For the municipality, see Myloi (Argolida), Greece, the seat of the municipality of Lerna Myloi or Myli, Mili (Greek: Μύλοι), is a village and the seat of the municipality of Lerna in the southwestern part of the prefecture of Argolis. ...

In classical Greece, Lerna was a region of springs and a former lake near the east coast of the Peloponnesus, south of Argos. It is most famous as the lair of the Lernaean Hydra, the chthonic many-headed water snake, a creature of great antiquity when Heracles killed it, as the second of his labors. Peloponnesos (Greek: Πελοπόννησος, sometime Latinized as Peloponnesus or Anglicized as The Peloponnese) is a large peninsula in Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Isthmus of Corinth. ... Argos (Greek: Άργος, Árgos) is a city in Greece in the Peloponnesus near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor, named for Nauplius. ... The 16th-century German illustrator has been influenced by the Beast of Revelation in his depiction of the Hydra. ... In mythology chthonic (from Greek χθονιος-pertaining to the earth; earthy) designates, or pertains to, gods or spirits of the underworld, especially in Greek mythology. ... Statue of Heracles In Greek mythology, Heracles, or Heraklês (glory of Hera, Ἡρακλῆς) was the demigod son of Zeus and Alcmene, the grand-daughter of Perseus and the wife of Amphitryon. ... Statue of Heracles In Greek mythology, Heracles, or Heraklês (glory of Hera, Ἡρακλῆς) was the demigod son of Zeus and Alcmene, the grand-daughter of Perseus and the wife of Amphitryon. ...

The secret of the Lernaean spring was the gift of Poseidon when he lay with the "blameless" daughter of Danaus, Amymone. Andrea Doria as Neptune by Agnolo Bronzino: a potent allegory of Genoas hegemony in the Tyrrhenian Sea In Greek Mythology, Poseidon (Ποσειδῶν) was the god of the sea, known to the Romans as Neptune, and to the Etruscans as Nethuns. ... Danaus, or Danaos (sleeper) was a Greek mythological character, twin brother of Aegyptus and son of Belus, a mythical king of Egypt. ... In Greek mythology, Amymone (the blameless one) was a daughter of Danaus. ...

The geographer Strabo attests that the Lernaean waters were considered healing Strabo (squinty) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. ...

"Lake Lerna, the scene of the story of the Hydra, lies in Argeia and the Mycenaean territory; and on account of the cleansings that take place in it there arose a proverb, 'A Lerna of ills.' Now writers agree that the county has plenty of water, and that, although the city itself lies in a waterless district, it has an abundance of wells. These wells they ascribe to the daughters of Danaus, believing that they discovered them ... but they add that four of the wells not only were designated as sacred but are especially revered, thus introducing the false notion that there is a lack of water where there is an abundance of it."

—Strabo, Geography 8.6.8.

Lerna was one of the entrances to the Underworld, and the ancient Lernaean Mysteries, sacred to Demeter, were celebrated there. Pausanias (2.37.1) says that the mysteries were initiated by Philammon, the twin "other" of Autolycus. At the Alcyonian Lake, entry to the netherworld could be achieved by a hero who dared, such as Dionysus in search of his mother Semele. For mortals the lake was perilous: Argos (Greek: Άργος, Árgos) is a city in Greece in the Peloponnesus near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor, named for Nauplius. ... The Lion Gate at Mycenae The Lion Gate (detail) Mycenae (ancient Greek: , IPA , in modern Greek: Μυκήνες ), is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. ... Underworld relief - an artists depiction of where dead souls go. ... Dêmêtêr (or Demetra) (DEH-MEH-ter) (mother-goddess or perhaps distribution-mother) is the Greek goddess of agriculture, the pure nourisher of youth and the green earth, the health-giving cycle of life and death, and preserver of marriage and the sacred law. ... Pausanias was Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... The name Autolycus refers to several people: In Greek mythology, Autolycus, or Autólykos was the son of Chione and Hermes and father of Anticlea. ... Bacchus by Caravaggio The god Dionysus is occasionally confused with one of several historical figures named Dionysius, a theophoric name that simply means [servant] of Dionysus. ... In Greek mythology, Semele, daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, was the mother of Dionysus (the god and his votaries were both identified as Bacchus) by Zeus. ...

"There is no limit to the depth of the Alcyonian Lake, and I know of nobody who by any contrivance has been able to reach the bottom of it since not even Nero, who had ropes made several stades long and fastened them together, tying lead to them, and omitting nothing that might help his experiment, was able to discover any limit to its depth. This, too, I heard. The water of the lake is, to all appearance, calm and quiet but, although it is such to look at, every swimmer who ventures to cross it is dragged down, sucked into the depths, and swept away."

—Pausanias, 2.37.4.

At Lerna, Plutarch knew (Isis and Osiris), Dionysus was summoned as "Bugenes", "son of the Bull" with a strange archaic trumpet called a salpinx, while a lamb was cast into the waters as an offering for the "Keeper of the Gate." The keeper of the gate to the Underworld that lay in the waters of Lerna was the Hydra. Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (December 15, 37–June 9, 68), born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called (50–54) Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. ... The worship of the Sacred Bull throughout the ancient world is most familiar in the episode of the idol of the Golden Calf made by Aaron and worshipped by the Hebrews in the wilderness of Sinai (Exodus). ... Underworld relief - an artists depiction of where dead souls go. ... The 16th-century German illustrator has been influenced by the Beast of Revelation in his depiction of the Hydra. ...

Lerna was occupied in Neolithic times, as early as the 5th millennium BCE, then was abandoned for a time. It has one of the largest prehistoric tumuli of Greece, a site of a two-storey palace or administrative center that is referred to as the "House of the Tiles" for the terracotta tiles that sheathed its roof (an early example of tile roofing). The strongly-fortified power center called "Lerna II" in the site's stratigraphy, dates to the Early Bronze Age Early Helladic culture, ca 2500 - 2200 BCE. Though five stages of occupation at Lerna have been identified, the site of the "House of Tiles" was not rebuilt upon, whether through respect or fear, until at the end of the Middle Helladic period, shaft graves were cut into the tumulus of the House of Tiles, indicating that the significance of that monument had been forgotten. Lerna was used as a cemetery during the Mycenaean age, but was abandoned about 1250 BCE. Burial of Oleg of Novgorod in a tumulus in 912. ... The early history of Greece is commonly described as: Early Helladic (c. ...

Modern geological techniques such as core drilling have identified the site of the vanished sacred Lake Lerna, which was a freshwater lagoon, separated by barrier dunes from the Aegean. In the Early Bronze Age Lake Lerna had an estimated diameter of 4.7 km. Deforestation increased the rate of silt deposits and the lake became a malarial marsh, of which the last remnants were drained in the 19th century.

External links

• Carlos Parada, "Greek Mythology link": Lerna
• Perseus Site: Lerna
• Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Lerna
• Eberhard Zangger, "Prehistoric Coastal Environments in Greece: The Vanished Landscapes of Dimini Bay and Lake Lerna": (abstract)

Reference

Carl Kerenyi, The Heroes of the Greeks One of the founders of modern studies in Greek mythology, Karl (Carl, Károly) Kerényi (January 19, 1897 _ April 14, 1973) was born in Hungary but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1943. ...