Monsters in Greek Mythology Monsters in Greek Mythology Argus Argus may have had as many as one hundred eyes, which were located all over his body. Hera employed him as a guard. He was killed by Hermes . Afterward, Hera put Argus's eyes in the tail of the peacock, her favorite bird. Cerberus Cerberus was a huge and powerful three-headed dog. He was owned by Hades , god of the dead, who used the fearsome hound to guard the entrance to the underworld. In his final labor, Hercules went to the underworld and kidnapped Cerberus . Cyclopes Each of the Cyclopes was gigantic and had a single eye in the middle of its forehead. The Cyclopes made lightning and thunderbolts for Zeus to use. The brutal Polyphemus , a Cyclops and a son of Poseidon , lived on an island, where he was blinded by Odysseus . Gorgons The Gorgons were horrifyingly ugly monsters who lived at the edge of the world. Their hair was made of serpents, and one look from a Gorgon's eyes would turn a man to stone.

Perseus killed the Gorgon Medusa by beheading her while looking only at her reflection. The Hydra Hydra The Hydra was a massive and poisonous serpent with nine heads. Every time one head was injured, another two grew in its place. Hercules sought out the monster in its dark marsh and succeeded in destroying it. Minotaur The Minotaur was a man-eating monster with the head of a bull. King Minos kept it hidden in a labyrinth (a maze) in Knossos, on the island of Crete, where he used it to frighten his enemies. Theseus killed the Minotaur. The Minotaur Scylla and Charybdis The powerful monsters Scylla and Charybdis lived together in a sea cave. Scylla had many fierce dog heads and ate sailors alive; Charybdis created whirlpools by sucking in and spitting out seawater. Both Jason and Odysseus safely traveled by these monsters. Sirens The Sirens were giant, winged creatures with the heads of women. They lived on rocks on the sea, where their beautiful singing lured sailors to shipwreck.

Odysseus filled his sailors' ears with wax so that they might sail safely past the Sirens. hydra --� Kids Encyclopedia | Children's Homework Help | Kids Online Dictionary | Britannica In primitive animals such as a hydra, a marine organism related to jellyfish and sea anemones, the Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. One of the most hideous creatures of Greek mythology is the nine-headed hydra. For each head that was cut off, the monster grew two new ones. The hydra known to zoologists is a small aquatic animal only about 1.2 inches (3 centimeters) long. Like its namesake, however, it can regrow parts of its body. The hydra lives in quiet, freshwater ponds or streams. At the top of its thin, stalklike body is a mouth opening, used both to ingest food and eject waste, surrounded by four to 25 tentacles bearing stinging cells. The hydra uses these cells to paralyze small marine creatures that it eats. Of this tiny animal's many unusual characteristics, the most remarkable is its ability to regenerate parts of its body. All living things can regrow some new tissue to replace damaged parts.

The hydra, however, re-creates whole new bodies from sliced tissue. A hydra buds. Roman Vishniac Archive, International Center of Photography, New York, courtesy of Mara Vishniac Kohn The hydra is one of the oldest of the many-celled animals. Although simple, its body structure contains many of the tissues common to more complex forms of life. The body wall is composed of two layers of cells separated by a thin, structureless layer of connective tissue and a cavity containing digestive organs. Individuals are usually hermaphroditicthey possess functional reproductive organs of both sexes. They may reproduce in two ways. The hydra may release gametes, and fertilization may take place in the water; or the hydra may reproduce by budding, in which small outpouchings of its wall nip off at the base to form separate new individuals. The hydra moves either by creeping on its base or by looping, or flipping end over end. The genus Hydra belongs to the class Hydrozoa and includes 20 to 30 species. Page 1 of 1 "hydra." Compton's by Britannica. Britannica Online for Kids.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., , from While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Close Enable free complete viewings of premium articles from Britannica Online for Kids when linked from your website or blog-post. Now readers of your website, blog-post, or any other web content can enjoy full access to this article on hydra , or any other Britannica Online for Kids premium article for free, even if they do not have a membership. Just copy the HTML code fragment provided below to create the link and then paste it within your web content. For more details about this feature, visit our Webmaster and Blogger Tools page. . Copy and paste this code into your page Echidna - The Mother of Greek Monsters Echidna Mythology The Mother of Greek Monsters Half-snake, half-woman, all monster. Echidna (Greek mythology) is the mother of the most famous and fearsome of Greek monsters. Married to the god/monster Typhon (Greek mythology) , the two beasts bore a brood of children that only a half-serpent mother could love.

Echidna is best known for being the mother of monsters. There's not a huge library of "Echidna mythology" laying around somewhere where she does a bunch of other things. She is sometimes confused with Python of Greek mythology who guards the Garden of Hesperides, though that role is actually that of her child Ladon. Ladon was an enormous draco (snake), while Echidna was only half-snake. She, like Typhon, had the bottom half of a snake (or several snakes according to which myth you read), and the torso of a human. She did have snakes for hair, a trait she passed down to her child, the Gorgon. Most people would recognize Medusa as the most famous gorgon, though she is not actually related to Echidna in any way (we'll get to that elsewhere on the site). The Children of Typhon and Echidna There are still debates on which monsters are, in fact, the children of Typhon and Echidna, so I basically went through them all and took the most commonly attributed ones, being: Cerberus - the three-headed dog that guards the entrance to Hades.

Chimera - Part-lion, part-goat, part-snake - all monster. Gorgon - the snake-haired and snake-bodied humanoid that was created in its mother's image. Its stare could turn a person to stone. Medusa became one of these creatures in a later myth. Hydra - the nine-headed serpent who grew two new heads for every one that was cut off. Ladon (Python) - the snake that guarded the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides. The Nemean Lion - the giant lion with impenetrable hide who becomes the constellation Leo. Orthros - the two-headed dog that lived with giants. The Sphinx - the half-human, half-lion that forces those its meet to answer its riddles, or die. Like many of history's mothers, Echidna's legacy is destined to be carried on by the children she left behind. She herself was thought to preside over the corruption, rotting, and pestilence of the lower dregs of the earth. Most myths have her residing in Tartarus (Greek mythology), who is both a storm-pit of the underworld and father to Typhon (don't ask).

What ended up happening to Echidna is lost in myth, though we can assume that she still lives in Tartarus, keeping her husband Typhon company while he struggles beneath Mount Etna . LERNAEAN HYDRA - Nine-Headed Serpent of Greek Mythology Heracles, Iolaus and the Hydra, Athenian red-figure stamnos C5th B.C., Regional Archeological Museum Antonio Salinas HYDRA LERNAIA (Lernaean Hydra) was a gigantic, nine-headed water-serpent, which haunted the swamps of Lerna. Herakles (Heracles) was sent to destroy her as one of his twelve labours, but for each of her heads that he decapitated, two more sprang forth. So with the help of Iolaos (Iolaus), he applied burning brands to the severed stumps, cauterizing the wounds and preventing the regeneration. In the battle he also crushed a giant crab beneath his heel which had come to assist the Hydra. The Hydra and the Crab were afterwards placed amongst the stars by Hera as the Constellations Hydra and Cancer.

FAMILY OF THE HYDRA [1.1] TYPHOEUS & EKHIDNA (Hesiod Theogony 313, Hyginus Pref & Fab 30 & 151) [1.2] EKHIDNA (Ovid Metamorphoses 9.69) ENCYCLOPEDIA HYDRA. This monster, like the lion, was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and was brought up by Hera. It ravaged the country of Lernae near Argos, and dwelt in a swamp near the well of Amymone: it was formidable by its nine heads, the middle of which was immortal. Heracles, with burning arrows, hunted up the monster, and with his club or a sickle he cut off its heads; but in the place of the head he cut off, two new ones grew forth each time, and a gigantic crab came to the assistance of the hydra, and wounded Heracles. However, with the assistance of his faithful servant Iolaus, he burned away the heads of the hydra, and buried the ninth or immortal one under a huge rock.

Having thus conquered the monster, he poisoned his arrows with its bile, whence the wounds inflicted by them became incurable. Eurystheus declared the victory unlawful, as Heracles had won it with the aid of Iolaus. (Hes. Theog. 313, &c.; Apollod. ii. 5. § 2; Diod. iv. 11; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 419, 1188, Ion, 192; Ov. Met. ix. 70; Virg. Aen. viii. 300; Paus. ii. 36. § 6, 37. § 4, v. 5. § 5; Hygin. Fab. 30.) Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES HYDRA THE SECOND LABOUR OF HERACLES Hesiod, Theogony 313 ff (trans.

Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 7th B.C.) : "And third again she [Ekhidna (Echidna)] bore the grisly-minded Lernaian (Lernaean) Hydra, whom the goddess white-armed Hera nourished because of her quenchless grudge against the strong Herakles (Heracles). Yet he, Herakles, son of Zeus, of the line of Amphitryon, by design of Athene the spoiler and with help form warlike Iolaos, killed this beast with the pitiless bronze sword." Alcaeus, Fragment 443 (from Schoiast on Hesiod's Theogony) (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric II) (Greek lyric C6th B.C.) : "The Hydra is called nine-headed by Alcaeus, fifty-headed by Simonides." Simonides, Fragment 569 (from Servius on Virgil's Aeneid) (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric II) (Greek lyric C6th to 5th B.C.) : "One hundred snakes as in Simonides, as we said above [i.e.

Simonides' fifty-headed Hydra]; others say there were nine." Aeschylus, Fragment 55 Leon (from Stephen of Byzantium, Lexicon 699. 13) (trans. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) : "The bane of wayfarers, the drakon (serpent) that haunts the place." [N.B. Perhaps a reference to the Hydra of Lerna.] Plato, Euthydemus 297c (trans. Lamb) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) : "[Plato uses the myth of the Hydra as a metaphor for argument :] Herakles (Heracles), who was no match for the Hydra . . . who was so clever that she sent forth many heads . . . in place of each one that was cut off; . . . [and a] crab . . . from the sea--freshly, I fancy, arrived on shore; and, when the hero was so bothered with its leftward barks and bites, he summoned his nephew Iolaus to the rescue, and he brought him effective relief." Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.

77 - 80 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) : "For his second labour Herakles was instructed to slay the Lernaian (Lernaean) Hydra. The beast was nurtured in the marshes of Lerna, from where she would go out onto the flatland to raid flocks and ruin the land. The Hydra was of enormous size, with eight mortal heads, and a ninth one in the middle that was immortal. With Iolaos (Iolaus) driving, Herakles rode a chariot to Lerna, and there, stopping the horses, he found the Hydra on a ridge beside the springs of Amymone where she nested. By throwing flaming spears at her he forced her to emerge, and as she did he was able to catch hold. But she hung on to him by wrapping herself round one of his feet, and he was unable to help matters by striking her with his club, for as soon as one head was pounded off two others would grow in its place. Then a giant crab came along to help the Hydra, and bit Herakles on the foot.

For this he killed the crab, and called on his own behalf to Iolaos for help. Iolaos made some torches by setting fire to a portion of the adjoining woods, and, by using these to burn the buddings of the heads, he kept them from growing. When he had overcome this problem, Herakles lopped off the immortal head, which he buried and covered with a heavy boulder at the side of the road that runs through Lerna to Elaios (Elaeus). He cut up the Hydra's body and dipped his arrows in its venom." Heracles, Iolaus and the Hydra, Paestan black-figure hydra C6th B.C., The J. Paul Getty Museum Strabo, Geography 8. 6. 2 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) : "The river Lerna, as it is called, bearing the same name as the marsh in which is laid the scene of the myth of the Hydra." Strabo, Geography 8. 6.

6 : "Lake Lerna, the scene of the story of the Hydra, lies in Argeia and the Mykenean (Mycenean) territory." Pausanias, Description of Greece 2. 37. 4 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : ”At the source of the Amymone [near Lerna, Argolis] grows a plane tree, beneath which, they say, the Hydra (Water-snake) grew. I am ready to believe that this beast was superior in size to other water-snakes, and that its poison had something in it so deadly that Herakles treated the points of his arrows with its gall. It had, however, in my opinion, one head and not several. It was Peisander of Kamiros (Camirus) who, in order that the beat might appear more frightful and his poetry might be more remarkable, represented the Hydra with its many heads." Pausanias, Description of Greece 3. 18.

10 - 16 : "[Amongst the images depicted on the throne of Apollon at Amyklai (Amyclae) near Sparta :] On the left stand Ekhidna (Echidna) and Typhos [Typhoeus], on the right Tritones . . . Next to these have been wrought two of the exploits of Herakles--his slaying of the Hydra, and his bringing up the Hound of Hell (kuna ton Haidou) [Kerberos (Cerberus)]." Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 17. 11 : "[Amongst the scenes depicted on the chest of Kypselos (Cypselus) dedicated at Olympia :] Heracles, with Athena standing beside him, is shooting at the Hydra, the beast in the river Amymone." Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 26. 7 : "[Amongst the offerings dedicated at Olympia :] By the smaller offerings of Mikythos (Micythus) . . .

are some of the exploits of Herakles, including what he did to the Nemeian Lion (Leonta Nemea), the Hydra, the Hound of Hell [Kerberos (Cerberus)], and the boar by the river Erymanthos." Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 11. 5 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) : "The second Labour which he [Herakles] undertook was the slaying of the Lernaian (Lernaean) Hydra, springing from whose single body were fashioned a hundred necks, each bearing the head of a serpent. And when one head was cut off, the place where it was severed put forth two others; for this reason it was considered to be invincible, and with good reason, since the part of it which was subdued sent forth a two-fold assistance in its place. Against a thing so difficult to manage as this Herakles devised an ingenious scheme and commanded Iolaos (Iolaus) to sear with a burning brand the part which had been severed, in order to check the flow of the blood.

So when he had subdued the animal by this means he dipped the heads of his arrows in the venom, in order that when the missile should be shot the wound which the point made might be incurable." Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 6. 212 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.) : "[Amongst the scenes depicted on the shield of Eurypylos (Eurypylus), son of Herakles :] Thereby was wrought the Hydra many-necked flickering its dread tongues. Of its fearful heads some severed lay on earth, but many more were budding from its necks, while Herakles and Iolaos (Iolaus), dauntless-hearted twain, toiled hard; the one with lightning sickle-sweeps lopped the fierce heads, his fellow seared each neck With glowing iron; the monster so was slain." Aelian, On Animals 9. 23 (trans.

Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd A.D.) : "Hekataios (Hecataeus) the chronicler [Greek C4th B.C.], may sing, of the Hydra of Lerna, one of the Labours of Herakles." Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History Book 2 (summary from Photius, Myriobiblon 190) (trans. Pearse) (Greek mythographer C1st to C2nd A.D.) : "Aristonikos (Aristonicus) of Tarenton (Tarentum) says that the middle head of the Hydra was of gold." Pseudo-Hyginus, Preface (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : "From Typhon and Echidna [were born] : . . . Hydra serpent which had nine heads which Hercules killed, and the Hesperian Dragon (Draco Hesperidum)." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 30 : "He [Herakles] killed at the spring of Lerna the nine headed Lernaean Hydra, offspring of Typhon.

This monster was so poisonous that she killed men with her breath, and if anyone passed by when she was sleeping, he breathed her tracks and died in greatest torment. Under Minerva's [Athene's] instructions he killed her, disembowelled her, and dipped his arrows in her gall; and so whatever later he hit with his arrows did not escape death, and later he himself perished in Phrygia from the same cause." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 151 : "From Typhon the giant and Echidna were born . . . the Hydra which Hercules killed by the spring of Lerna." Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 23 : "The Crab is said to have been put among the stars by the favour of Juno [Hera], because, when Hercules had stood firm against the Lernaean Hydra, it had snapped at his foot from the swamp.

Hercules, enraged at this, had killed it, and Juno [Hera] put it among the constellations." Heracles, Athena, Iolaus and the Hydra, Athenian black-figure lekythos C5th B.C., Musée du Louvre Ovid, Metamorphoses 9. 69 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) : "[Herakles addresses the shape-shifting river-god Akhelous (Achelous) :] ‘Mastering Dracones (Dragons) is child's play, Achelous! Yes, if you were champion serpent, how could you compare with Echidna Lernaea [the Hydra], you a single snake? It throve on wounds: of all its hundred heads I cut off one but from its neck two more sprang to succeed it, stronger than before! Yes, though it branched with serpents sprung from death, and multiplied on doom, I mastered it, and, mastered, I dispatched it.’" Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.

192 ff : "The Hydra's gain from loss, with doubled strength, was all in vain [i.e. against the might of Herakles]." Ovid, Heroides 9. 87 ff (trans. Showerman) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) : "[Herakles] told of the deeds . . . The fertile serpent that sprang forth again from the fruitful wound, grown rich from her own hurt." Virgil, Aeneid 6. 803 ff (trans. Day-Lewis) (Roman epic C1st B.C.) : "[Herakles] subdued Lerana with the terror of his bow." Seneca, Hercules Furens 220 ff (trans.

Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) : "[The infant Herakles killed two serpents] crushing their swollen throats with his baby hands, he practised for the Hydra." Seneca, Hercules Furens 241 ff : "[The labours of Herakles :] Lerna's fell monster, pest manifold, did he not quell at last by fire and teach to die?" Seneca, Hercules Furens 526 ff : "Let Alcmena's son [Herakles] in endless wars employ on monsters the hand that bore the heavens; let him cut off the Hydra's teeming necks.” Seneca, Medea 700 ff : "[The witch Medea casts a spell to summon poisonous snakes invoking the names of the greatest of the Drakones (Dragons) :] ‘In answer to my incantations let Python come . . . Let Hydra return and every serpent cut off by the hand of Hercules, restoring itself by its own destruction. Thou, too, ever-watchful dragon [of the Golden Fleece].’" Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 7. 623 ff (trans.

Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) : "The Tirynthian [Herakles] wearied in fight against the Hydra's dreadful hosts turned to the fires of Pallas [Athena who suggested to the hero this means of destroying the creature]." Statius, Thebaid 2. 375 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) : "The marsh of Lerna and the burnt Hydra's heat makes warm the depths of those unrighteous waters." Statius, Thebaid 4. 168 ff : "[Depicted on the shield of the Argive warrior Kapaneus (Capaneus) :] There lies the Hydra with triple-branching crown, lately slain and foul in death: part, embossed in silver, glitters fierce with moving snakes, part by a cunning device is sunken, and grows dark in death agony against the tawny gold; around, in dark-blue steel runs the torpid stream of Lerna." Nonnus, Dionysiaca 25. 196 ff (trans.

Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) : "[Herakles] took all that trouble to liberate some little snaky brook like Lerna, by cutting down the selfgrowing firstfruits of the lurking serpent [the Hydra], as that plentiful crop of snakeheads grew spiking up. If only he had done the killing alone! Instead of calling in his distress for Iolaos (Iolaus), to destroy the heads as they grew afresh, by lifting a burning torch; until the two together managed to get the better of one female serpent . . . cutting down a bush of heads which ever grew again on so many necks." Suidas s.v. Hydran temnein (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.) : "Hydran temnein (you are cutting off a hydra) : Said of things that are hopeless; for the story goes that when Herakles was fighting a Hydra in Lerna which had a hundred heads, and as the heads were cut off more grew, he ordered Iolaos (Iolaus) to burn the cut ones." Suidas s.v.

Hydra : Heracles and the Lernaean Hydra, Greco-Roman mosaic C3rd A.D., National Archaeological Museum of Spain Alcman, Fragment 815 Geryoneis (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric III) (Greek lyric C7th B.C.) : "[Herakles slays Geryon with an arrow coated with Hydra-venom :] (Bringing) the end that is hateful (death), having (doom) on its head, befouled with blood and with . . ((lacuna)) gall, the anguish of the dapple-necked Hydra, destroyer of men [i.e. his arrow was poisoned with the blood and gall of the Hydra]; and Geryon drooped his neck to one side" Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 80 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) : "He [Herakles] cut up the Hydra's body and dipped his arrows in its venom." Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.

157 : "In fear lest Herakles desire Iole more than herself [Deianeira], and in her belief that the blood of Nessos [i.e. the kentauros (centaur) slain by Herakles with an arrow coated in Hydra-venom] was truly a love-potion, she doused the robe with it. Herakles put it on and started the sacrifice, but soon the robe grew warm as the Hydra's venom began to cook his flesh. He caught up Likhas (Lichas) by the foot and hurled him into the Euboian sea, then tore off the robe, which stuck to his body so that he ripped off his flesh along with hit." Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4. 1390 ff (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) : "The snake [the Drakon (Dragon) of the Hesperides], struck down by Herakles, lay by the trunk of the apple-tree. Only the tip of his tail was still twitching; from the head down, his dark spine showed not a sign of life.

His blood had been poisoned by arrows steeped in the gall of the Lernaian (Lernaean) Hydra, and flies perished in the festering wounds." Strabo, Geography 8. 3. 19 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) : "It [the Anigros River of Elis] emits an offensive odor for a distance of twenty stadia, and makes the fish unfit to eat. In the mythical accounts, however, this is attributed by some writers to the fact that certain of the Kentauroi (Centaurs) here washed off the poison they got from the Hydra [after their battle with Herakles] . . . The bathing-water from here cures leprosy, elephantiasis, and scabies." Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 5. 9 (trans.

Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : "Some Greeks say that Khiron (Chiron), other that Pylenor another Kentauros (Centaur), when shot by Herakles fled wounded to this river [Anigros in Elis] and washed his hurt in it, and that it was the Hydra's poison which gave the Anigros its nasty smell." Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 38. 1 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) : "Herakles put on the shirt which had been anointed [by his wife Deianeira with Nessos' Hydra-venom tainted blood], and as the strength of the toxic drug began slowly to work he met with the most terrible calamity. For the arrow's barb had carried the poison of the adder [Hydra], and when the shirt for this reason, as it became heated, attacked the flesh of the body." Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 9. 392 ff (trans.

Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.) : "Beside his [Philoktetes (Philoctetes)] stony bed lay a long quiver full of arrows, some for hunting, some to smite his foes withal; with deadly venom of that fell water-snake [Hydra] were these besmeared. Before it, nigh to his hand, lay the great bow, with curving tips of horn, wrought by the mighty hands of Herakles." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 30 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : "Under Minerva's [Athene's] instructions he [Herakles] killed her [Hydra], disembowelled her, and dipped his arrows in her gall; and so whatever later he hit with his arrows did not escape death, and later he himself perished in Phrygia from the same cause." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 34 : "[Herakles] pierced Nessus with his arrows.

As he died, Nessus, knowing how poisonous the arrows were, since they had been dipped in the gall of the Lernaean Hydra, drew out some of his blood and gave it to Dejanira (Deianeira), telling her it was a love-charm. If she wanted her husband not to desert her, she should have his garments smneared with this blood. Dejanira, believing him, kept it carefully preserved." Ovid, Metamorphoses 9. 129 & 158 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) : "An arrow flew [from the bow of Herakles] and pierced the fleeing centaur's [Nessos'] back: out from his breast the barbed point stuck. He wrenched the shaft away, and blood from both wounds spurted, blood that bore Lernaei's [the Lernaean Hydra's] poison. Nessus caught it up. ‘I'll not die unavenged’, he thought and gave his shirt soaked in warm gore to Deianira, a talisman, he said, to kindle love.' . . .

[Herakles' wife Deianeira hears rumours that her husband is planning to marry Iole :] She chose to send the shirt imbued with Nessus' blood to fortify her husband's failing love. Not knowing what she gave, she entrusted her sorrow to Lichas (ignorant no less) and charged him with soft words to take it to her lord. And Hercules receiving the gift and on his shoulders wore, in ignorance, Echidna Lernaea's [the Hydra's] poisoned gore. The flame was lit; he offered words of prayer and incense, pouring on the marble altar wine from the bowl. That deadly force grew warm. Freed by the flame, it seeped and stole along, spreading through all the limbs of Hercules. While he still could, that hero's heart of his stifled his groans, but when the agony triumphed beyond endurance, he threw down the altar, and his cries of anguish filled the glades of Oeta.

Desperately he tried to tear the fatal shirt away; each tear tore his skin too, and, loathsome to relate, either it stuck, defeating his attempts to free it from his flesh, or else laid bare his lacerated muscles and huge bones. Why, as the poison burned, his very blood bubbled and hissed as when a white-hot blade is quenched in icy water. Never an end! The flames licked inwards, greedy for his guts; dark perspiration streamed from every pore; his scorching sinews crackled; the blind rot melted his marrow . . . In wounded agony he roamed the heights of Oeta [and died to escape the pain in the flames of a funeral pyre]." Ovid, Heroides 9. 115 ff (trans. Showerman) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) : "The darts [of Herakles] blackened with the venom of Lerna." Seneca, Hercules Furens 44 (trans.

Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) : "Why, he [Herakles] bears as weapons what he once fought and overcame; he goes armed by lion [i.e. the skin of the Nemeian lion] and by Hydra [i.e. his arrows dipped in its venom]." Seneca, Hercules Furens 1194 ff : "[Herakles' mourns his young sons who he slew in a fit of madness with venom-tainted arrows :] ‘What of that shaft, still dripping with the blood of boys? It has been dipped in Hydra's gore--ah, now my own weapons do I recognize. No need to ask the hand that used them! Who could have bent the bow or what hand drawn the string which scarce yields to me?’" HYDRA GUARDIAN OF THE UNDERWORLD Virgil, Aeneid 6. 287 ff (trans.

Fairclough) (Roman epic C1st B.C.) : "Many monstrous forms besides of various beasts are stalled at the doors [of Haides], Centauri (Centaurs) and double-shaped Scyllae, and the hundredfold Briareus, and the beast of Lerna [the Hydra], hissing horribly, and the Chimaera armed with flame, Gorgones and Harpyiae (Harpies), and the shape of the three-bodied shade [Geryon]." Seneca, Hercules Furens 776 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) : "The craft [of Kharon (Charon)], ample for whole nations, sinks low beneath one man [Herakles, journeying to Haides] . . . Then the [shades of the] monsters he had conquered are in a panic, the fierce Centaurs and the Lapithae whom too much wine had inflamed to war; and, seeking the farthest fens of the Stygian swamp, Lerna's labour [i.e. the Hydra] plunges deep his fertile heads." Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 3. 224 (trans.

Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) : "[The Titan] Coeus in the lowest pit [of Tartaros] burst the adamantine bonds and trailing Jove's [Zeus'[ fettering chains . . . conceives a hope of scaling heaven, yet though he repass the rivers and the gloom the hound of the Furiai [Kerberos (Cerberus)] and the sprawling Hydra's crest [a second guardian of the underworld] repel him." Statius, Silvae 2. 1. 228 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman poetry C1st A.D.) : "Neither the ferryman [Kharon (Charon)] nor the comrade [the Hydra] of the cruel beast [Kerberos (Cerberus)] bars the way [to the Underworld] to innocent souls." Statius, Silvae 5. 3. 260 ff : "But do ye, O monarchs of the dead and thou, Ennean Juno [Persephone], if ye approve my prayer [provide a peaceful journey for the soul of my dead father] . . .

let the warder of the gate [Kerberos (Cerberus)] make no fierce barking, let distant vales conceal the Centauri (Centaurs) and Hydra's multitude and Scylla's monstrous horde [i.e. fearsome monsters whose shades were established as guardians of the underworld]." POETIC EPITHETS Hydra (Greek mythology) - Memidex dictionary/thesaurus www​.infoplease​.com​/ce​6​/world​/A​0824905​.html Hydra in astronomy, southern constellation lying south of Corvus, Crater, Virgo, Leo, and Cancer. It's a long, slender, winding constellation traditionally ... (20 of 76 words) www​.infoplease​.com​/ce​6​/sci​/A​0824697​.html Hydra in Greek mythology, many-headed water serpent; offspring of Typhon and Echidna. When one of its heads was cut off, two new heads appeared. The second ...

(25 of 47 words) SPENDING REVIEW 2010: How your money is spent by the state | Daily Mail Online How your money is spent by the state comments Today the British state resembles Hydra, the Greek mythological monster who had between seven and nine heads, and would grow two back whenever one was cut off According to Greek mythology, the Hydra was a nine-headed monster and if you cut off one head, two more grew back. Today, the British state resembles that Hydra, a many-headed beast that is virtually impossible to control. The public sector now spends more than 48 per cent of our national wealth every year (an astonishing 10 per cent more than in 1998), and it employs six million Britons (one million more than in 1997). This afternoon, the Conservative Chancellor, George Osborne, will rise to his feet in the Commons to announce a package of cuts. Some critics claim that he is cutting too fast; that plans for some departmental budgets to be reduced by 25 per cent or more are impossibly tough.

Others argue that he is being too lenient; and point out that overall spending on the state will actually rise after a period of hardship to £692.7billion by 2015. So who is right? Well, there will certainly be deep cuts. Spending in four years' time will be £100billion a year less than under the plans that Labour had set out before the credit crunch, and £40billion lower than if Alistair Darling had won the election and introduced his own austerity package. But seen in the context of the massive growth in the size of the state under Labour, the reductions will not be as significant as many believe. Just look at the graphic below to see how welfare costs dwarf all other public spending commitments after Gordon Brown oversaw a 45 per cent growth in benefits handouts. Once you take out the administration costs from the total £156billion spend of the Department for Work and Pensions, you are left with an annual benefits bill of £147billion. The biggest portion of this is soaked up by pensions, but vast amounts are doled out every year on incapacity, disability and housing benefits.

Health spending has more than doubled to £115billion since Labour came to power. So too has the cost of meeting the cost of educating our children. Reining in this huge surge in outgoings will be very difficult, but ministers have one advantage. As spending rose, public sector productivity declined; much of the money was wasted. And in the harsh new reality after the financial meltdown, huge imbalances in how taxpayers' money is spent are glaring. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share Again you only have to look at the spending map to see them: more funding for housing benefit than the army; three times as much spent on debt interest as on child benefit. If the cuts are applied intelligently, it should be possible to make dramatic reductions in spending without decimating front line services. Unfortunately, there will be painful decisions too, largely because of the costs of controlling and paying for the huge debt that Mr Brown bequeathed to the Coalition. This afternoon Conservative Chancellor George Osborne (left) will announce a package of cuts.

Details of the plans were unwittingly revealed yesterday after long-lens photography captured restricted documents being read by Danny Alexander (right), Chief Secretary to the Treasury First, there's the debt itself, currently £1trillion, on which we will have to pay interest of more than £40billion this financial year alone, as compared with £30billion in 2009/10. Second, there's the gap between spending and tax revenue, which will take the Coalition time to close, and means that the debt will rise by another £150billion or so this year. Finally, employing another million public sector workers has massively increased our pay and pension obligations. The public sector wage bill is now £200billion a year. Meanwhile, the total future liability for public sector pensions has risen from £360billion in 1997 to £1trillion today. Other areas, however, which are equally ripe for reductions, may be protected for political reasons. Senior Coalition politicians have found it uncomfortable defending their decision to ring-fence over £7billion a year spending on foreign aid, much of which is wasted.

So today as the Chancellor rises to his feet, we can expect him to hack at the Hydra, but not to defeat it. Some heads will be lopped off, others will grow back. It will be perhaps the boldest single attempt at limiting the state in our history, but it will still leave Britain with a huge, profligate and wasteful public sector. Greek Mythology - Hercules Greek Mythology Export (PDF) The 12 Labors of Hercules Hera Hera and Zeus are married, although they were always falling in love with mortals. Obviously, neither of them liked it when the other fell in love. One of Zeus's half-blood children was Hercules. (of course this means Hercules's mother was mortal) Hercules' mother Alcmena had no interest in Zeus and did not know that Zeus was the person she thought was her husband. Nine months later Alcmena gave birth to Hercules, son of Zeus. Zeus was thrilled, but Hera was very unhappy. Angry Hera sent 2 large snakes after Hercules to crush him in his sleep. The snakes glided soundlessly across the floor. They got ready to attack Hercules. Then, out of nowhere, Hercules jumped out of his crib.

He grabbed the snakes and strangled them both. The next morning, servants entered the room. They were very surprised at what they saw. Two huge snakes lay dead upon the floor and baby Hercules was laughing in his crib. Zeus Hera failed to kill Hercules as a child. That did not stop her from trying again and again as he grew up. Hera learned that Hercules was hard to kill. He had inherited amazing strength from his father, Zeus. Once Hera realized that she couldn't defeat Hercules by herself, she asked other gods to help her. Many of the gods were jealous of Hercules' strength and agreed to help Hera. Zeus knew what Hera was planning. He asked the rest of the gods to help him protect Hercules. Zeus One of Hercules' first battles was against Cyncus, the cruel son of the war god, Ares. He lived in Thessaly in northern Greece. Cyncus was building a temple to his father. He attacked pilgrims on their way to the temple, killed them, and stole their belongings. Their skulls became building blocks of the temple of Ares. Hercules was passing the temple when Cyncus dared him to a fight. Their battle didn't last long. Hercules won.

Hera Next, Hercules fought Syleus, a cruel outlaw. Syleus grabbed passing strangers and forced them to work in his vineyards. When they finished their jobs, he murdered them. Hercules killed Syleus and brought an end to his reign of terror. Athena Hercules was strong enough to fight against armies of men. The Lapiths were a fierce tribe. Their name means "men of stone or flint." They were the enemies of the centaurs and fought many battles with these half-men, half-horse creatures. The centaurs asked Hercules to defeat the Lapiths. Hercules did in a huge bloody fight. In thanks, the centaurs gave Hercules one third of their kingdom. Athena Hercules' next big battle was against the cruel King Erginus. A group of Greeks from the city of Thebes had killed King Erginus's father, Clymenus. In revenge, Erginus captured Thebes.He captured Thebes. He demanded a payment of 100 oxen each year for 20 years from its people. This injustice angered the goddess Athena. She knew Hercules was strong enough to fight Erginus, so she sent him to free Thebes.

Hercules cleverly ambushed Erginus and defeated him. The king of Thebes, Creon, was grateful to Hercules. When Hercules fell in love with Creon's daughter, the king happily gave his blessing to the marriage. Hercules married Megara (Creon's daughter) in a royal wedding at Thebes. They had three sons. For a time Hercules was very happy but when Pyraechmus attacked Hercules' new home, Thebes, that changed. Pyraechmus was king of the Euboeans. He wanted to kill Hercules in revenge for the death of his friend Erginus. Hercules' easily beat the Euboeans. As punishment he tied King Pyraechmus between two horses. Hercules then watched as the horses then tore the king's body in two. This cruel act horrified the people of Greece. Pyraechmus' body was left on the banks of the river Heracleius not buried. This was a terrible crime. The gods had ruled that the people should be given a proper burial! When Pyraechmus was defeated, Hera became filled with anger. She put a magic spell upon Hercules. This spell made Hercules think his family was enemy warriors.

He killed his wife and his children. Hercules regretted his actions the instant the madness wore off. Full of grief, he locked himself away to think about what to do next. Hercules made up his mind to ask the gods for help. He went to Apollo's temple to see the oracle. Hercules asked her what he could do to make up for his crimes. Hercules did not know Hera controlled the oracle and influenced her words. The oracle told Hercules to be the slave of King Eurystheus for 12 years. Artemis Eurystheus had become king of the Tiryns, an important land because of Hera's help. Therefore, whatever Hera asked him to do, he did. Hera and Eurystheus planned to kill Hercules. They would assign him to dangerous tasks no one could complete and live. If he survived there would be one labor for each of Hercules 12 years of slavery. The twelve tasks are as follows: 1 - King Eurystheus demanded that Hercules killed the lion of Nemea. The creature had magical skin and was huge and cruel. No arrow or spear could pierce his thick hide.

2 - Hercules was sent to kill the nine headed water snake, the Hydra. Every time a head grew in, two more grew in it's place. 3 - Hercules had to capture a golden hind alive. This animal is special to Artemis. 4 - A giant wild boar was attacking the people in the countryside of Erymanthus and Hercules was sent to capture it. 5 - Hercules was sent to clean out the stables of King Augeas. The stables had never been cleaned before, they were covered in manure. Hercules was given only one day to clean them. 6 - Hercules was ordered to kill a flock of killer birds called Stymphalian Birds. Stymphalian Birds had beaks, talons, and wings made of iron. They also had arrow-tipped feathers. 7 - Hercules was ordered to trap a fire breathing bull. The bull was supposed to be sacrificed, but it wasn't so the gods drove it crazy. 8 - Hercules was sent to capture a herd of man-eating horses and bring them to King Eurystheus. 9 - Princess Admete wanted to wear the golden belt worn by Hippolyte (the Amazons queen). Eurystheus sent Hercules to get the belt.

When Hercules arrived and asked for the belt Queen Hippolyte agreed to his request. Hera didn't want Hercules to finish another task so she disguised herself to get in his way. She disguised herself as an Amazon and spread stories that Hercules was going to kidnap the queen. The warriors were angry and attacked Hercules. During the battle, Hercules killed Hippolyte and took the belt. 10 - Hercules was told to kill Geryon, a three headed monster. He had to steal the red cattle that belonged to Geryon. 11 - Hercules was sent to steal the golden apples that were a wedding present to Hera. Atlas' daughters guard the apples. Atlas was the titan that held up the sky and only his daughters could pick the apples. Hercules offered to help Atlas by holding up the sky if Atlas ordered his daughters to pick apples. When Atlas' daughters were finished, Atlas would not take back the sky. Hercules then had to lie to him in order to escape with the apples. 12 - King Eurystheus ordered Hercules to bring him the three headed dog, Cerberus from the underworld (where he guards dead people).

Even though Eurystheus wanted Cerberus, he was terrified when Hercules brought Cerberus to him because he is a dangerous dog. Hermes Hercules was finally free. Before long Hercules had married Deianira, a wonderful woman. After Hercules got married, the centaur, Nessus attacked Deianira, trying to ruin Hercules' happiness. But, Naturally, Hercules killed him. Deianira had been given drops of Nessus' blood before he died. He promised her it was magic and would keep Hercules in love with her. After many years, Deianira became worried that Hercules no longer loved her. She put some of The blood on his shirt. But the blood was poison. When Hercules put on his shirt, the poison burned his flesh. Hermes The dying Hercules lye on a burning funeral pyre. But he did not die, Zeus sent his magic thunderbolts to rescue him. Hercules rode on Zeus's chariot away from Earth. He traveled to Olympus, were Zeus made him immortal. When she realized Hercules was no threat to her, Hera forgave him. From then on Hercules live a peaceful life with the gods.

FIND THE HIDDEN GOD & GODDESS'S NAMES (above) Hydra Problem - TV Tropes Hydra Problem You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share YMMV Suddenly, Daxos discovered that he had twice as many problems as before. Kudos (Greek!) to Hercules for thinking outside the ampitheatre on this one [...] but it seems to me there was another way out. If he had just kept chopping, eventually the creature would have had a hundred thousand heads, making it look something like venomous reptilian broccoli. Then it would have tipped over and been no threat to anyone. People could come up and laugh at it, it would have been a great tourist attraction. — Lore Sjï¿½berg , The Book of Ratings This is where when you defeat an enemy, one or two more show up in its place, and so on until you perform some kind of specific attack to kill it for good. Named for the Hydra from Greek mythology, which had nine heads that grew two more heads whenever one was chopped off; the only way to destroy it was to cut off the heads and cauterize the stumps with fire before the head was able to grow back and multiply.

Compare to Asteroids Monsters , in which a destroyed monster divides into several smaller versions of itself and you have to keep killing them until they are dead for good. Expect a lot of decapitation, even though this is probably the worst possible strategy to use. Examples: open/close all folders Comic Books The Monster Society of Evil has a literal Hydra created by Mister Mind, which when it loses a head grows it back with the head of another animal. Captain Marvel causes its heads to fight over meat, killing it. Madrox the Multiple Man of X-Factor has the power of Self-Duplication , but it usually works like the Hydra Problem from his enemies' point of view because he involuntarily creates a copy of himself when struck. Punch him, and suddenly he has backup. The answer to beating him is a One-Hit Kill ( Pretty Little Headshots don't create copies), restraining him so that he can't receive a sufficient blow (punching a wall would suffice, so you'd better tie him up tight), or employing a method that doesn't involve direct force (poison, for example).

This concept is the origin behind the name of the terrorist organization HYDRA in Marvel Comics , though in practice it's essentially a boast about their never ending Redshirt Army . Their motto is "Cut off one head, two more take its place". In Captain America: The First Avenger , this sets up one of Colonel Phillips' (played by Tommy Lee Jones ) CMOA when, after shooting a HYDRA mook who just shouted the line, quips "Let's go find two more." It also sets up the many times that an Anti-Hero decided to see whether the creed was literal at an individual level: with all the superheroes and supervillains running around, it would after all be easy to make an army of mooks with a twisted healing factor . The surviving mooks are often quite dismayed to realize that it's not. The Superman villain Riot has a similar power to Multiple Man. Defeating him requires indirect methods like cutting off his air supply or catching him in a net. Films — Animated In Sorcerer's Apprentice segment from Fantasia , Mickey enchants a broom to do his chores for him. When it begins to flood the castle, he tries chopping the broom into pieces.

This backfires horribly, as each splinter becomes a new broom. Only the Wizard's magic can undo all the flooding. The Disney adaptation of Hercules had Herc face this problem when fighting the iconic multi-headed serpent. It starts with one head, but when Herc chops it off, three grow in its place. In desperation, he starts wildly chopping at the beast, leaving him with a bigger problem than what he started with. However, he soon triumphs by causing the chasm they're in to cave in, resulting in the Hydra being crushed under a rock slide. Phil: "Will you forget the head-slicing thing?!" Films — Live-Action In the first Hellboy film Sammael is a creature that, when destroyed, gives life to two of its previously laid eggs. The only way to stop Sammael is to wipe out all of its bodies and eggs at once. In Percy Jackson and the Olympians , they fight a literal Hydra (who has this problem). They beat it by using Medusa's head to turn it to stone. While appearing in the movie of Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief, in the books the Hydra appears instead in Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.

Here, Clarisse kills it by blowing it up using a gunboat. In Prometheus , Fifield attempts to cut off the alien snakes head when it breaks Millburn's arm but not only does it spray acid blood over Fifield's face for his efforts, the head instantly grows back. Marvel Cinematic Universe As noted above under Comic Books, HYDRA in Captain America: The First Avenger , though the organisation is pretty much solidly defeated by the end. The catchphrase takes a much darker turn in Captain America: The Winter Soldier where it's revealed after their defeat in WWII, HYDRA went underground and have shaped the history of the world. They even infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. at its creation. When Captain America protests that HYDRA died with the Red Skull, Zola nonchalantly comments "Cut off one head..." Averted trope as seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron . The Avengers take down one HYDRA base after another based on intel from Maria Hill until they arrive at the last remaining powerful HYDRA base. Strucker and List, the two last remaining higher-ups surrender and the former is even killed by Ultron. See also the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

example below, though beware spoilers for that series. In Avengers: Age of Ultron , no matter how many Ultron drones the Avengers destroy, the AI itself can still escape to anywhere. Eventually, Vision interfaces with Ultron and prevents him from escaping through the Internet. In Dragonball Evolution , Piccolo summons minions that could regenerate from any piece of them cut off. Goku slices them up with a sword to make a lot and then throws them into lava, forming stepping stones so he can cross. Literature In The Andalite Chronicles , Visser Three unleashes mortrons, creatures that can regenerate into separate beings when sliced apart. Elfangor resorts to knocking them out. Loren strangles one to death, and uses a softball bat to cave one's skull in. Not a literal example, but Snape describes The Dark Arts as this in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince . The Chaodyn in The Death Gate Cycle are monsters which, if wounded, their spilt blood will turn into another Chaodyn. The only way to stop this is to deliver a wound that kills them before any of their blood hits the ground. Live-Action TV The Angel episode "Waiting in the Wings" had mooks who would respawn into two whenever they were killed.

Angel had to fight past them and defeat the mage controlling them to make them disappear. Fortunately each time a new lackey is created, the mage's power weakens as he has to keep control of an increasing number of mooks. On Charmed Swarm Demons are replaced by two more swarm demons when they're killed. The sisters have to destroy the lead Swarm Demon, the demon from which all others come from, in order to kill them all. And in another episode an evil witch unleashes her snake familiar onto the sisters and when the snake is chopped into two pieces, the pieces both grow into a new snake. The witch is killed and then so are the snakes. The show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. shares a continuity with the Captain America film examples above. Coulson takes down HYDRA by basically cutting off as many heads as possible and, when he gathers enough intel, he calls in the Avengers to deal the final blow. Hydra is now scattered and Kelbo says that "heads ain't growin' back". Then Ward decides to revive HYDRA in his own image and recruits Baron Von Strucker's son as his apprentice; two more heads have grown.

All known heads are again cut by the end of the third season, including Hive, the original head. Of course, it's still possible that more will turn up in season four... Music Deconstructed here , as it turns out not only can a demigod like Hercules not fail to beat a Hydra no matter how many heads it can grow back, but the heads can grow in a sufficiently complex structure to contain all of arithmetic . (Note however that this is only true for a non-standard version of the hydra where heads can be either directly connected to the body or branched off another neck and it won't regrow any heads if the head cut-off is directly attached to the body.) There's also a classic math problem involving hydra herds in which every blow which fails to kill a hydra spawns a number of duplicates of the damaged hydra equal to the number of blows which the entire herd has received. (Added to that, Heracles is cursed to only be able to smash heads in the worst possible order.) Still beatable by an immortal demigod, but it's surprising how quickly the required number of blows grows. Parody hero Samurai Cat fought Cerberus, who it turned out had the same power.

Samurai Cat just kept chopping off heads until Cerberus had so many, 1) they were all too small to bite effectively and 2) they weighed so much Cerberus couldn't walk around anymore. In the Hindu Mythology Durga once found herself facing an enemy whose power was a regeneration-based Self-Duplication - from each drop of blood spilled, a clone would pop up into existence. After a moment of futile fighting, she transformed into her Kali aspect, which quickly solved the problem by catching her enemy and, depending on the version you read, either eating him whole or holding him still so she could drink all his blood as it spurted from his wounds. More Hindu mythology: The legend behind the Thuggee cult was about regenerating demons too, therefore demanding strangulation (a bloodless killing method). The Bible [Jesus; Matthew 12:43-45] once said that if you defeat a demon/unclean spirit with your own power that isn't God's, it would return with seven more of its kind (or worse, just by it coming back and finding its house empty as in without, you know, the Holy Spirit coming in to occupy it after the person was freed).

Pinball The final boss in Gottlieb 's Gladiators is The Beast, a three-headed flying dragon that can only be defeated by beheading itnote shooting the pinball into various sinkholes in a specific order. Role-Playing Games In Dino Attack RPG , if one of the Mutant Vinscale Octomus's tentacles were severed, two more would grow back in its place. Tabletop Games Dungeons & Dragons : Judges Guild module Dark Tower. It had an area with a mirror hanging on the wall that was guarded by a skeleton. If an attack against the skeleton didn't do exactly 8 Hit Points of damage, it would split into two skeletons with the same property. The only way to defeat the skeletons (other than by doing damage) was to destroy the mirror. D&D's Monster Manual also lists the Hydra among the monsters that the players can fight. However, only the Laernian variety of the hydra exhibits the Hydra Problem ; the (normal) hydra and the firebreathing pyrohydra both get weaker as you lop their heads off, not stronger. In 5e the only hydra in the monster manual has this ability, sort of.

If it looses 25 health in a single turn it losses a head and regrows to more for every head lost in its turn. It only gains a total of 20 points of health back so, without healing, the hydra will eventually die if it heads keep getting cut off. Magic: The Gathering has a number of creature cards that implement this trope as mechanics. Usually, if the creature survives taking damage, it gets stronger afterwards. In the Theros block, planeswalker Elspeth Tirel has to fight Polukranos , a hydra that is dubbed the "World Eater" with very little apparent hyperbole. She is armed with a Blade on a Stick . She solves the problem, not by lopping off heads, but by splitting each head in two. The bisected crania can't regrow, nor, obviously, can they live. Video Games Hydra Slayer is a quirky little Roguelikegame wholly concerned with how to resolve the Hydra Problem on a case-by-case basis. Your success is determined by being able to tell which weapons/powers will remove heads, which will add heads, and how to combine these two factors to kill each individual hydra in the shortest possible time.

The boss Mariska from Lollipop Chainsaw respawns into two when Juliet slices her in half. The copies then tear themselves in half several times to create an army of Mariskas. Juliet shoots the copies down, and when she gets to the last one, she lops her head off. Mariska seems to run out of energy and perishes. Undead enemies in Wandering Hamster respawn every time they are killed, unless you use the glimmer item which kills them for good. Megaera is a three headed hydra in World of Warcraft 's Throne of Thunder, when one of her heads is killed, two more grow in it's place. Megaera still takes damage with each head killed, so it's just a matter of killing seven heads and holding out against the assault from all the extra heads. Perhaps a Shout-Out to the original mythos, at the last stage of the fight, Megaera has nine heads; two that can be attacked and must be tanked, and sevennote One at the start of the battle and six for each of the heads cut off, minus the seventh one that defeats her attacking the party from a distance.

Warcraft III features hydras as a neutral monster, but use Asteroids Monster due to the limitations: every three-headed hydra splits into two smaller three-headed hydras. Trauma Center : New Blood has the Brachion Stigma, which is a core with several arms. Whenever you cut off the heads of the grappler arms, it pulls them back and emits more. Killing it involves continually cutting the arms loose, which ultimately overtaxes the core and causes it to disintegrate. The Plasma Hydra boss in Hero Core initially has three heads. In Normal difficulty, it only regrows one head for each one destroyed and only has two heads per neck. In Hard, however, it grows two for each destroyed head, and when those two are destroyed, it sends out a third, extremely powerful head. Once the third wave of heads is dealt with, however, the Plasma Hydra self-destructs. In Heart of Darkness , a particularly tough enemy introduced late in the game will turn into two blobs upon being killed; if they're not destroyed in time, they'll instantly grow into two more enemies. Since they frequently can appear in pairs, and you constantly have to dodge their attacks, they can quickly overwhelm you if you don't stop them from multiplying.

In Yu Gi Oh BAM , after you defeat their leaders, the Ghouls taunt you that their numbers are endless. Game: You jump, startled and ready to fight. From the utter silence slithers in a cryptic whisper: It does not matter. We are the Ghouls. Even if you bury us, we will get out. We are the Ghouls. We will meet again. In Gems of War , there's a Hydra troop, and its famous feature is represented in its special attack; the base damage is boosted by however much damage to its health the troop has taken, reflecting the extra heads which the Hydra now has. (The Hydra doesn't actually gain any extra health to represent the increased difficulty in killing it, however.) You Don't Know Jack (the UK edition anyway) has a question asking "Suppose you cut off all of the Hydra's heads, all its replacement heads, then half of the new heads, how many heads would there be?" note A: 54.

The host will then say, "at this point it might be wise to consider a different approach" Web Comics The Order of the Stick : The heroes solved the problem of an actual hydra by repeatedly decapitating it until it fainted — its heart couldn't maintain the proper blood pressure in all the extra necks. Then an enterprising goblin starts using it as an infinite supply of meat for a barbecue restaurant . Western Animation He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002) : He-Man once faced a Man-Eating Plant that was similar to the Hydra. He finally kills it by uprooting it. Another episode had Triclops unleash an army of skeletal warriors that respawn into two every time they get smashed. They are defeated when the heroes smash the device Triclops was controlling them with, making them all crumble to dust. The Powerpuff Girls episode "Beat Your Greens" had Plant Aliens that regenerate. They are defeated when everyone eats them. Real Life There's a small aquatic predator literally known as Hydra , and true to their name, they immediately grow into even more hydras when cut into pieces. Scientists actually divided it into its individual cells with hundreds of more hydras sprouting up from the ensuing goop.

They're a threat in freshwater aquaria to fish fry and small shrimp in freshwater aquaria, and if you try and stop them by crushing them, well... If a planarian's head is split without severing it from the body (not that they can't survive that) both halves can regenerate, ending up with a two-headed planarian. Some weeds ensure their survival by sending out long horizontal roots that can sprout new stalks if the original stalk is destroyed. Pull up the first stalk, and you'll find a cluster of new weeds sprouting all around the hole a few days later. Falling afoul of the Streisand Effect can land you in a PR nightmare because of this trope, especially on the internet. Did you force a takedown of a song posted to YouTube, even though the way it was posted constitutes fair use? Expect much hate mail and at least fifteen reposts. Scoured the internet just to delete all references to you that you feel are overly critical, or connect you to something stupid/embarrassing you did? Congratulations, what you've censored has just been reposted to five blogs, and a sixth one commented on your dickery. Forced the takedown of an entire site?

Well, now there's two mirrors registered under foreign domain names and five with slight variations of a common name. A similar event happened when manga publishers asserted their copyrights to get Scanlation sites taken down-many more sprung up to take the places of the ones targeted. Edward Snowden: "You're not going to bully me into silence like you've done to everybody else. And if nobody else is gonna do it, I will. And hopefully, when I'm gone, whatever you do to me, there will be somebody else who'll do the same thing. It'll be the sort of internet principle, of the hydra; you can stomp one person, but there's gonna be seven more of us." Nintendo 's attempt to ban cartridge dumpers and copiers in the 90s: They started by targeting the most prolific manufacturer of cartridge copiers, Bung Enterprises. They went as far as to get an injunction on Bung Enterprises merchandises in the US. They managed to kill Bung Enterprises shortly after, but then numerous manufacturers sprung up in Bung's place.

Additionally, the amount of publicity generated resulted in the Streisand Effect (the US Customs also received a number of eggs on their face after they confiscated a package from Bung Enterprises meant for a US customer, and it turned out that the package only contained a Game Boy Advance link cable). They later did the same things with flashcarts, and then tried it with YouTube videos containing their characters. :: Indexes ::

Question: In Greek mythology, which nine-headed monster grew two for every one that was chopped off ?
Answer: HYDRA