Dragon History

Dragon Slayers: Hercules / Heracles / Herakles

Symbolism: Hercules is the son of the god Zeus and a mortal, which did not please most of the gods. He was thought to be favored by Zues and thus poor blood spread between he and his half-family. He is a symbol of strength and goodness to the Greeks.

History: In order for Hercules to claim the right to his throne in Mycenae, Eurystheus sent him on twelve labors. The second labor was to slay the hydra what lived in the swamp of Lerna. The hydra was deadly, and would, on its occasion, venture out into the plain and kill livestock and such. The hydra also had multiple heads (either six or nine, depending on the version of the story) and the first one was immortal. And, to make matters worse, the hydra's blood was deadly.

Hercules then lured the hydra out of its home by shooting arrows of fire into its lair. After that, the Hydra summoned up a crab to attack Hercules' feet. Sadly, the crab was not immortal and got crushed into nothing, and Hercules continued to attack the vile hydra. Much to Hercules' demise, each time he cut off a head, two new ones would grow in is place.

Hercules then called upon his friend Iolaus to help him. Iolaus stopped the head's growth by singeing the heads with fire. With that, Hercules cut off the final head and he buried it and stuck an extremely heavy rock on top of its burial.

Religious Ties: Hercules was a part of both the Greek's and Roman's mythologies. He was not only the slayer of the hydra, but he also slew many other mythological beings.

1. Dragons of History

For more information about footnotes and references, please see the bibliography.