Heracles and the Lernaean Hydra: The Hero’s Second Labor

King Eurystheus assigned Heracles his second labor of slaying the Lernaean Hydra, a venomous serpent with multiple heads that grew back whenever one was severed.

Dec 4, 2024By Aiden Nel, BA Classical History and Psychology, MA Classical History

lernaean hydra heracles second labor

 

After Heracles defeated the Nemean Lion, King Eurystheus gave him a new task — to kill the Lernaean Hydra. The Hydra was an immortal venomous serpent with multiple heads raised by Hera to kill Heracles. This was the second of Heracles’s twelve labors to atone for his crime of killing his family. Slaying the Hydra, guarded by a troublesome giant crab, seemed impossible. However, Heracles did not have to face it alone. Keep reading to find out who came to help him and how they defeated the formidable Lernaean Hydra.

 

A Hero’s Welcome

guercino hercules drawing
Hercules, by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), 1641-1642. Source: Minneapolis Institute of Art

 

Upon Heracles’ return to Tiryns, King Eurystheus was left speechless. He had not anticipated his cousin’s survival after facing the indestructible Nemean Lion. Heracles’s appearance shook him. He was dressed like a wild barbarian, sporting a lion pelt, carrying a club, and dragging the lion’s dead body behind him. Heracles’ face peering out of the lion’s maw filled the King with terror. The King was so scared by the sight of Heracles and the remains of the lion that he forbade him from ever entering the city again after completing his labors.

 

In the future, Heracles would wait at the city gates and communicate with the King through a herald. When Eurystheus decided to visit Heracles, he brought along a large bronze jar. Eurystheus claimed that the jar was meant to contain any trophies he ordered Heracles to bring him. However, the jar would have other uses for the king, which would become apparent in later labors.

 

Upon regaining his composure, Eurystheus cautioned Heracles that each subsequent task would be more dangerous and challenging than the previous ones. Perhaps the King took the opportunity to suggest that he was actually not at all surprised that Heracles had defeated the Nemean lion. After all, it was only the first and, therefore, the most rudimentary task that the King, through the will of Hera, could think of.

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The Immortal Hydra

moreau hercules lernaean hydra painting
Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra, by Gustave Moreau, 1875-1876. Source: Art Institute of Chicago

 

The King commanded Heracles to slay a vicious Lernaean Hydra that was terrorizing his subjects and contaminating the fresh drinking water of the area. The Hydra had made its home in a deep cave near the legendary spring of Amymone, named after one of the two surviving Daniads. After Poseidon rescued Amymone from a Chthonic satyr and fell in love with her, he revealed the spring to her.

 

The spring was the source of Lake Lerna, a swampy marshland in the eastern part of Eurystheus’s Kingdom. Lake Lerna was a well-known entrance to the underworld and a holy site sacred to Demeter, where locals would prey for fertile soil and clean water. The Hydra did not make its lair near Lake Lerna by accident. Hera intentionally placed and nurtured the Hydra there with the sole objective of killing Heracles.

 

The Hydra was a terrifying creature born from the union of two serpentine monsters: the deadly Typhon and the mother of monsters, Echidna. They also gave birth to many other infamous monsters in Greek myths. The Hydra had multiple snakeheads that protruded from a massive water snake’s body.

 

This monster’s exact number of heads varies across different ancient sources, with some identifying three and others over 50. However, most ancient writers and artists attribute six to nine heads to the unearthly draconic serpent. Whether each head possessed an independent mind or the Hydrea shared a collective consciousness is uncertain. However, not all the heads were identical. One of the Hydra’s heads was the original head, which was immortal and undying.

 

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Hercules and the Hydra of Lerna, by Nicolo Van Aelst, 1608. Source: Los Angeles County Museum of Art

 

The massive physique and multiple heads of the immortal serpent were by no means its deadliest attributes. Unfortunately for Heracles, the Hydra’s venom was the most lethal poison known to the world. The creature could shoot its venom out of its mouth in a powerful spray, hitting targets from a distance. Additionally, the Hydra’s very breath was toxic, and simply coming close to the monster and inhaling its fumes could be fatal.

 

Moreover, lethal venom was infused with the Hydra’s blood, and any contact with it would cause more unthinkable pain and death. However, for Heracles, these obstacles were just minor setbacks. The real danger of battling the Hydra was its regenerative abilities, which made it more powerful with each regeneration.

 

The Squire of Heracles

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Hercules and Iolaus, Fountain mosaic from the Anzio Nymphaeum. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

 

Heracles set out on a treacherous journey to Lerna to confront the Hydra, but he was not alone. By his side stood his nephew Iolaus, son of Heracles’ brother Iphicles, who served as his loyal charioteer and weapons bearer. Despite the hardships that befell Heracles, including his madness caused by Hera, Iolaus stood steadfast, never abandoning his uncle. His skills as a charioteer were legendary, and he would later become the first champion of the chariot races at the inaugural Olympic games.

 

Although Iolaus is often considered Hercules’s loyal squire, he is only mentioned in a few of Heracles’ adventures. During most of Heracles’ adventures, Iolaus is not mentioned, but he is likely present, watching his hero from a distance. As a squire, Iolaus did not typically engage in battle alongside his uncle. Instead, he would have maintained Hercules’s weapons, driven him from one location to the next, and ensured the hero had a hot meal after a long day of battling monsters. However, Iolaus proved essential in Heracles’s battle against the Hydra.

 

Approaching the Hydra’s Den

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Hercules and the Hydra, by Battista Angolo del Moro, 1552. Source: The National Gallery of Art

 

As Heracles approached the inhospitable swampy marshlands near Lake Lerna, he began his search for the Hydra’s lair. Heracles’ plan for dealing with the Hydra was simple and direct: find it and strike it with his club until it stopped moving. However, as he delved deeper into the swamps, he noticed something strange. The swamp was unnaturally quiet, devoid of the usual chorus of animal sounds that filled the wilderness. The air was thick with an unbearable stench of sulfur that made Heracles cough and choke. As he pushed on, he discovered the reason for the silence — dead birds, insects, and fish littered the swampy landscape.

 

Although Heracles was a man of action, he was no fool. Heracles realized that he was approaching the Hydra’s den and that the toxic fumes emanating from them were causing him to choke and kill all the wildlife in the area. So, he made a tactical retreat back to the camp where Iolaus was still setting up. Once there, Heracles covered his mouth with a piece of cloth taken from one of his shirts to protect himself from inhaling the Hydra’s toxic fumes.

 

Now adequately protected, Heracles embarked on his second journey into the swamp. Despite the cloth protecting him from the lethal poison, it did nothing to diminish the awful sulphuric stench emanating from the Hydra. Following his nose and the trail of dead wildlife, Heracles soon arrived at the now-polluted spring of Amymone, where the Hydra had made its home.

 

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Hercules Vanquishing the Hydra of Lerna, by Guido Reni, 1617-1620. Source: Louvre Museum

 

Heracles saw the enormous coiled serpent resting inside a deep cave near the polluted and bubbling spring of Amymon. He realized his strength, speed, or martial skills would not be helpful if he confronted the Hydra in its lair. The cramped caverns would not allow him to dodge and properly attack the massive leviathan. Heracles fired flaming arrows into the Hydra’s den to draw it out. He hoped the arrows would lure the beast out of its cave and possibly injure or kill it before confronting it up close with his club.

 

Although the Hydra was hit by many arrows and forced out of the cave by the flames’ smoke, it remained unharmed. The serpent began to charge towards Heracles, infuriated at being disturbed from its slumber.

 

 The Unfair Battle

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Hercules and the Hydra, by John Singer Sargent, 1921. Source: Museum of Fine Arts Boston

 

Heracles, the son of Zeus, did not hesitate for a moment as the Hydra charged towards him. He dropped his bow and ran to confront the monster with his club. Although some accounts and artistic depictions show Heracles with a sword or a sickle instead of his club, the outcome remains unchanged.

 

Heracles lunged forward and swiftly beheaded one of the Hydra’s many heads. Though he might have felt confident that the battle would end soon, the monster slithered back, and something unexpected happened. The wound where its head was once attached started to sizzle and bubble, and within a few seconds, two new heads emerged from the open neck wound. Each head was as large and fierce as the one Heracles had just destroyed.

 

Any hope of a swift and decisive triumph was immediately crushed. Each time Heracles succeeded in decapitating one of the Hydra’s heads, two new ones grew in its place. The battle persisted for hours as Heracles evaded the Hydra’s venomous missiles and jumped to avoid its poisonous blood in an attempt to overcome the monster.

 

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Caeretan Hydria, attributed to the Eagle Painter, 530-500 BCE. Source: The J. Paul Getty Museum

 

The Hydra was not alone during its attack against Heracles as Hera, the Queen of the Olympians, had spent years nurturing it for this very moment. Hera watched the battle between her deadly pet and stepson from high on Olympus. Although Heracles could not directly harm the Hydra, the monster had yet to land a decisive blow against him. To distract Heracles long enough for the Hydra to finish him off, Hera sent a giant crab named Carcinus after him. The giant crustacean emerged from the polluted spring waters, attacking Heracles’ legs and feet with its pincers.

 

While the Hydra proved almost impossible to kill, the giant crab was comparably easy. After enduring several rounds against its nasty pincers, Heracles managed to land a hefty blow with his club, crushing Carcinus’s shell and killing it.

 

After eliminating the giant crab, a tired Heracles made his second tactical retreat back to camp. He realized he needed to devise a new plan to defeat the Hydra, which now had nearly 50 heads due to its regenerative abilities. Despite feeling exhausted, Heracles was primarily angry. He believed the giant crab’s sudden appearance was unfair and not according to the rules of battle or the labor he had agreed to undertake. Eurystheus had tasked Hercules to defeat the Lernaean Hydra, not to fight against the Hydra and a pesky giant crab sent by his vengeful stepmother. All of it was simply unfair.

 

The Strength of Allies

gandolfi hercules lernean hydra painting
Hercules and the Lernean Hydra, by Ubaldo Gandolfi, 18th century. Source: Sotheby’s

 

After returning safely to his camp, Heracles complained to Iolaus about his unfair situation. Iolaus agreed with him, and while preparing their dinner, he had a divine epiphany. As he cooked their meal over the fire, he observed how the flames cauterized the bloody meat and devised a plan.

 

Iolaus reasoned that if the Hydra received assistance in its fight against Heracles, then Heracles should also be allowed help. Although Heracles agreed with Iolaus’s reasoning, he hesitated to involve his nephew in the fight. Heracles was already burdened with the guilt of his family’s deaths and was reluctant to have more familial blood on his hands.

 

Iolaus promised to assist Heracles in a way that would ensure his safety while helping him defeat the Hydra once and for all. After hearing Iolaus’s plan, Heracles agreed, and they rested for the night. While Hero and Squir slept, Athena, patron guide of heroes, smiled upon them. In some versions of the myth, Athena whispered the brilliant method to defeat the Hydra to Iolaus, while in others, she told it directly to Heracles.

 

Athena’s assistance did not end there; when Heracles woke up the next morning, he found a golden sword with Athena’s symbol next to him. Although Heracles preferred using his club, he graciously accepted his sister’s gift and brought both weapons to the final battle against the Hydra.

 

The Final Battle

chéron hercules slaying hydra painting
Hercules Slaying the Hydra, by Louis Chéron, 1690-1725. Source: Victoria and Albert Museum

 

Heracles and Iolaus approached the Hydra’s den, hoping to finish the monster once and for all. Heracles wielded his club and carried Athena’s sheathed golden sword on his belt, while Iolaus carried only a flaming torch.

 

Iolaus had discussed his plan several times that morning with Heracles. They planned to attack the Hydra methodically. Heracles would leap forward and sever one of the monster’s heads, and Iolaus would immediately rush in to cauterize the wounded neck with his flaming torch before any new heads could grow back.

 

Heracles charged forward as the Hydra emerged with over 50 venomous heads from its cave. He had to dodge a flurry of venomous missiles from the Hydra, but he found an opportunity and cut off one of the monster’s heads. Heracles retreated quickly and avoided the fountain of poison blood that gushed from the stump. Iolaus then ran forward and cauterized the neck stump of the Hydra.

 

Heracles and Iolaus held their breath for a moment as they watched the cauterized Hydra’s neck wriggling and reeling from the fire. Although the Hydra hissed and kept attacking them, nothing grew back. Iolaus’s plan had worked. However, Heracles and Iolaus had to repeat their attack at least another 49 times before they could finally celebrate.

 

cort hercules hydra engraving
Hercules overwint de hydra van Lerna, by Cornelis Cort, 1563. Source: Rijksmuseum

 

As the afternoon sun began to set, Heracles and Iolaus’s diligent strategy of attacking, retreating, and burning had reduced the Hydra from 50 heads to one. However, nothing seemed to happen despite their repeated attempts to attack the last head with Heracles’ club. After several hours of cutting away at the vestigial heads, Heracles was now facing the original immortal head of the Hydra that could not die.

 

Heracles ordered his nephew to retreat, dropped his club, and unsheathed Athena’s golden sword. Though he was not a great thinker or strategist, he knew Athena never gave gifts without a purpose. Holding the gleaming sword, he charged forward one last time. Dodging a volley of venom, he launched his final attack, trusting his sister’s gift. The sword hit its mark and sliced through the Hydra’s neck.

 

Despite being severed from its monstrous body, the Hydra head still hissed and squirmed. The head remained immortal and undying, but now it was helpless to Heracles’ whims. Heracles buried the writhing immortal head deep underground next to the main road through Lerna and placed a boulder over it, trapping it forever.

 

A Bittersweet Victory

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Hercules in the Pallazzo Grassi at Bologna, by Richard Dalton, after Annibale Carracci, 1764. Source: The British Museum

 

With the boulder marking the Hydra’s living grave, Heracles was victorious and had completed his second labor. As he did with the Neaean lion, Heracles did not miss the chance to utilize his enemy’s remains. He approached the Hydra’s body and dipped all of his arrows in its lethal blood. These poison-coated arrows became one of the hero’s standard weapons, saving his life in future labors. However, they would also be the harbinger of Heracles’ ultimate end.

 

Hera immortalized her beloved pets, the Hydra and Carcinus, by placing them among the stars as the constellations Hydra and Cancer. In some versions of the myth, the Hydra guards Lake Lerna’s entrances to the underworld after being resurrected.

 

After defeating the Hydra and purifying the waters of Lake Lerna, Heracles traveled back to Tiryns in Iolaus’s chariot to receive his next task from King Eurystheus. Constant hardships and injustice would mark this hero’s journey. Upon his return, Eurystheus accused Heracles of breaking the rules by receiving assistance from Iolaus and declared the second labor null and void. He then announced that Heracles would have to perform an extra task to make up for his alleged cheating, increasing the number of labors from ten to eleven.

 

This was not the last time Eurystheus would unfairly take issue with how Heracles approached his tasks. But before Heracles could deal with that matter, he faced his third labor: capturing the Ceryneian Hind.

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By Aiden NelBA Classical History and Psychology, MA Classical HistoryAiden is a contributing writer and researcher with a passion for ancient literature and mythology. He holds a BA in Classical history and a MA in classical history, writing his dissertation on the Greek god Hermes.