Monsters & spirits
The Lernaean Hydra
HY-druh
The many-headed serpent that grew two heads for every one cut off — the original problem that gets worse when you attack it.
The Hydra lived in the swamps of Lerna, near a spring believed to be one of the entrances to the Underworld. Another child of Typhon and Echidna, it had many heads — nine is the usual count, though sources range from five to a hundred — and breath and blood so venomous that the fumes alone could kill.
Killing it was the second labour of Heracles, and it went badly at first for a reason that has outlived the myth: every head he crushed was replaced by two more. Hera, who hated him, sent a giant crab to bite his foot while he worked. He crushed the crab, and she set both creatures in the sky as constellations for their trouble.
The solution was not strength. Heracles called in his nephew Iolaus, who followed behind with a torch and cauterised each stump the moment a head came off, so nothing could grow back. The last head was immortal; Heracles buried it under a boulder. He then dipped his arrows in the Hydra's blood, which made every future wound he inflicted lethal — and eventually killed him, when one of those arrows was turned against him years later.
Eurystheus refused to count the labour because Heracles had accepted help. It is one of the few places in the myths where a hero is penalised for solving a problem intelligently rather than alone.
Gods involved
The Lernaean Hydra: common questions
How do you kill a Hydra?
You cauterise. Heracles could not win by cutting alone — two heads grew for each one lost — so Iolaus burned each stump shut as it was severed. The one immortal head was buried under a rock.
How many heads did the Hydra have?
Usually nine, though ancient sources give anything from five to a hundred. One of them was immortal and could not be killed at all.
Which god is your parent?
Twelve questions and the campfire decides.