Serpent) while later on Tycho Brahe named it "Cor Hydrae" (The Hydra'sīeta Hydrae is the southern-most star of any importance. The Arabs called the star "Al Fard al Shuja" (The Solitary One in the Is 89 light years, and it has a luminosity of 95 Suns. Stars are of average brilliance, except forĪlphard is a bright giant, about 25 times the Sun's diameter. Objects, and several very nice double stars. There are a number of interesting deep sky objects, including two Messier These stars, or until later in the spring when they appear at a more reasonable You'll have to wait until the small hours of the morning to see The tail of the monster stretches far to the east, even past Spica (alpha These stars are not quite as far north as Look for the compact stars to the northwest. You've just found the "heart" of the Hydra. The bright star to the west is Alphard (alpha Hydrae). Twenty degrees, passing through the uninspiring constellation of To find Hydra, locate Regulus (alpha Leonis). Months the Hydra then slithers over the skies earlier and earlier. Star, alpha Hydrae, transits on 12 February. At one point its body is actually cut off by another constellationĪlthough the constellation is best seen in March and April, its brightest Hemisphere as Centaurus, stretching out to around one hundred degrees in the The northern hemisphere, bordering Cancer, to as far in the southern Eventually he would be killed by either Heracles' son (Hyllus)Īs a constellation Hydra sinuously winds down from Keep him away from his own kingdom, afraid Heracles would take his HeĬommanded Heracles to perform twelve labours in twelve years in order to Thus born premature, this king of Mycenae was weakly and timorous. And Heracles, being the younger of the two, became subservient to Eurystheus. So she hastened his birth Eurystheus was born two months premature. Before either he or his twin were born, Hera decided that Eurystheus rather than Heracles should become the king of Mycenae. One might wonder just why Heracles had been forced to do all these labours. Heracles had cheated, he said, since he had needed Iolaus' assistance. While one might be tempted to say "well done", Eurystheus (who had assigned these labours to Heracles) was not satisfied. The slightest scratch from one of these arrows would bring instant death. He cuts up the rest of the Hydra's body and dips all his arrows in the dead monster's gall. With theīlood flow stopped the Hydra's heads cease to multiply.įinally Heracles cuts off the immortal head and - as it is still furiously hissing away - he promptly buries it under a huge rock. Grove on fire and then begins cauterizing the bleeding stumps. Heracles calls out to his chariotter Iolaus for help. Heracles slices off one of the monster's heads, only to see a couple more grow in its place. He is in a life and death struggle with the beast. With the help of Athene, Heracles locates the monster's lair and soon Its breath was deadly and if one even smelled its tracks, he Seven is usually the accepted number, possibly because of the seven rivers in this part of the Peloponnesian peninsula, tributaries of the river Amymone.Īt any rate, one of these heads was immortal, which meant the beast was Euripides, with characteristic exaggeration, gave it ten thousand heads. Some say it had seven, others as many asįifty. This was a giganticĭog-like beast with many heads. Himself, Heracles set off to find the Hydra. Having killed the Nemean Lion, and wrapping the protective pelt around This time it is the Second Labour of Heracles. Like a number of other constellations, the Hydra concerns the story of
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |