After centuries, the myths of Ancient Greece do not lose popularity among readers around the world. The most interesting is the cycle of stories about Hercules. There is a separate myth about each of the twelve labors. "Lernaean Hydra" - the second feat of Hercules.
Who is Hercules?
Hercules is the most popular hero of ancient Greek myths. He is the son of the supreme god living on Olympus - Zeus and the wife of the hero Amphitrion - Alcmene. Homer mentions him repeatedly in the Iliad.
Dozens of myths about Hercules and his exploits have come down to us. The most popular and interesting is the cycle of twelve myths about the exploits of Hercules, committed when he was in the service of Eurystheus, the Mycenaean king and his cousin.
Cult of Hercules in Greece
In Greece, Hercules was a cult figure. His profile was minted on coins, adventures were retold, all strong and resourceful people were also compared with him. In Italy, the cult of Hercules spread thanks to the Greek colonists, but the locals called him Hercules.
According to the myths of ancient Greece, the evil goddess Hera sent a terrible disease to Hercules. The great hero has gone mad. Lost in mind,in a fit of anger, Hercules killed his own children, the wives and children of Iphicles, his own brother. When the attack passed, the hero realized that he had committed terrible murders, but it was too late. Deeply regretting and tormented by a sense of guilt, he was still able to cleanse his soul from an unwittingly committed crime. After that, Hercules went to the sacred mountains of Delphi to ask Apollo for advice. He ordered the hero to go to the native lands of his ancestors - to Tiryns - and faithfully serve Eurystheus for twelve years. Hercules was predicted that he would gain eternal life and youth if he performed twelve incredible feats on the orders of Eurystheus. The hero agreed and became the servant of the weak, pathetic Mycenaean king.
Lernaean Hydra
The Lernaean Hydra myth is one of the most interesting in the cycle. You will be very interested in reading it. The second feat of Hercules - "The Lernean Hydra" - tells about the battle of the hero with a terrible monster with nine dragon heads, one of which was immortal, and the body of a snake - the creation of Echidna and Typhon, born in order to kill Hercules. She was so poisonous that nothing ever grew in the place where her body touched, and everything living died from the very breath and smell.
The Lernean hydra lived in a swamp, not far from the picturesque city of Lerna, which suffered greatly from a terrible creature. Emperor Neuron himself wanted to measure the depth of the swamp, but to no avail: it turned out to be bottomless. For many travelers, the swamp became the last pier. Hydra Lernaeanoften devastated a fertile, fertile place, killed its inhabitants. Only a real hero could kill the monster, and Hercules did it.
Duel of Hercules and the monster
Athena thought for a long time about how Hercules could defeat the Lernean hydra. After the hero reached Lerna on the chariot driven by Iolaus, the goddess of wisdom showed him the place where the hydra lives, and advised him to shoot fire arrows at the swamp monster to force him out of the lair. When he appeared, Hercules had to hold his breath. Hercules listened to the patroness. At that time, the Lernean hydra did not feel danger, was full and was preparing for bed. The burning arrows teased her and forced her to crawl out of the lair. But the hydra wrapped its powerful, slippery and long body around the hero's leg, trying to knock him down and suffocate him, and nine terrifying heads began to hiss and breathe deadly poisons. Hercules wrapped himself even more tightly in the skin of a lion, which protected from the stings and bites of any creatures, and with all his strength he beat with a huge club on the heads of the monster, but in vain: as soon as he broke through one head, several new ones immediately appeared in its place. Suddenly, the hero felt a terrible sharp pain in his leg: a huge crayfish crawled out of the bottomless swamp to help the hydra. He clung to the foot of Hercules, but he, having gathered all his strength, trampled him in a rage and called for help his nephew, Iolaus, who set fire to a small part of the grove, and so that the hydra did not grow new heads, he began to burn the places of the log house on the necks with burning trunks trees.
Hercules witheasily destroyed eight hydra heads and finally got to the immortal head, which was almost all gold. When she also fell to the ground, Hercules and Iolaus buried the still alive and hissing heads of the hydra deep into the ground, not far from the road to Eleontus, and a very large rock was piled on this place. Hercules chopped the body of the monster into pieces and dipped his arrows into its poisonous bile, with which it was now possible to instantly kill anyone. With great pride and glory, the hero returned to Tiryns, but Eurystheus had already come up with a new task for him with the help of Hera.
Another version of the end of the myth
Some retellings also indicate that Hercules was nevertheless bitten by the Lernean hydra in bare, not covered with skin places. The hero became very ill and could die from a terrible poison. Hercules no longer hoped for a cure, but the oracle gave him a chance, ordering him to find a magic flower in the East. In distant Phoenicia, Hercules found a lotus flower that looked like a hydra, which miraculously cured him.
With this feat, Hercules not only cleansed his soul from a terrible crime, delivered people from a monster that devastated their lands that poisoned the air, but also became even more famous in Tiryns and in his homeland.
