Hydra

regrowing heads

If one cut off a head of the many-headed Hydra, two new ones grew back at once.

💡 Did you know? Its breath and blood were so poisonous that even the smell could be fatal.

Heracles

Slaying the Hydra was the second of the twelve labours of Heracles.

💡 Did you know? His nephew Iolaus burned the neck stumps so no new heads could grow.

for his arrows

Heracles dipped his arrows in the Hydra's deadly venom: an incurable weapon.

💡 Did you know? In the end this venom became his own undoing and led to his death.

an ever-regrowing problem

A „Hydra problem“ keeps sprouting new offshoots as soon as one is fought.

💡 Did you know? The constellation Hydra too is named after the monster.

in the swamps of Lerna

The Lernaean Hydra lived in the swamps of Lerna in the region of Argolis.

💡 Did you know? The place was also regarded as one of the entrances to the underworld.

he buried it under a rock

One of the heads was immortal; Heracles cut it off and buried it under a heavy rock.

💡 Did you know? Because his nephew helped, King Eurystheus at first did not count this deed as a „real“ labour.

his nephew Iolaus

He seared the neck stumps before heads could regrow.

💡 Did you know? Because of the help, Eurystheus refused to count the labour.

a giant crab

It pinched Heracles' heel and was crushed.

💡 Did you know? Hera placed it in the sky as the constellation Cancer.

nine

Eight mortal and one immortal.

💡 Did you know? Other versions count up to fifty.

Hydra (the Water Snake)

The most extended constellation in the entire sky.

💡 Did you know? It stretches across more than 100 degrees.

the freshwater hydra

Tiny, with a crown of tentacles: cut pieces regrow.

💡 Did you know? Researchers consider it potentially immortal.

the second

Of twelve labours for King Eurystheus.

💡 Did you know? The first was the Nemean Lion.