Lernaean Hydra’s Family Tree

About Lernaean Hydra →

Family

• Echidna(parent),Typhon(parent),Cerberus(sibling),Chimera(sibling),Colchian Dragon(sibling),Ladon(sibling),Nemean Lion(sibling),Orthrus(sibling),Sphinx(sibling)— Consort

  Typhon and Echidna produced a brood of monsters including Cerberus, the Chimera, the Lernaean Hydra, the Nemean Lion, the Sphinx, Orthrus, Ladon, and the Colchian Dragon — terrors that defined Greek heroic mythology.

Allied with

• Karkinos

  Hera sent the giant crab Carcinus to aid the Lernaean Hydra against Heracles during the Second Labor. The crab pinched Heracles's foot while he fought the serpent, but he crushed it underfoot.

Guarded by

• Hera

  Hera raised the Lernaean Hydra in the swamps of Lerna as a weapon against Heracles, nurturing the many-headed serpent out of hatred for Zeus's illegitimate son.

Slain by

• Heracles,Iolaus

  Heracles slew the Lernaean Hydra as his Second Labor, with his nephew Iolaus cauterizing each severed neck stump with fire to prevent the heads from regrowing.

Associated with

• Eurystheus

  Eurystheus assigned the slaying of the Lernaean Hydra as Heracles's Second Labor, then refused to count it because Iolaus had assisted.

• Heracles

  Heracles dipped his arrows in the Lernaean Hydra's venomous blood after slaying her, creating the poisoned weapons that ultimately caused his own agonizing death when the venom reached him through the robe of Nessus.