School talk kit
School talk: the Hydra of Lerna
Everything you need for a school talk or project about the myth of the Hydra and the real Lerna: a step-by-step plan, facts, photos and slides.
How to put your school talk together
Start with a question
Ask your class: "Who dares to defeat a monster with nine heads?" Then everyone will listen straight away.
Say where Lerna is
Lerna is near the village of Myloi in Greece, in the Peloponnese, by the sea between Argos and Nafplio. Show it on a map!
Tell the myth
Tell about Heracles, Iolaos and the Hydra. Make it clear that it's a myth: a story from the ancient Greeks.
Tell what really happened
Tell about the springs and the House of the Tiles, which is more than 4000 years old.
End with a quiz
Ask your class two or three questions. Who knows the answer?
Facts for your school talk
- Near Myloi, water comes up out of the ground all year round: the springs of Lerna.
- According to the myth, the sea god Poseidon struck a rock with his trident, and that's how the springs came to be.
- According to the myth, the Hydra, a poisonous water serpent, lived in the marsh. Apollodorus wrote that she had nine heads.
- Heracles had to defeat the Hydra. For every head he knocked off, two new ones grew.
- His nephew Iolaos burned the necks shut with a torch. That's how Heracles won after all.
- The Hydra never really existed: it's a myth.
- But this is real: people already lived on a hill by the springs in the Stone Age.
- The House of the Tiles is more than 4000 years old. The archaeologist John Caskey dug it up between 1952 and 1958.
Photos for your school talk
You may use these photos for your school talk or project at school. But do write where they come from.
Postcard “Η Λέρνη ορωμένη εκ του λόφου Ποντίνου” (Lerna seen from Pontinos hill): streams winding through the marsh
Five children standing side by side on the stony bank of the water (digitally restored)
Black-and-white view of pools in the marsh, low buildings, a eucalyptus tree and the gulf in the distance
Colour slide of a large herd of goats at the water of the springs, with orchards behind
A researcher in sunglasses, pink shirt and shorts holds up a large clay pot in an excavation trench at Lerna (digitally restored)
Sixteenth-century engraving of Heracles and Iolaos fighting the many-headed Hydra
Quiz questions for your class
- What happened when Heracles knocked off one of the Hydra's heads? (Two new ones grew!)
- Who helped Heracles? (His nephew Iolaos, with a torch.)
- Did the Hydra really exist? (No, it's a myth!)
Download the kit
The pdf contains a cheat sheet and slides that you can show on the interactive whiteboard.
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School talk kit · pdf
School talk: the Hydra of Lerna
A cheat sheet and slides for the interactive whiteboard, ready to use.
Where does this information come from? Visit Myloi, pages about the mythology of Lerna and about ancient Lerna; Apollodorus, Library (Bibliotheca) 2.5.2; Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.36–2.37.