Leo and Hydra - The March Sky Story

This is the story of how two hideously ugly brothers managed to win a place among the stars.

Leo, aka Nemean Lion, and Hydra, aka Water Snake, were not the most agreeable pair in the land of Argolis. Although brothers, they shared but one common feature—they were equally fearsome. A family trait, you might say.

The Nemean Lion and the Hydra were the sons of Echidna and Typhon—a dashing couple: she, a hideous beast with the head of a maiden and the body of a serpent; he, a venom-dripping, lava-spewing mess of a man with 100 heads. They were the brothers of Ladon, a 200-head dragon; the Sphinx, a winged she-monster with the head of a woman and the body of a lion; the Chimera, yet another she-monster, a fire-breathing ogre with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon; and Cerberus, the three-headed hound of hell. It was an eclectic family, although reunions and holidays were often challenging.

Both brothers lived idyllic lives in their estimation, terrorizing local villagers and farm animals in the land of Argolis. The Nemean Lion roamed the countryside, threatening and often eating any who struck his fancy. His skin could not be pierced by spear or arrow, leaving him invincible to injury.

Hydra lurked in the swamps near Argolis. He was a serpent with, at last count, nine heads, one of which was immortal. He enjoyed soaking in the stagnant, smelly waters of the swamps until the urge to maraud and snack on cattle and hapless travelers struck him. If one of Hydra’s heads was cut off in a fight, two would quickly sprout up in its place. His breath was so horrible and smelly that it could easily kill a man. All of these things made intimacy in friendships difficult for Hydra, and could have contributed to his nasty temperament and mood swings.

The beastly brothers were unaware that their paths would one day cross with Hercules.

Hercules was the strongest man alive. He was the mortal son of Zeus, who was the immortal father of all the gods and heroes in Greek mythology. Hercules was challenged by his cousin Eurystheus to complete 12 labors. These labors were dangerous, life-threatening tasks that many agreed were absolutely impossible to complete. Hercules’ first labor was to rid Argolis of the Nemean Lion.

The Nemean Lion was enjoying one of his frequent, murderous jaunts through the countryside when he first spotted Hercules. With a cavernous roar, the lion charged the hero. Hercules quickly realized his arrows would do the beast no harm. He hadn’t a moment to think before the lion was sailing through the air, milliseconds away from landing squarely on his chest.

Hercules wasn’t just strong. He was really strong. The quick-thinking hero wrestled the lion and beat the beast. He later made a lovely cloak from the lion’s pelt, impenetrable to any blow or arrow—and likely stain-resistant.

Hercules probably wasn’t happy to hear that his second labor would be ridding Argolis of the dreaded Hydra, but he was up for the challenge. Hercules poked, prodded, and taunted the serpent from his warm, muddy slumber. Hydra was furious—his heads swayed menacingly and spouted fire and deadly halitosis at the hero. Hercules mustered all of his courage, held his breath, and attacked the beast with his sword. He quickly realized that Hydra grew heads as fast as he lost them. Things were looking grim for the hero.

Hercules called to his cousin Iolaus, who had traveled with him and was waiting outside the swamp. He told Iolaus to use a torch and burn the stump of each head as it was severed from the great snake. This slowed Hydra’s new heads from sprouting up while Hercules battled with him. But Hydra still had that one head that was immortal and could never die. Faced with this last very angry and impossible head, Hercules sliced his sword through the air and in one deft swoop released Hydra’s very alive and now even angrier head from his body. Hercules ran after the flying head and caught it like a football. With no time to lose, he dug a very deep hole with his one free, mighty hand and buried the fuming head, placing a very large boulder on top of the hole. Hydra wasn’t going anywhere.

Some have said that Hera, the wife of Zeus, was angry with Hercules’ success against the Nemean Lion and that she placed the soul of the lion in the sky, where we can now see him as the constellation Leo.