Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Lernaean Hydra

Lernaean Hydra

9.9
A big snake with many heads from Greek myth whose cut heads often grow back as two
  • proper noun
  • /ˈlɜrnɪən ˈhaɪdrə/
  • Literature
translation icon : Hidra de Lerna
  • Hercules ultimately defeated the Lernaean Hydra by burning its necks after cutting off its heads.

Examples

  • Hercules fought the Lernaean Hydra as one of his twelve labors.

  • The Lernaean Hydra symbolizes a problem that becomes worse each time you try to solve it.

  • In the myth, Hercules fought the Lernaean Hydra as one of his twelve labors.

  • Some writers use the Lernaean Hydra as a metaphor for persistent challenges.

  • The Lernaean Hydra is a famous creature from Greek mythology.

  • In the myth, Hercules fought the Lernaean Hydra as one of his twelve labors.

  • The Lernaean Hydra is a famous creature from Greek mythology.

Synonyms

Hydra
vsLernaean Hydra
  • Literature
22 9.4

A nine-headed serpent from Greek myth that grows new heads when one is cut

is the identical mythic creature but named with a locational descriptive adjective

Surface Forms

Lernaean Hydra main

Morphology

Lernaean + Hydra

This is a culturally specific proper name for a mythological monster rather than a compositional phrase; knowledge of the parts ('Lernaean' — a place-derived adjective — and 'Hydra' — a mythic creature) does not let a learner infer the full storylike meaning (multiple regenerative heads, slain by Hercules). As a named entity requiring background knowledge of Greek mythology, the expression is not derivable from its constituents and would be opaque to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Lernaean Hydra comes from a Greek myth about a many-headed snake that grew two new heads whenever one was cut off. So today people call a problem a Lernaean Hydra when it 'keeps coming back' or even gets worse each time you try to fix it.