Editing Labours of Hercules (section)

===Second: Lernaean Hydra===
[[File:Gustave Moreau - Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra - 1964.231 - Art Institute of Chicago.jpg|left|thumb|Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra (1964) by [[Gustave Moreau]]]]
[[File:Mosaico Trabajos Hércules (M.A.N. Madrid) 02.jpg|thumb|Heracles slaying the Lernaean Hydra]]
Heracles' second labour was to slay the [[Lernaean Hydra]], a many-headed snake which Hera had raised with the sole purpose of slaying Heracles. Upon reaching the swamp near [[Lerna|Lake Lerna]], where the hydra dwelt, Heracles attacked the hydra's several heads, but each time one of its heads was removed, a new head (or two) would grow back. Additionally, during the fight, a giant crab came to assist the Hydra by biting Heracles on the foot. Heracles was able to kill the crab, but realizing that he could not defeat the hydra alone, he called on his nephew Iolaus (who had come with Heracles) for help. Working in tandem, once Heracles had removed a head (with his sword or club), Iolaus burned the stumps with a firebrand, preventing them from growing back. In such a way Heracles was able to kill the hydra, after which he dipped his arrows in the Hydra's poisonous blood. According to Apollodorus, one of the Hydra's (here nine) heads&mdash;the middle one&mdash;was immortal, so when Heracles cut off this head, Heracles buried it and placed a great rock on top of it.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA258 p. 258]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]] [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.5.2 2.5.2].</ref>

Later, Heracles used one of his poisonous arrows to kill the centaur [[Nessus (mythology)|Nessus]]; and Nessus's tainted blood was applied to the [[Tunic of Nessus]], by which the centaur had his posthumous revenge. Both [[Strabo]] and [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] report that the stench of the river [[Anigrus]] in [[Ancient Elis|Elis]], making all the fish of the river inedible, was reputed to be due to the Hydra's venom, washed from the arrows Heracles used on the centaur.<ref>Strabo, viii.3.19, [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], v.5.9; Grimal 1987:219.</ref>