\paperw2700 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 \cf7 A hydra with nine heads, one of which--the central one--was immortal, was laying waste to the region of \b \cf15 \ATXht11208 Lern
a\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 . The monster was another of the offspring of \b \cf15 \ATXht12021 Typhon\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 and \b \cf15 \ATXht10500 Echidna\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 and had been raised by \b \cf15 \ATXht3 Hera\b0 \ATXht0 \cf7 precisely to serve as a test for
\b \cf15 \ATXht10811 Heracles\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 . The hero attacked it with his club, but every time he managed to strike off a head, two more grew in its place. In the end, Heracles was able to get the better of the hydra, with the help of his faithful ne
phew \b \cf15 \ATXht10910 Iolaus\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , by burning each head that he struck off and burying the immortal one under a rock. Dipping the heads of his arrows in the monster's bile, he made them deadly.
