Ladon (mythology)
Dragon guardian of the golden apples in the Hesperides.
Ladon was a dragon in Greek mythology who guarded the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides. He is best known for being slain by Heracles during his eleventh labor.
Quick Facts
- Greek name
- Λάδων (Ladon)
- Parents (hesiod's theogony)
- Phorcys and Ceto
- Alternate parent (peisandros)
- born of the earth
- Parents (apollodorus, hyginus, pherecyde
- Typhon and Echidna
- Sibling (ptolemy hephaestion)
- Nemean lion
- Number of heads (pseudo-apollodorus)
- one hundred
Facts from the source article.
Family
Ladon's parentage is recorded with several conflicting accounts. According to Hesiod's Theogony, he was the last child of Phorcys and Ceto. A scholion on Apollonius of Rhodes cites Hesiod as calling him the son of Typhon, while another source, Peisandros, claimed he was born from the earth. Apollodorus, Hyginus, and Pherecydes describe him as the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. Ptolemy Hephaestion's New History, recorded by Photius, states Ladon was the brother of the Nemean lion.
Mythology
Ladon was a serpent-like dragon that coiled around the tree in the Garden of the Hesperides, guarding the golden apples. Heracles killed him with a bow and arrow as part of his eleventh labor, then took the apples. The image of the dragon coiled around the tree was adopted by the Hellenes from Near Eastern and Minoan sources and appears on Greek vase-painting. Pausanias saw an archaic cedar-wood cult image of Heracles and the apple-tree with the snake coiled around it at Olympia. Diodorus Siculus offered an euhemerist interpretation of Ladon as a human shepherd guarding golden-fleeced sheep. According to Hyginus's Astronomy, Ladon became the constellation Draco, placed among the stars by Zeus. Pseudo-Apollodorus wrote that Ladon had a hundred heads and spoke with many voices.
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