Ladon
Mythological Narrative
The serpent that guarded the golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides. Hesiod calls it the youngest child of Ceto and Phorcys; Apollodorus gives it a hundred heads; Apollonius of Rhodes names it Ladon and shows it lying dead the day after Heracles took the apples.
Scholarly Commentary & Evolution
## Guardian of the Apples
The golden apples were Earth's gift at the wedding of Zeus and Hera, planted in a garden beyond the ocean and tended by the Hesperides. Hesiod ends his list of the children of the sea-powers Ceto and Phorcys with a terrible serpent that guards the golden apples in the hidden places of the dark earth at its far bounds. Apollodorus makes the guardian an immortal dragon with a hundred heads, born of Typhon and Echidna, which spoke with many different voices.
## The Name and the Death
The name Ladon is best known from Apollonius of Rhodes. In the *Argonautica*, the Argonauts, parched in the Libyan desert, come upon the garden the day after Heracles has passed through: the serpent Ladon lies dead by the golden apple tree, shot with arrows dipped in the Hydra's poison, while the Hesperides lament. Apollodorus preserves two versions of how Heracles got the apples: by sending Atlas for them while he held the sky, or by killing the serpent and picking them himself.
Academic Discussion & Critique
Exchange peer-reviewed hypotheses, comparative Indo-European etymologies, and archaeological field interpretations regarding Ladon.
You Might Also Like
Cerberus
The monstrous hound guarding the gate of the underworld, offspring of Typhon and Echidna, commonly shown with three heads. Fetching him alive was the twelfth labor of Heracles.
Chimera
A fire-breathing hybrid monster with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a serpent. Slain by the hero Bellerophon while riding the winged horse Pegasus.
Cyclops
One-eyed giants of immense strength. The most famous, Polyphemus, trapped Odysseus and his men in his cave. They were master craftsmen who forged Zeus's thunderbolts.
Hydra
A gigantic water serpent with multiple heads that regenerate when severed. Slain by Heracles as his second labor, who discovered that two heads grow back for each one cut off.