Lernaean Hydra

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Description

세계 설화에 등장하는 Serpent. The Lernaean Hydra or Hydra of Lerna (Ancient Greek: Λερναῖα ὕδρα, romanized: Lernaîa Húdrā), more o

Origin & Background

The Lernaean Hydra is a serpent-like lake monster that appears in ancient Greek and Roman mythology, with its habitat being Lake Lerna in Argolis. Lerna is known as an entrance to the underworld, and archaeological studies have confirmed it as a sacred site older than Mycenaean Argos. This monster was killed during the second labor of Heracles.

The Legend

The Lernaean Hydra is a descendant of Typhon and Echidna, possessing poisonous breath and blood, making even its scent deadly. This monster has multiple heads, and the exact number of heads varies by source. In later versions, the monster is given a regenerative ability where two heads grow back for every one that is cut off. Heracles, with the help of his nephew Iolaus, had to cut off all the monster's heads and burn the necks.

Variants

The oldest story of the Lernaean Hydra appears in Hesiod's 'Theogony', and the oldest image of the monster is found on a bronze pin dating back to around 700 BC. This pin depicts a Hydra with six heads, while Alcaeus was the first to fix the number at nine heads. Later, Simonides increased the number of heads to fifty, and neither Euripides nor Virgil provided an exact figure.

In Popular Culture

In ancient Greece, the expression 'to cut the Hydra' was used to describe a hopeless task or an endlessly futile endeavor. The Hydra's regenerative ability has been discussed in various texts, and in Plato's 'Euthydemus', the Hydra is metaphorically compared to a sophistic entity.

This article is based on the Wikipedia article "Lernaean Hydra" (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikipedia