De Incredibilibus

It is said about the Lernaian Hydra that it was a snake with fifty heads but one body, and that whenever Heracles cut off one of its heads, two more would grow. It is also said that Crab came to the rescue of the Hydra and that on that occasion Iolaos aided Heracles, seeing as Crab was aiding the Hydra. If anyone believes that such a thing existed, they’re a fool: the image is laughable! And why, whenever Heracles cut off one of the heads, was he not devoured by the others and consumed by pain?

Something like this must have happened. Lernos was the king of this region and it took its name from him. (At that time, everyone there lived in small villages; this is now Argive territory.) In those days there existed the cities of Argos, Mycenae, Tiryns, [*](We translate Westermann’s conjecture Τίρυνς rather than the transmitted Τυρ(ρ)ήνη.) and Lerna, and a king was appointed to each. The other kings were subject to Eurystheus, son of Persues’ son Sthenelos, as he had the greatest and most populous territory, that of Mycenae. But Lernos had no desire to be subject to him, and this is why they went to war. There was then, on a pass that gave access to Lernos, a formidable fort. It was guarded by fifty brave bowmen who manned a tower unceasingly, day and night. The name of this fort was Hydra.

Eurystheus sent Heracles to conquer the fort. Heracles’ men began to attack the archers with fiery missiles, but whenever any one of them was struck and fell, two would step up in his place, following the brave example of the fallen man. Since Lernos almost besieged by Heracles, he hired Carian mercenaries. There arrived a tall and warlike man named Carcinos [‘Crab’] at the head of the army. With his help, they held out against Heracles.

Then Iolaos, son of Iphicles and Heracles’ nephew, arrived to help out with an army from Thebes. He approached Hydra and set fire to the regenerating tower. And thus, with this force, Heracles conquered the Lernaians: he defeated Hydra and destroyed the army. This is the event that they wrote up with the Hydra as a snake, and so fabricated the myth.

What is said about Cerberos is that he was a dog with three heads. It is clear that, just like Geryon, he too was from the city called Trihead and so people would say, That’s a large and handsome Triheaded hound! It is said that Heracles led him up out of Hades: such a myth!

What happened was something like this. Guarding his cattle Geryon had two large, spirited dogs whose names were Cerberos and Orthos. Orthos was done away with by Heracles in Trihead after he had rounded up the cattle. Cerberos, meanwhile, went along with the herd. Wanting the dog, a Mycenaean man by the name of Molottos first asked Eurystheus to give him the dog. After Eurystheus refused, Molottos persuaded the herdsmen to let him keep the dog penned up in a cave on Cape Tainaron in Laconia. Because Cerberos sired excellent offspring, he would lower down female dogs for him to mount.

Eurystheus sent Heracles on the hunt for the dog. Having wandered the whole Peloponnese, he arrived at the place where he had been tipped off that the dog was to be found. He descended into the cave and led the dog out. And so people would say, Having descended through a cave into Hades, Heracles led the dog up out of there.