Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra Hercules lived in Greece. He was the son of Zeus, the most powerful of the gods, and A e. Hercules was very strong. He had to carry out twelve labours to become a god. One of these was to kill the Hydra. The Hydra was a monster with nine heads. It wasn't easy to kill. Each time he tried to cut off one of her heads, two more appeared in its place. With the help of his nephew Iolaus, Hercules managed to cut off eight of the heads Then, he grabbed the ninth head and buried it under a big rock. The Hydra was dead.