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The Lernaean Monster In Hesiod's Theogony

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The Lernaean Hydra or Hydra of Lerna is an interesting monster because of its original origin and of how the monster itself is. The origin of this monster is in Greece. The Hydra was created by the ancient Greeks and has been a creature in Greek mythology since then. Famous Greek poets Hesiod, Alcaeus, Simonides, and Euripides contributed to hydra that we all know. The Lernaean Hydra appears in Hesiod's Theogony, a poem describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods. The Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. Typhon was a monstrous giant and Echidna was a half-woman, half-snake. The hydra is a giant water snake-like creature. The oldest image of the monster is found on a pair of bronze fibulae that date back to ca. 700 BCE. The fibulae portrayed the monster with six heads, but in the writings of Alcaeus (ca. 600 BCE) gave the hydra nine heads. Then a century later Simonides increased the number to fifty, while Euripides did not bother to give a number. What makes this creature a monster is that it is immortal and cannot be killed. The hydra has a regenerating ability. The first mention of the ability was from Euripides. He wrote that the monster grew a pair of heads for each one that …show more content…

It was raised by Hera to slain Hercules. The hydra lived in the swamp near Lake Lerna. The hydra caused havoc among the villages near his resting place. The only known nemesis is a demi-god named Hercules. To defeat the Hydra, Hercules had to call one of his nephew named Iolaus because he realized he couldn't defeat it. Hercules chopped off one of the Hydra's heads and the Iolaus would seal the wound with a hot iron or a torch so that the head wouldn't grow back and multiply. When Hercules removed all of the Hydra's heads, he then buried it under the earth and collected his blood. Another version is that Hercules would cut one head off and use its own venom to burn each head so that it wouldn't grow

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In Greek Mythology there was always a monster to be slain by the hero figure. This one specifically, was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. The monster was called the Hydra, known for terrorizing farmers and livestock around Lake Lerna; therefore, hearing of this, King Tiryns sent Hercules to kill the Hydra. Filled with courage, Hercules had no doubt he could slay the hydra and complete yet another trial. Upon seeing the Hydra, its heads were above the clouds and only came down for a worthy battle.

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In the movie after Megera betrayed Hades, he made the choice to make a deal with Hercules so he wouldn’t have powers for a full day. Only way Hercules agreed was that Meg would be safe; indeed she was until she saved Hercules’ life from a column falling on him getting her crushed. After the death of Meg, Hercules made a trip to the underworld to retrieve Megera’ soul. This task would kill a mortal but could prove him as a hero. After saving Megera’ soul and placing it back in her body Megara was alive again.

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The Gods gave him Hebe, who was the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hercules and his wife went to snowy Olympus to make their home as immortals. They lived in peace and did not grow old. The first thing Eurystheus asked Heracles to do was to kill the huge lion that lived in Nemea. The lion was as ferocious as he was huge.

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Young but Mighty Throughout Greek mythology, power is the most reoccurring concept. Power is the desired goal that every character seeks to gain. Many of the characters become misguided on their way to achieve this greatness and end up performing inhumane acts. This, in turn, forces the other characters to recognize the situation and use their unique characteristics to take control, Cronos, son of Gaia and Ouranos is an example of a exhibits this role. If I had to chose to live the life of one of the characters in Hesiod’s

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There have been many myths that people have handed down over the course of human history. One such myth is the Greek myth of Hades specifically, of that of Cerberus the guard dog of Hades. Cerberus was the offspring of Echidna and Typhon and was often described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from parts of his body. Though this was not always the case, in the earliest description in Hesiod's theogony from 8th - 7th century B.C., he was described having fifty heads, while later when described by Pindar in 522- 433 B.C. he had one hundred heads.

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Heracles, more commonly known as Hercules, was a half-human, half-god son of Zeus and descendant of Perseus who slayed Medusa. Heracles was something known as a demigod, so from birth, he was very strong and rather fearless. Hera, Zeus' wife, did not like Heracles and sent 2 snakes to kill him while he was a baby, the plan failed when Heracles strangled the snakes instead. When Heracles was a Young adult Hera cast a spell to drive Heracles insane, and because of this, he killed his wife and children. To atone for this, he sought out Apollo( another son of Zeus ) for atonement, Apollo knew it was not his fault but still gave him the 12 Labor.

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He was a God and the two servants of Hades, "Pain and Panic," kidnapped him as an infant from his bassinet in order to kill him without being stopped. Little does Hades know they didn't really kill Hercules, they only turned him into a mortal human. In order not to get caught, they leave him,

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and he was smart enough to cut the Hydras throat and come out of his throat. Hercules in the movie “Hercules” compared to Odysseus in the epic “The Odyssey” as being an epic hero in many ways. The first way is they were both intelligent. As I said before, Hercules was intelligent when he got out of the Hydras throat. Odysseus was intelligent when he put all his men under the sheep.

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Hades the dragon of Hercules. Hades has been trying to destroy Hercules since he was a baby. Hercules has one task which is to become a god and immortal . Hercules virtue is to continue his true love for Meg. Hercules was known as a noble teen in the movie, but a murderer in the Myth.

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Hercules slays the Hydra to the delight of a cheering crowd. The beast has been pummeled to death by a landslide. This seen is familiar to many animated movie fans, but it is not true to the source material. The original myth has been altered to fit a western audience. Despite our western world being heavily influenced by the Greek and Roman society, we have changed the myths of their would to fit the morals of monogamy, heroism, and good vs evil.

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The monster archetype has been one of the most riveting archetypes that surrounds the concept of ‘evil’. It has been portrayed as a supernatural creature with grotesque features that normally brings disruption to the city and needs to be tamed or controlled to bring once again peace to the story. Due to this, it is most commonly depicted with a negative connotation, and with the idea of horror and fear. The monster has been present since the bible, which was written approximately 3,400 years ago, with the anecdote of Goliath. It has remained with its primary role of converting the protagonist into a hero and providing fear to the storyline.

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Hercules’ name was actually Heracles named after Zeus’ wife Hera. He had a mortal mother and an immortal father, which meant half-blood. Hercules was very clumsy and had great strength, which caused him to accidently destroy things even though he meant well in everything he did. Heracles lost control of his temper,

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Theogony was a myth that addressed the connection between human beings to the Gods and the universe. Giving that Hesiod lived during the Iron age ( 750-650 B.C.) alongside Homer, it is not extraordinary that the two shared similar religious views. Keeping that in mind, he was able to offer his interpretation of how the world came into existence in his epic poem the Theogony. While creating Prometheus’ myth, he focused on the ominous interactions between Zeus and Prometheus that lead to abhorrent events such as the creation of Pandora. On the contrary, Aeschylus lived in the sixth Century B.C. amid a time of great stir and movement in matters of religion and speculation.

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