On Unbelievable Stories

Heraclitus Paradoxographus

Heraclitus Paradoxographus. On Unbelievable Stories. Hawes, Greta, et al., translators. Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies, 2021. (Digital publication).

The account given about the Hydra is that she was a many-headed beast – but there’s no truth in this. Rather, it is likely that she had many offspring who hung around her and assisted her since she had given birth to them.[*](We translate Festa's suggested insertion of ἄτε (as if)) Together they killed anyone who came near.