprang to succeed it, stronger than before! 

OVID, METAMORPHOSES

[quarkmaster]

Lernaean Hydra

The Lernaean Hydra or Hydra of Lerna, more often known simply as the Hydra, was a serpentine water monster in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, which was also the site of the myth of the Danaids. 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, more often known as Hercules, using sword and fire, as the second of his Twelve Labors.

According to Hesiod, the Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. It 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 a couple of heads.

The Hydra had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its scent was deadly. Wikipedia

Francesco Lorenzetti

[vickapinto]

Fantastic Creatures of the Greco-Roman Mythology: Lernaean Hydra, the monster of multiple heads

Author’s note: The following article was published on Spanish language in April 28th, 2024, in my Blurt blog. Heracles and Lernaean Hydra by Gustave Moreau. Image edited with Canva. Source of the image: Wikipedia In the last post, we explained the Sphynx, a mysterious creature who was close to the entry to the city of Thebes, and which proposed a riddle to its victims. We remember that this…

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[petitsportraits]

[didanawisgi]

[thekookyone]

he Lernaean Hydra or Hydra of Lerna, more often known simply as the Hydra, was an ancient serpentine water monster with reptilian traits in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, which was also the site of the myth of the Danaids. Lerna was reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld and archaeology has established it as a sacred site older than Mycenaean Argos. The Hydra served as a guard.

According to Hesiod, the Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. It possessed many heads "more than the vase-painters could paint" and, each time one was lost, it was replaced by two more. It had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its scent was deadly. The Hydra was killed by Heracles as the second of his Twelve Labors.

The Hydra had many parallels in ancient Near Eastern religions. In particular, Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian mythologycelebrated the deeds of the war and hunting god Ninurta, whom the Angrim credited with slaying 11 monsters on an expedition to the mountains, including a seven-headed serpent (possibly identical with the Mushmahhu) and Bashmu, whose constellation (despite having a single head) was later associated by the Greeks with the Hydra. The constellation is also sometimes associated in Babylonian contexts with Marduk's dragon, the Mushhushshu.