Ladon
Ladon was a serpent, described with a hundred heads and each speaking a different voice, that coiled around the tree of golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides at the western edge of the world. Heracles had to get past it for his eleventh labor; ancient sources disagree on whether he killed the serpent outright or avoided it entirely by tricking the Titan Atlas into fetching the apples instead.
Ladon, the hundred-headed serpent guardian
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Core Myth
Ladon was the serpent, or dragon, entrusted with guarding the tree of golden apples that grew in the garden of the Hesperides, at the far western edge of the world where Atlas held up the sky. Hesiod's Theogony names it the last and most fearsome child of the sea-deities Phorcys and Ceto, while Apollodorus instead describes it as offspring of Typhon and Echidna and gives it a hundred heads, each speaking with a different voice - a detail meant to convey that the guardian never truly slept, since some heads could always stay awake while others rested. Obtaining the apples was the eleventh of Heracles's labors, and Apollodorus preserves two different accounts of how he managed it. In one version, Heracles killed the serpent outright and picked the apples himself, bypassing the Hesperides and Atlas entirely. In the other, more commonly retold version - and the one this site's account of the Twelve Labors follows - Heracles never fought Ladon at all: he offered to hold up the sky in Atlas's place so the Titan could safely gather the apples himself, since only Atlas or someone he trusted could approach the garden without provoking the guardian. When Atlas returned with the apples, he briefly tried to leave Heracles holding the sky permanently, offering to deliver the fruit to Eurystheus himself; Heracles tricked him into taking the sky back by asking him to hold it a moment longer while he adjusted a cushion for his shoulders, then walked off with the apples. Either way, the labor closes the same: Heracles brought the apples to Eurystheus, who could not keep them, since fruit belonging to the gods could not remain in mortal hands, and they were eventually returned to the garden under Athena's care.
Did Heracles kill Ladon, or did he avoid it entirely?
Apollodorus records both traditions without choosing between them: in one, Heracles kills the serpent outright and takes the apples himself; in the other, far more commonly retold, he never fights Ladon at all, instead tricking the Titan Atlas into fetching the apples while Heracles temporarily holds up the sky in his place.
Apollodorus, Library 2.5.11
How many heads did Ladon have?
Apollodorus gives it a hundred heads, each speaking with a different voice, which meant the guardian could never be caught fully asleep - some heads could rest while others stayed alert. This made Ladon, on the version of the myth where Heracles has to face it directly, one of the most formidable of his monstrous opponents.
Apollodorus, Library 2.5.11
Who were Ladon's parents?
Sources disagree. Hesiod's Theogony names the sea-deities Phorcys and Ceto as its parents, describing it as the last and most fearsome of their children, while Apollodorus instead calls it offspring of Typhon and Echidna, the same monstrous pairing credited elsewhere with many of Greek myth's other legendary creatures.
Hesiod, Theogony 333-335
How did Heracles trick Atlas into taking back the sky?
Once Atlas returned from the garden with the apples, he offered to deliver them to Eurystheus himself and tried to leave Heracles permanently holding up the sky. Heracles agreed, but asked Atlas to hold the sky again just briefly so he could adjust a cushion on his shoulders - and once Atlas took the weight back, Heracles simply picked up the apples and left.
Apollodorus, Library 2.5.11
Why couldn't just anyone pick the golden apples themselves?
The garden belonged to the gods, and its fruit was too sacred for an ordinary mortal to take without consequence; only Atlas, whose daughters the Hesperides tended the tree, or someone he trusted, could safely approach it. This is why Heracles's solution in the more common version of the myth is to enlist Atlas rather than simply walking in and picking the apples himself.
Apollodorus, Library 2.5.11
What happened to the apples after Heracles completed the labor?
Eurystheus could not keep them, since fruit belonging to the gods was not something a mortal king could simply retain once its purpose in the labor was served. The apples were returned to the garden of the Hesperides under Athena's care, restoring the world to the state the labor had briefly disrupted.
Apollodorus, Library 2.5.11
Later Traditions
Ancient sources never settled which version was true, and the two traditions coexisted rather than one replacing the other: some retellings have Heracles fight the serpent directly, others have him receive the apples from Atlas with no fight at all. Ladon's hundred heads and many voices made it one of the more vividly described guardians in the corpus of Heracles's labors, even though, on the version most widely retold - and the one this site's account of the Twelve Labors follows - Heracles never has to fight it.
Where Accounts Differ
- killed Ladon vs. avoided it via Atlas
- parentage variant
- Heracles's method of obtaining the apples has two ancient traditions: Apollodorus records one version in which he kills Ladon directly, and another, more commonly retold and the one this site's account of the Twelve Labors follows, in which he never fights the serpent at all and instead tricks Atlas into fetching the apples.
- Ladon's parentage is given differently by two sources: Hesiod names Phorcys and Ceto, while Apollodorus names Typhon and Echidna.
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Mythology
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Sources
- Apollodorus, Library 2.5.11
- Hesiod, Theogony 333-335
- Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica 4.26
- Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth (1993)