Hydra (water creature) In Greek mythology, a huge serpent with 7, 9, or 50 heads (accounts vary) in Lake Lerna in Argolis; offspring of Typhon and Echidna. If one head was chopped off, another two would grow in its place. Heracles’ second labour was to kill the monster. With the aid of Iolaus he accomplished the feat. The venom of Hydra was poisonous. Arrows dipped in the venom killed Cheiron, Nessus, and Philoctetes. Eventually the poison was used on a garment that killed Heracles. Hesiod’s Theogony, Vergil’s Aeneid (book 6), and Ovid’s Metamorphoses (book 9) all cite the myth.
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow-Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante
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