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Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Atlas Coeus Crius Cronus Demeter Dionysus Gaia Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phobos Phoebe Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Tethys Themis Uranus Zeus
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Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
Alfheim Baldur Freya Freyr Frigg Heimdallr Helheim Idun Jotunheim Loki Nerthus Njord Odin Thor Tyr
Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
Norse Classical Celtic Arthurian
Literature Stories Names
Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Atlas Coeus Crius Cronus Demeter Dionysus Gaia Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phobos Phoebe Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Tethys Themis Uranus Zeus
Bacchus Ceres Diana Juno Jupiter Mars Mercury Minerva Neptune Pluto Venus Vesta Vulcan
Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
Alfheim Baldur Freya Freyr Frigg Heimdallr Helheim Idun Jotunheim Loki Nerthus Njord Odin Thor Tyr
Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
Norse Classical Celtic Arthurian
Literature Stories Names
  1. Classical Mythology
    Pantheon Heroic Age Royal Houses Geographia Facts & Figures Genealogy Bibliography About Classical Myths
  2. Heroic Age
    Heroes 1 Heroes 2 Heroines Amazons Perseus Theseus Heracles Argonauts Calydonian Boar Hunt Seven Against Thebes Trojan War Odyssey Aeneid Tales of Lovers Giants Centaurs Mythical Creatures
  3. Heracles
    Birth & Early Life Twelve Labours of Heracles Later Life
  4. Twelve Labours of Heracles
    First Labour (Nemean Lion) Second Labour (Hydra) Third Labour (Cerynitian Hind) Fourth Labour (Erymanthian Boar) Fifth Labour (Stables of Augeias) Sixth Labour (Stymphalian Birds) Seventh Labour (Cretan Bull) Eighth Labour (Mares of Diomedes) Ninth Labour (Hippolyte's Girdle) Tenth Labour (Cattle of Geryon) Eleventh Labour (Apples of Hesperides) Twelfth Labour (Cerberus)
  5. Second Labour (Hydra)

Second Labour (Hydra)

For the second labour, Heracles had to kill the Hydra that lived by a spring near Lerna, Argolis.

The Hydra was a creature that had many heads. The number of heads varied, depending on the author. Usually there were nine heads. One of the heads was immortal. The other heads were more deadly: when one head was cut off, two heads would grow in its place.

Heracles and the Hydra

Heracles and the Hydra
Antonio Pollaiolo, 1460
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Heracles also had to fight off a giant crab sent by Hera. Heracles had to kill the crab first before he could face the Hydra. Hera rewarded the crab for its service by placing it in a constellation known as Cancer.

With the help of his nephew and companion Iolaüs (Iolaus, ´Ιολαος), whenever Heracles cut off one of its heads, Iolaüs would use a burning brand to cauterize the neck, to prevent more heads from sprouting out.

The immortal head was easier to dispose of. After cutting it off, Heracles buried the immortal head under a huge boulder. The venom from the Hydra was universally fatal to any victim. Heracles coated his arrows with Hydra's blood. (This venom would later cause his own death.)

However, Eurystheus refused to count this labour because he had help from Iolaüs. Heracles was required to do an extra labour.

Related Information

Sources

Library was written by Apollodorus.

Fabulae and the Poetica Astronomica were written by Hyginus.

Theogony was written by Hesiod.

Related Articles

Iolaüs, Eurystheus.

Hydra.

Facts and Figures: Astronomy, see the constellations of the Hydra and Cancer (the Crab).

Jimmy Joe. "Second Labour (Hydra)." https://timelessmyths.com/classical/heroic-age/heracles/labours/second-labour-hydra. Accessed May 9, 2025.
Jimmy Joe Timeless Myths

By Jimmy Joe

Twelve Labours of Heracles:

  • • First Labour (Nemean Lion)
  • • Second Labour (Hydra)
  • • Third Labour (Cerynitian Hind)
  • • Fourth Labour (Erymanthian Boar)
  • • Fifth Labour (Stables of Augeias)
  • • Sixth Labour (Stymphalian Birds)
  • • Seventh Labour (Cretan Bull)
  • • Eighth Labour (Mares of Diomedes)
  • • Ninth Labour (Hippolyte's Girdle)
  • • Tenth Labour (Cattle of Geryon)
  • • Eleventh Labour (Apples of Hesperides)
  • • Twelfth Labour (Cerberus)
Hydra

Hydra

The Hydra (Ὕδρα) was the monstrous offspring of Typhon and Echidna . The Hydra lived in the near the spring Amymone, at Lerna. The monster lived with a giant crab. The Hydra had nine heads. One of them was immortal, and therefore invulnerable to w...

June 1st, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
First Labour (Nemean Lion)

First Labour (Nemean Lion)

The first labour required Heracles to kill the Nemean Lion . The lion was invulnerable to all weapons, being an offspring of the monsters Orthus and Echidna . Heracles stayed at Cleonai with a labourer by the name of Molorchus, before heading out ...

April 9th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Twelfth Labour (Cerberus)

Twelfth Labour (Cerberus)

For the twelfth labour, Heracles needed to go to Hades and fetch the Cerberus . Cerberus was a three-headed hound with a snake's head at the end of its tail. The dreaded hound guarded the gates of Hades, to keep the dead in the Underworld. Cerberu...

April 9th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Tenth Labour (Cattle of Geryon)

Tenth Labour (Cattle of Geryon)

For the tenth labour, Heracles was required to fetch the cattle of Geryon . Geryon (Γηρυονεύς) was the king of Erytheia (Cadiz), in Spain. The cattle were guarded by Geryon's herdsman and the two-headed hound called Orthus (Ὄρθρος). The journey wa...

April 9th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Fourth Labour (Erymanthian Boar)

Fourth Labour (Erymanthian Boar)

For the fourth labour, Heracles needed to fetch Erymanthian Boar . On this trip, he visited a Centaur named Pholus , who lived in Mount Pholoë (Pholoe), which was named after the Centaur. Pholus had some wine with odour to attract the boar. Unfort...

April 9th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Twelve Labours of Heracles

Twelve Labours of Heracles

It would not make sense unless you read why Heracles had to perform his Twelve Labours. The Madness of Heracles was the origin of Heracles' great adventures that earned him a place among the immortal gods at Olympus. Madness of Heracles Madness of...

April 9th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Third Labour (Cerynitian Hind)

Third Labour (Cerynitian Hind)

For the third labour, Heracles needed to fetch the Cerynitian hind that lived at Oinoe or the forest of Cerynitia, and was sacred to the goddess Artemis . The Cerynitian hind had golden antlers and brazen hooves. The Pleiad Taÿgete had given the h...

April 9th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Seventh Labour (Cretan Bull)

Seventh Labour (Cretan Bull)

For the seventh labour, Heracles needed to fetch the Cretan Bull , the bull that belonged to Minos , king of Crete. This bull was sacred to Poseidon, and had the ability to walk and even run on the surface of the sea. When Minos gained the bull fr...

April 9th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Nemean Lion

Nemean Lion

The Nemean Lion was an offspring of Typhon and Echidna . The lion lived in a cave near Nemea. The hide of the lion was invulnerable to all weapons. The only way Heracles could kill the lion was to strangle the lion to death. After showing the lion...

June 1st, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Eleventh Labour (Apples of Hesperides)

Eleventh Labour (Apples of Hesperides)

For the eleventh labour, Heracles had to fetch the golden apples of Hesperides . The Hesperides ("Daughters of the Evening Star") were the daughters of the Titan Atlas and Hesperis (Evening Star). How many daughters there were, really depended on ...

April 9th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe

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