What is Hydra?

The Hydra had multiple heads, from 9 to 100 in various sources, though Pausanias was sure that there had really been only one; if severed, these heads could regenerate in multiple form. Slaying the Hydra was Heracles’ second canonical labor, which he accomplished after much difficulty with the aid of Iolaus; the trophy of his victory was a set of arrows poisoned with the creature’s blood. That poison eventually dyed the shirt of Nessus and occasioned Heracles’ own death. Both the Hydra and the Crab, which Hera sent to help it in the fight, became constellations. Other versions say that while Heracles fought the Hydra the goddess Hera sent down a giant crab which attacked his feet. This legend comes from a marble relief dating from the 2nd century BCE found at ancient Lerna, showing Heracles attacking the Hydra, and near his feet is a huge crab. Also other legends say that a stray arrow set alight the forest, and it was the burning trunks which Heracles ripped up and used to cauterize the open wounds.

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