The Hydra

The Lernaean Hydra is a major antagonist in Greek mythology and Roman mythology.

The 9 headed hydra was a serpentine water monster with its lair in swamps of lake Lerna. Lerna was reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld. In myth, the monster is killed by Herakles/Hercules, using sword and fire, as the second of his twelve labors. According to Hesiod, the Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. It possessed many heads. Later versions of the Hydra story add a regeneration feature to the monster: for every head chopped off, the Hydra would regrow new heads. The Hydra had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its scent was deadly.

He then confronted the Hydra, wielding either a harvesting sickle, a sword, or his famed club.

Eurystheus sent Hercules to slay the Hydra, which Hera had raised just to slay Hercules. Upon reaching the swamp near Lake Lerna where the Hydra dwelt, Hercules covered his mouth and nose with a cloth to protect himself from the poisonous fumes. He shot flaming arrows into the Hydra's lair, a deep cave from which it emerged to terrorize neighboring villages.

The weakness of the Hydra was that it was invulnerable only if it retained at least one head. Realizing that he could not defeat the Hydra, Heracles called on his nephew Iolaus for help. Heracles cut off each head and Iolaus cauterized the open stumps. Seeing that Heracles was winning the struggle, Hera sent a giant crab to distract him. He crushed it under his foot. The Hydra's one immortal head was cut off with a golden sword given to Heracles by Athena.

Hercules’ struggle with the Hydra is shown on this base-metal coin struck at the Amorium, Phrygia (in central Turkey), under Roman Emperor Caracalla (A.D. 198 to 217). A gold aureus struck during the first reign of Maximilian, A.D. 286 to 310, featured an image of Hercules battling the Lernaean Hydra. $33,600 in 2023.