Olympians
AphroditeApolloAresArtemisAthenaHadesHephaestusHeraHermesHestiaPoseidonZeusAll Olympians
Titans
AsteriaAstraeusAtlasClymeneCriusCronusDioneEosEpimetheusEurybiaEurynomeHyperionAll Titans
Greek Gods
AeolusAetherAmphitriteAnemoiApateAsclepiusAuraBiaChaosCirceDeimosDemeterAll Greek Gods
Myths
CreaturesElementsFiguresGigantesGreek MythsHeroesMonstersMortalsMoviesPlacesPlanetsPopularAll Myths
Plays
AeschylusAristophanesEuripidesSophoclesAll Plays
Ancient Sources
ApollodorusHomerHesiodAeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesApolloniusOvidPausaniasPindarAll Ancient Sources
Olympians
Olympians
AphroditeApolloAresArtemisAthenaHadesHephaestusHeraHermesHestiaPoseidonZeusAll Olympians
Titans
Titans
AsteriaAstraeusAtlasClymeneCriusCronusDioneEosEpimetheusEurybiaEurynomeHyperionAll Titans
Greek Gods
Greek Gods
AeolusAetherAmphitriteAnemoiApateAsclepiusAuraBiaChaosCirceDeimosDemeterAll Greek Gods
Myths
Myths
CreaturesElementsFiguresGigantesGreek MythsHeroesMonstersMortalsMoviesPlacesPlanetsPopularAll Myths
Plays
Plays
AeschylusAristophanesEuripidesSophoclesAll Plays
Ancient Sources
Ancient Sources
ApollodorusHomerHesiodAeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesApolloniusOvidPausaniasPindarAll Ancient Sources
Search

Figures in the ancient sources

Lernaean Hydra in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Lernaean Hydra

19 passages from 12 ancient authors that tell of Lernaean Hydra, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. The Lernaean Hydra was a monster in Greek mythology. It had many heads and every time someone would cut off one of them, two more heads would grow out... For the story in one place, read our article on Lernaean Hydra.

Hesiod (1)

  1. Hesiod, Theogony 305–334Echidna's offspring: Cerberus, the Hydra, the Chimaera and the Sphinx (305-334)Typhaon is joined in love to Echidna, and their offspring are Orthus, Cerberus, the Hydra and the Chimaera. The Hydra is nourished by Hera and killed by Heracles with Iolaus's help, and the Chimaera is killed by Pegasus and Bellerophon. Echidna and Orthus bear the Sphinx and the Nemean lion, which Hera rears, and the section ends with Ceto and Phorcys's youngest child, the serpent that guards the golden apples.

Apollodorus (1)

  1. Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.5.1–6The Labours of Heracles (1-6): the Nemean Lion to the Stymphalian BirdsHeracles goes to Tiryns and serves Eurystheus, who sets him labours. He strangles the Nemean lion, kills the Lernaean hydra with Iolaus's help, takes the Cerynitian hind alive, and captures the Erymanthian boar after the fight with the centaurs at Pholus's cave, in which Chiron is wounded. He then cleans the stables of Augeas by diverting two rivers, and scares off the Stymphalian birds with Athena's castanets. Eurystheus refuses to count the hydra and the stables, because Iolaus helped and Augeas paid a wage.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

  1. Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.11.1–4.13.4Heracles' labours I: the first sevenHera sends a frenzy on Heracles, and in it he shoots his children by Megara; when he recovers he goes to serve Eurystheus. The chapters give the labours of the Nemean lion, the Lernaean hydra, the Erymanthian boar (with the fight against the Centaurs at the cave of Pholus), the golden-horned hind, the Stymphalian birds, the stables of Augeas, and the Cretan bull.

Ovid (1)

  1. Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.98–272Nessus and the death of HeraclesHeracles (Hercules), returning with Deianira, crosses the river Evenus, where the centaur Nessus offers to carry her across and tries to take her. Heracles shoots him with an arrow dipped in the hydra's poison, and the dying Nessus gives Deianira his blood-stained tunic as a love-charm. Years later, jealous of Iole, she sends the tunic to Heracles, who is burned by the poison, and tears at his flesh, and is raised to the sky from a funeral pyre on Mount Oeta.

Pausanias (1)

  1. Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.37.1–6Lerna: the sacred grove, Philammon’s mysteries, the Hydra and the Alcyonian LakeThe grove at Lerna runs from Mount Pontinus to the sea between the rivers Pontinus and Amymone, with images of Demeter and Dionysus and a sanctuary of Athena founded by Danaus. Pausanias describes the Lernaean mysteries and how Arrhiphon showed a supposed Philammon text to be spurious, the plane-tree and spring of Amymone where the Hydra was bred, and the bottomless Alcyonian Lake, through which Dionysus is said to have descended to fetch Semele.

Nonnus of Panopolis (1)

  1. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 25.194–270Book 25: Heracles compared; the poet turns back to the warThe poet measures the labours of Heracles (the Lernaean hydra, the deer, the Cretan bull, Geryon and the rest) against the exploits of Dionysos and finds them small. He asks Homer's pardon, says he will not compare Dionysos with Achilles, and prays for inspiration to return to the Indian war.

Aratus (2)

  1. Aratus, Phaenomena 571–737Risings and settings of the constellationsAratus tells which constellations set and which rise as each sign of the Zodiac rises, from the Crab to the Twins, among them Ophiuchus, Boötes, Orion, Cetus, Cepheus, Cassiepeia and Perseus. In explaining why Orion flees when the Scorpion rises, he tells how Orion offended Artemis in Chios and was killed by the Scorpion. The section ends by turning to the Moon's phases as a guide to the month.
  2. Aratus, Phaenomena 421–570The Hydra, the celestial circles and the ZodiacAratus gives storm signs from the Centaur and the Altar, then describes the Centaur, the Beast he holds and the Hydra with the Crater and the Raven, and sets aside the five wandering planets as too hard to treat. He then describes the circles of the sky: the Milky Way, the northern and southern tropics, the equator and the oblique circle of the Zodiac. The twelve signs of the Zodiac are listed in order from the Crab, and half of the belt is always above the horizon.

Heraclitus (paradoxographer) (1)

  1. Heraclitus (paradoxographer), On Unbelievable Tales 1–20Monsters and marvels, from Medusa to the golden applesHeraclitus explains away Medusa, Scylla, the Centaurs, the Minotaur, the Harpies, the Sirens, the Chimaera and the Hydra as courtesans, raiders, treacherous queens or mistaken counts of young animals. He turns Atlas into an astronomer, Perseus’ winged sandals into his speed in running, and the dragon of the Hesperides into a man named Drakon. Each marvel is traced to a figure of speech that a later age took literally.

Hyginus (5)

  1. Hyginus, De astronomia 3.33.1–3.40.1Book 3: Orion to the Southern FishThe third book closes with Orion, the two Dogs, Argo, the Centaur and the Altar, then the Hydra with the Raven and the Cup, and the Southern Fish. Hyginus says that he has now said all that belongs to the figures of the stars.
  2. Hyginus, De astronomia 4.11.1–4.12.12Book 4: Why stars set later, and what rises with each signThe first part explains why stars near the northern pole set later than those near the southern. The second goes through the twelve signs one by one, saying which other constellations rise and which are hidden as each sign rises.
  3. Hyginus, De astronomia 2.40.1–2.41.1Book 2: The Hydra, the Raven, the Cup and the Southern FishThe Hydra carries the Raven and the Cup: Apollo's raven delayed over a fig tree, and the cup recalls the crime of Mastusius at Elaeusa. The Southern Fish saved Isis and is revered by the Syrians.
  4. Hyginus, De astronomia 3.16.1–3.23.1Book 3: The Dolphin to the LionThe Dolphin, the Horse and the Triangle lead into the twelve signs of the zodiac, beginning with the Ram. The Ram, the Bull, the Twins, the Crab and the Lion are each described with their stars.
  5. Hyginus, De astronomia 4.1.1–4.3.3Book 4: The summer and equinoctial circlesThe fourth book, on the sun, moon and planets, begins with the circles and the stars that lie on them. Hyginus explains why the summer and winter circles are named from our own position on the earth, why the sphere is divided into eight parts rather than twelve, and how the equinoctial circle makes the Ram the swiftest of the signs. The chapter ends with the very long day near the head of the Dragon, with verses of Aratus and Cicero.

Palaephatus (1)

  1. Palaephatus, On Unbelievable Tales 33–39Orpheus to CerberusFrom Orpheus leading Bacchae down with branches to Pandora’s cosmetics, the ash-tree race, a corrupt chapter on Heracles, the sea-monster Ceton, the Hydra as a fortress and Cerberus as a dog from Tricarenia. Chapter 36 is badly corrupt.

Plutarch (1)

  1. Plutarch, Life of Pyrrhus 18.1–20.5Cineas at Rome, Appius Claudius' speech and the honesty of FabriciusPyrrhus sends Cineas to Rome with offers of peace, and the senate inclines to accept until the old, blind Appius Claudius is carried in and persuades it to refuse any talk until Pyrrhus leaves Italy. Cineas reports that the senate is like a council of kings and the people like a Lernaean hydra. Caius Fabricius, sent to treat for the prisoners, refuses Pyrrhus' gold, stays calm before a hidden elephant, and cries out that Pyrrhus and the Samnites may hold Epicurus' doctrines while at war with Rome. He declines Pyrrhus' offer of a place at his side, and the prisoners are lent for the festival of Saturn.

Strabo (3)

  1. Strabo, Geography 8.3.17–20The Caucones, Arene and the healing AnigrusStrabo gathers accounts of the Caucones and of Arene by the river Minyeius. At the cave of the Anigriades he tells of the foul waters of the Anigrus, blamed on the Hydra's venom washed off by Centaurs, or used by Melampus to purify the Proetades. He mentions a cave tied to the Atlantides and the birth of Dardanus, the Minyae of Lemnos who founded Thera, and the Samian tale of Rhadine.
  2. Strabo, Geography 8.6.1–4The Argolic Gulf: Lerna and NaupliaStrabo follows the coast of the Argolic and Hermionic gulfs, noting Laconian places such as Delium and Epidaurus Limera, and the Argive Temenium where Temenus lies buried. He mentions Lerna, the scene of the fable of the Hydra, and doubts the story of Nauplius, his sons and Palamedes. He then names the caves called Cyclopeia and the Saronic Gulf and Isthmus.
  3. Strabo, Geography 8.6.5–9Argos, Danaus and the wells of the DanaidsStrabo studies how Homer uses the name Argos for the city, the Peloponnese and Greece, and the dispute over Hellas and Hellenes. He describes the Larisa citadel with its temple of Zeus (Jupiter) and the rivers Inachus and Erasinus. He mentions the birds called Stymphalides that Heracles (Hercules) drove off, the Hydra's Lerna, and the wells credited to the Danaides, and says Danaus built the citadel.
Lernaean Hydra in the Ancient Sources: 19 Passages in Greek & English