The Hydra

            The second of twelve labors appointed to Hercules in his quest for writing a wrong. The Lernean Hydra. Making a home for itself in the lake of Lernea and eating livestock that wandered into the swampy area, the Hydra was a forced to be reckoned with.  

            After slaying the Nemean Lion, Hercules ventured to the swamps of Lake Lernea. Even though it posed a problem being a gigantic monster. It also had mystical powers. And Hercules found this out the hard way. The Hydra could not be decapitated and killed. It very breath was toxic gas. For every head that was chopped off, two grew back in its place. With the help of Hercules’s nephew, Iolus, there was a solution. By taking a flaming branch, Iolus cauterized the stump before another head could replicate. Even though Hercules set out to kill the Hydra and completed his task, Eurystheus did not count this task towards Hercules’s labors.

            In correlation with the location. The den where the Hydra lived. Legend has it, that beneath the waters was the entrance to the Underworld and the Hydra was its guard.

S.J., and Raymond V. Schoder. Aerial view of site and bay, from E. Photograph . http://www.perseus.tufts.edu. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, n.d. Web. <http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/hydra.html>.

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Harrison, Jane, Robert Graves, Carl Kerenyi, Walter Burkert , and Micheal Lahanas. "Lernaean Hydra." Hellenica, Information about Greece and Cyprus. Hellenaworld.com, n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. <http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/LernaeanHydra.html>.

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Leadbetter, Ron. "Hydra." Encyclopedia Mythica: mythology, folklore, and religion. N.p., 22 Dec. 1999. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. <http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/hydra.html>.

UNCW. "The Lernean Hydra." UNCW Faculty and Staff Web Pages. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. <http://people.uncw.edu/deagona/herakles/children/hydra.htm>.