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 Herakles' Second Labour: The Hydra

(Continued from Herakles' First Labour)

Eurystheus decreed that Herakles' next task was to be the destruction of the Hydra, another of Typhon's offspring, which inhabited Lerna some five miles from Argos. Lerna was a fertile and holy district, with an abundance of sacred groves and caves, but with the Hydra rampaging about, no one could go there. Oh, one more thing - the Hydra was supposed to be so poisonous that just its breath or the smell of its trail could kill.  

Iolaus took Herakles to Lerna in his chariot. When they got there, Athene appeared to them as they ate and pointed out the whereabouts of the Hydra's lair, then advised Herakles to force the Hydra into the open by shooting a continuous volley of arrows at it. It worked; whiffling and roaring, the Hydra emerged from beneath the giant plane tree that was its home, and charged furiously at Herakles. Herakles held his breath as the monster closed, then grabbed it at the base of its necks. But the Hydra wrapped itself around his feet, trying to trip him. Herakles battered with his wild-olive club, beating at the multiple heads, but no sooner had he crushed a head than two more grew in its place!  

From the nearby swamp came a huge crab, another of Hera's creatures, coming to the aid of the Hydra. It attacked Herakles' foot with its enormous claws, but Herakles managed to pull the foot up into the air out of the way, then brought it back down with his full strength and crushed the crab's shell. Things weren't looking too good for him, however, the more he tried to damage the Hydra, the stronger it became, and soon he would have to take a breath, which would certainly poison him.  

With the last of the air in his lungs he shouted to Iolaus for assistance. Iolaus thought frantically, then grabbed a burning branch from the cookfire, and as Herakles crushed the Hydra's heads, Iolaus dashed in and seared the roots so that new heads could not grow. 

Finally only one head was left - the immortal one! Iolaus tossed Herakles his sword, and he lopped the final head from the monster, rolling a huge boulder over it to hide it from the world of men forever. The body he disembowelled, then dipped the heads of his arrows in the venomous gall. Henceforth even the slightest scratch from these arrows would be fatal. 

Hera set the image of the crab into the heavens, as one of the twelve signs of the Zodiac - she was grateful to it for trying its best against Herakles, even though it had failed to do any harm. 

Eurystheus, however, was not grateful. He refused to consider this particular Labour as completed, because Iolaus had helped Herakles to destroy the Hydra. I don't know whether this was just an excuse for Eurystheus to be awkward, or whether it really was a condition that Herakles should complete the task unaided. On the one hand, Athene helped a bit, and Eurystheus didn't seem to object to that, but on the other hand, Iolaus stayed out of the combat until Herakles asked for his help, which perhaps implies that Herakles was not supposed to have help in the actual killing.

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