Centuries later, the myths of Ancient Greece do not lose popularity among readers around the world. The most interesting is the cycle of stories about Hercules. There is a separate myth about each of the twelve exploits. "Lernean Hydra" - the second feat of Hercules.
Who is Hercules?
Hercules is the most popular hero of ancient Greek myths. He is the son of the supreme god living on Olympus, Zeus and the wife of the hero of Amphitrion, Alkmena. Homer repeatedly recalls him in the Iliad.
Dozens of myths about Hercules and his exploits have come down to us. The most popular and interesting is a cycle of twelve myths about the deeds of Hercules, committed when he was in the service of Eurystheus, the king of Mycenae and his cousin.
The cult of Hercules in Greece
In Greece, Hercules was a cult person. His profile was minted on coins, retelling adventures, all strong and resourceful people were also compared with him. In Italy, the cult of Hercules spread thanks to the Greek colonists, but the locals called it Hercules.
According to the myths of ancient Greece, the evil goddess Hera sent Heracles a terrible disease. The great hero became a madman. Having lost his mind, in a fit of anger, Hercules killed his own children, wives and children of Iphicles - his brother. When the attack passed, the hero realized that he had committed terrible killings, but it was too late. Deeply regretting and tormented by guilt, he still was able to cleanse his soul from an involuntarily committed crime. After this, Hercules went to the sacred mountains of Delphi to seek advice from Apollo. He ordered the hero to go to the native lands of his ancestors - to Tiryns - and faithfully serve Eurystheus for twelve years. Heracles was predicted that he would gain eternal life and youth if he accomplished twelve incredible feats on the orders of Eurystheus. The hero agreed and became the servant of the weak, miserable Mycenaean king.
Lernean Hydra
The myth "Lernean Hydra" is one of the most interesting in the cycle. You will be very interested to read it. The second feat of Hercules - "Lernean Hydra" - tells about the hero’s battle with a terrible monster with nine dragon heads, one of which was immortal, and the body of a snake - the creation of Echidna and Typhon, created in order to kill Hercules. She was so poisonous that in the place where her body touched, nothing ever grew back, and from living breath and smell all living things died.
The Lernean hydra lived in a swamp, not far from the picturesque city of Lerna, which suffered greatly from a terrible creature. Emperor Neuron wanted to measure the depth of the swamp, but to no avail: it turned out to be bottomless. For many travelers, the swamp became the last marina. The Lerna hydra often devastated a fertile, fertile place, killing its inhabitants. Only a real hero could kill a monster, and Hercules did it.
Duel of Hercules and the Beast
Athena pondered for a long time how Hercules could defeat the Lernean hydra. After the hero reached Lerna’s chariot driven by Iolaus, the goddess of wisdom showed him the place where the hydra lives, and advised him to shoot fire arrows in the swamp monster to force him to leave the den. When he appeared, Hercules had to hold his breath. Hercules listened to the patroness. At that time, the Lerna hydra did not feel danger, was full and was preparing for bed. Burning arrows teased her and forced her to crawl out of the den. But the hydra wrapped its powerful, slippery and long body around the hero’s leg, trying to tumble and strangle him, and nine terrifying heads began to hiss and breathe deadly poisons. Hercules wrapped himself even more densely in the skin of a lion, which protected from stings and bites of any creatures, and with all his might beat a huge club on the heads of the monster, but in vain: as soon as he broke one head, several new ones appeared immediately in its place. Suddenly, the hero felt a terrible sharp pain in his leg: huge cancers crawled out of the bottomless swamp to help the hydra. He grabbed the foot of Hercules, but he gathered all his strength, trampled him in a rage and called for help from his nephew, Iolaus, who set fire to a small part of the grove, and so that the hydra would not grow new heads, he began to burn the logs on the necks with burning trunks trees.
Hercules easily destroyed eight heads of hydra and finally got to the immortal head, which was almost all gold. When she fell to the ground, Hercules and Iolaus buried the still-living and hissing heads of the hydra deep in the ground, not far from the road to Eleunt, and a very large rock was piled onto this place. Hercules chopped the body of a monster into pieces and dipped its arrows into its poisonous bile, with which it was now possible to instantly kill anyone. With great pride and glory, the hero returned to Tiryns, but Eurystheus had already invented a new task for him with the help of Hera.
Another option for ending the myth
Some paraphrases also indicate that Hercules was nevertheless bitten by the Lernean hydra in naked places not covered by the skin. The hero was very ill and could die from a terrible poison. Hercules no longer hoped for healing, but the oracle gave him a chance, ordering him to find a magic flower in the East. In the distant Phenicia, Hercules found a lotus flower that looked like a hydra, and miraculously healed it.
With this feat, Hercules not only cleansed his soul from a terrible crime, delivered people from the monster that devastated their lands, poisoning the air, but also became even more famous in Tiryns and in his homeland.