Source Verification: Ladon
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
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.
Source: 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.
Source: 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.
Source: 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.
Source: 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.
Source: 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.
Source: Apollodorus, Library 2.5.11
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.
Sources
- Apollodorus, Library 2.5.11
- Hesiod, Theogony 333-335
- Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica 4.26
- Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth (1993)