1. Alunna: Francesca School: Convitto Nazionale “Domenico Cirillo”- Liceo Classico Class: IV B School year: 2008-2009 Presents: Hercules’ second labour

2. The poison of the Hydra was also the cause of the place of death. The wife Deianira, deceived by the centaur Nessus, used the blood of the monster as a filter of love, imbuing a form that was then weared by her husband. An accidental puncture with a poisoned arrow caused suffering to Chiron, the centaur friend and teacher of Hercules, but he was immortal and he could not die. The hydra of Lerna The myth tells that the Hydra was killed by Hercules during the second of his labors. It was not an easy task. Hercules stan the horrific beast and digest meal in the cave. As he went out, the Hydra clamped fast against him. Hercules responded and cut all the heads of the Hydra; he discovered with horror that from the cut of every the head, two more sprout instantly. To avoid its tremendous breath Hercules was holding its breath. He had then an idea. He asked aid to the nephew Iolao. While Hercules cut heads, Iolao gave fire to the blood of the wound healing so that the heads could not grow. The last head was immortal, but finally the hero buried its head and body under a huge boulder. Then he bathed the tips of arrows in the blood of the hydra, that was highly poisonous and the wounds inflicted by them were incurable.