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The Lernaean Hydra or Hydra of Lerna (Ancient Greek: Λερναῖα ὕδρα, romanized: Lernaîa Húdrā), more often known simply as the Hydra, is a serpentine lake monster in Greek mythology and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, which was also the site of the myth of the Danaïdes.
The Lernaean Hydra was a dragon-like water serpent with fatally venomous breath, blood and fangs, a daughter of Typhon and Echidna. The creature was said to have anywhere between five and 100 heads, although most sources put the number somewhere between seven and nine. For each head cut off, one or two more grew back in its place.
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The geographer Strabo attests that the Lernaean waters were considered healing: Lake Lerna, the scene of the story of the Hydra, lies in Argeia and the Mycenaean territory; and on account of the cleansings that take place in it there arose a proverb, 'A Lerna of ills.' Now writers agree that the county has plenty of water, and that, although ...
Criosphinx: a creature with the head of a ram and the body of a lion. [4] Hieracosphinx: a creature with the head of a hawk and the body of a lion. [4] Stymphalian birds: man-eating birds with beaks of bronze and sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims. Tarandos: a rare animal with the size of an ox and the head of a deer.
Iolaus provided essential help to Heracles in his battle against the Hydra, his second labor. Seeing that Heracles was being overwhelmed by the multi-headed monster (the Lernaean Hydra), who grew two heads in place of each one cut off, Iolaus helped by cauterizing each neck as Heracles beheaded it.
Virgil locates Briareus, as in Hesiod, in the underworld, where the Hundred-Hander dwells among "strange prodigies of bestial kind", which include the Centaurs, Scylla, the Lernaean Hydra, the Chimaera, the Gorgons, the Harpies, and Geryon. [100] Later Virgil describes the "hundred-handed" Aegaeon (the Iliad's Briareus):
The Lernaean Hydra – an ancient nameless serpent-like chthonic water beast that possessed numerous heads. Orthrus – a two-headed dog owned by Geryon. Scylla – sometimes described as a six-headed sea monster. Other multi-headed creatures in Greek mythology include: The Hecatonchires – giants with fifty heads and one hundred arms. The ...