During a walk yesterday, my daughter registered a complaint about her summer homework, which concerns Greek Mythology. Her assignment is to read selections of Ancient texts and annotate them. She said she thought these stories were rather stupid because the Greek Gods were guilty of all sorts of depraved behavior. I really had no argument to counter her other than, “Some of the stories are cool,” for which I got the typical eye-roll that only a daughter can do correctly. This got me thinking this morning about which stories I remember the most and which I think had some real meaning behind them that could prove valuable in my life. The first thought that came to me was the story of the Twelve Labors of Hercules; the second thought was the Lernaean Hydra.
The Hydra was a serpentine lake monster that dwelt at the lake of Lerna, which was rumored to be an entrance to the Underworld. Lerna was significant because this is the location in which the 49 Danaids, daughters of the King of Libya, buried the heads of their Egyptian husbands, which they removed rather unceremoniously on their wedding night. One daughter decided not to go along with the pact, but I will not spoil the story. Her husband made a wise decision on the wedding night, and he was spared. You might also think this sounds familiar because in the Lord of the Rings, Gandalf and the Fellowship of the Ring are stuck outside of the Mines of Moria, and when they finally figure out how to open the doors, they are accosted by the Watcher in the Water, a giant sea creature with many arms.
A description of this Hydra is in order. The hydra was the offspring of two very powerful and evil creatures. A giant monstrous serpentine giant, the most powerful in all Greek Mythos, and a half-woman, half-snake creature. She gave birth to lots of terrible beasts by different monster fathers. Mother’s Day must have been a blast in her cave. At any rate, the Hydra had poisonous breath and blood that was so nasty that even its smell would kill a human. The Hydra had a lot of heads. The exact number and what those heads look like grow and change in the description the older the narrative gets. Eventually, we would get to the point where if you cut off one of these heads, two would regrow in their place. Hercules got a hint from his nephew before his journey that if he burned the neck of the chopped head with fire, there would be no regrowth. So this is a hideous monster; what better creature to guard a portal to Hades?
On the surface, this is a fun story of Hercules talking about this creature, figuring out how to kill it, and then using the poison to kill other foes in his travels. He made Hera really mad by so doing, and as a consequence, created a new constellation in the heavens (the hydra) and placed it next to the sign of Cancer. Interestingly enough, if you are an amateur astronomer, you will know that when the sun travels through cancer, the constellation Hydra is closer, or at least I have been told. There are some deeper meanings to this symbolic representation of this monstrous creature. Hercules travels through these 12 labors; no coincidence, they were all related to the constellations in the heavens. It seems that as he has these travails, everything has some deeper meaning, including this Hydra.
We can view the Hydra as a symbolic representation of destruction and chaos that we are always close enough to that we must keep a wary eye. At any moment, we can find ourselves falling into the pit of chaos and must be aware of the many forces around us. I like to view the Hydra as a representation of the ugly challenges that I have to overcome in life. The struggle to defeat the Hydra is symbolic of the effort it takes to tackle complex and persistent problems. Sometimes, these problems can take the form of my own personal vices and poor choices. It seems when I get rid of one of them, several more pop up in its place. The only way to get rid of these types of behaviors is to burn them at the root. Ouch.
Problems can grow strong and take residence if you do not take care of them when they are small. They can be incredibly difficult to kill if they are not properly addressed. This is clearly symbolic of things in our personal and professional lives that we do not think through very well and find ourselves dealing with the monster once we get to a certain scale or at a time when we least want the uninvited guest.
Hercules’ victory over the Hydra at the Lake of Lerna is a great way to remind ourselves that good can triumph over evil. We can overcome our problems and restore order to chaos. With perseverance and a little cleverness, we can overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges.
