Hydra, a Multi-headed Snake With Extremely Poisonous Blood and Breath

INDEPHEDIA.com - Hydra is one Greek mythological animals. This animal is described as a dragon or multi-headed snake with blood and breath that is so poisonous that it can kill humans. There are many references to the Hydra, both in literature and in Greek poetry.

The hydra, known as the descendants of Tifon and Ekhidna, are lodged in the Lerna lake in Argolid. Therefore, this creature is also called the Lerna Hydra. This place is also one of the entry points to the underworld. Hydra defeated and killed Hercules or Herakles.

According to legend, it was impossible to win a battle with the Hydra because cutting off one of its heads meant that two more would grow back into place. However, Hercules (a man identified with his power and divinity) came and found a strategy to win the battle with Hydra.

After decapitating one of the beasts' heads, Hercules, known as the son of the god Jupiter (in Greek mythology called Zeus), quickly burned the stump so that the new one could not regenerate.

Then, Hercules continued releasing the monster from the remaining head, burning every wound as he cut it. In this way Hydra can be defeated.

Second Task of Hercules of Euristheus to Kill the Hydra

Killing Hidra is the second assignment of Euristheus given to Hercules or Herakles after he succeeded in killing the Nemean Lion. Hidra comes out of the nest only to terrorize the surrounding residential areas.

Upon arriving at Hidra's lair, a swamp near the Lerna lake, Herakles covered his mouth and nose with a cloth to protect him from poisonous fumes. Herakles shot Hidra's nest with flaming arrows.

Herakles then faced Hidra armed with a sickle (according to the early vase painting), a sword or a club. However, every time Herakles cut off one of Hidra's heads, the other two heads would grow again. Herakles then realized that Hidra had one immortal head.

Herakles knew he would not be able to beat Hidra alone, so he asked for help from his nephew Iolaos. Iolaos got the idea (possibly from the goddess Athena) that they should use a torch to burn Hidra's neck which had just been cut. In this way Hidra's head doesn't grow anymore.

In another version, after cutting off each head, Herakles dipped his sword in blood and used it to burn each neck so that Hidra's head did not grow again.

Seeing this, Hera sent a giant crab to distract Herakles. The crab finally died being trampled by Herakles and the hero returned to face Hidra.

After all of his immortal heads were cut off, Herakles cut off the head of the immortal Hidra and buried him under a large rock on the road between Lerna and Elaios.

Before leaving, Herakles first dipped all of his arrows in Hydra's blood so that now all of his arrows were poisonous. Hera then placed Hydra and a giant crab in the sky as the constellations of Hydra and Cancer.

After completing his duties, Herakles returned to Euristheus but it turned out that Euristheus refused the settlement because according to him Herakels was assisted by Iolaos so that the task became invalid and Herakles' number of tasks was still nine.

Herakles later uses Hidra's poisoned arrows to kill Nessos, a Kentaur who tries to rape Deianeira, Herakles' wife. Hydra's poisonous blood then infects Nessos' blood which in turn poison the clothes Herakles will wear and eventually kills the hero.

Strabo and Pausanias report that the stench in the Anigros river in Elis, which makes the fish inedible, is thought to be caused by Hydra's poisonous blood from the arrow used by Herakles to kill Nessos. (MT / IN / US)