Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra

Hercules raises his club against the Hydra in the marshes of Lerna. Each severed head is replaced by new ones, so that force alone only increases the danger. The chapter explains the decisive aid of Iolaus, who burns the wounds and prevents the heads from returning.

The surrounding discussion offers competing readings of the monster as a serpent-infested marsh, a network of torrents or an entrenched band of enemies. These are the author's interpretations, not settled origins of the myth. In the image, the hero's measured stance confronts a creature whose multiplying bodies seem to resist every limit.

Historical context is adapted from the accompanying commentary by Antoine de La Barre de Beaumarchais. Its interpretations reflect the period in which the book was published.

This edition follows plate 25 in Le Temple des Muses. The complete historical page and its explanatory text remain available in the source record. Source attribution: Bernard Picart and other engravers, Le Temple des Muses (1749 edition). Museum date: 1749 (publication). Source medium: Engraving, inner pictorial scene. Source portfolio: Le Temple des Muses, plate 25.

The inner illustration has been straightened and extracted from its surrounding engraved frame, caption and paper. The comparison shows that extracted engraving beside Surrealium's contemporary colour interpretation.

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