LERNAEAN HYDRA Origin: Greek Mythology. Description: Ancient serpent-like chthonic water beast, with
LERNAEAN HYDRA Origin: Greek Mythology. Description: Ancient serpent-like chthonic water beast, with reptilian traits that possessed many heads and poisonous breathe so virulent even her tracks were deadly. Also, according to many myths, one of the heads was immortal. Location: Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, though archaeology has borne out the myth that the sacred site is older even than the Mycenaean city of Argos since Lerna was the site of the myth of the Danaids. Beneath the waters was an entrance to the Underworld, and the Hydra was its guardian. Born Of: Typhon and Echidna. Also, the half-sister to the Nemean Lion. Myths: It was the second of Heracles’ 12 labors to kill the Hydra. During the fight, every time Heracles chopped off one of the hydra’s nine heads, two more grew in its place. So Heracles asked for the help of his nephew Iolaus, who would cauterize each stump when Heracles chopped off a head, preventing the regrowth of two heads. Because the last of the heads was immortal, Heracles was forced to bury it under a large boulder. After killing the Hydra, Heracles dipped his arrows in the blood of the beast. These arrows were used to kill Geryon. However, this labor was not counted as Heracles was aided by Iolaus. The breath of the hydra is so poisonous that it could kill a man just by inhalation. The foul stench that the river of Elis, Anigros, exudes is the smell of the decaying hydra. Also in Greek mythology, Jason killed another hydra to get the Golden Fleece. -- source link
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