Heracles and the Hydra
The Greek hero thinks he has paid off more of his debt to the gods, but an unpleasant surprise awaits him.
© Dave and Margie Hill, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0
In this scene from a c. 525 BC vase now in the Getty Villa, California, Heracles is interrupted in his battle with the Hydra by an irritating crab at his heels.
Introduction
This post is number 2 in the series Twelve Labours of Heracles
In a moment of madness induced by Hera, Heracles has killed his own children. Now he is working off his debt by serving his cousin and rival Eurystheus, and has already returned alive from one ‘hopeless errand’...
THE second Labour appointed for Heracles seemed as hopeless as the first.
The Hydra, a serpent with nine heads, was causing havoc among the farms neighbouring the marsh of Lerna, and Heracles was to kill it.
Accompanied by his nephew Iolaus, Heracles goaded the creature into a fight. But each time he swept off a head with his great club, two more grew at once. He tried to use his bare hands, only to find a giant crab had emerged from the swamp, and was snapping at his heels.
While Heracles dealt with the crab,* Iolaus started a fire, and then as each head was severed, he seared the stump to prevent more growing. Eventually, the Hydra was dead, and after dipping his arrow-tips in its poisonous blood, Heracles returned to Tiryns.
Eurystheus, however, declared the Labour void, since Heracles had had help — and there was all the weary work to do again.
Based on ‘Aunt Charlotte’s Stories of Greek History’ by Charlotte Yonge (1823-1901).
Next in series: Heracles and the Cerynaean Hind
Hera put it in the sky as the constellation Cancer.
