Ladon
The Hundred-Headed Dragon · Guardian of the Golden Apples · Serpent of the Hesperides
Ladon in Greek tradition
A hundred heads watched over the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides. Ladon guarded the tree that gave immortal life. The garden belonged to Hera, and the Hesperides nymphs tended it. Gaia gave the tree to Hera on her wedding day. Ladon needed no sleep, so it watched over the apples without rest.
In one telling, Typhon and Echidna fathered Ladon. In another, Ladon rose from the earth. Heracles went to the garden to fetch the golden apples as one of his labours. He killed Ladon, and Ladon became the constellation Serpentarius.
The quick answers
Who is Ladon?
Ladon is a Greek being associated with guardianship of the golden apples, the garden of the Hesperides, dragon and serpent lore, Heracles’ eleventh labor.Source
Source
- Fabulous Creatures, Mythical Monsters and Animal Power Symbols
- Classical Mythology a to Z
What is Ladon associated with?
guardianship of the golden apples, the garden of the Hesperides, dragon and serpent lore, Heracles’ eleventh laborSource
Source
- Fabulous Creatures, Mythical Monsters and Animal Power Symbols
- Classical Mythology a to Z
What family links are recorded for Ladon?
Father: Phorcys, Mother: Ceto, 1 child.
Ladon’s family, at a glance
Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.
The names Ladon answers to
Ladon
The dragon’s proper name in Greek myth
SourceFabulous Creatures, Mythical Monsters and Animal Power Symbols
Drakon
Greek designation meaning dragon or serpent
SourceFabulous Creatures, Mythical Monsters and Animal Power Symbols
Hesperian Dragon
The dragon associated with the Hesperides
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
Ladon, and where the myths place it
Appears in
The myths across MythSource where Ladon features, each on that figure’s page.
- Asopus and Metope · on Asopus
- The Thunderbolt and the Black Waters · on Asopus
- Atlas and Hesperis · on Atlas
- Echidna and Typhon’s Monstrous Brood · on Echidna
- The Golden Apples of Hera · on Gaia
- Hera Receives the Golden Apples · on Hera
- Pan and Syrinx · on Pan
- Syrinx and the Reeds · on Syrinx
- Typhon and Echidna · on Typhon
- Zeus and Aegina · on Zeus
What this page is built from
About this page
Written and maintained by MythSource. Last reviewed not yet recorded. How a page gets built.
2 sources are cited on this page, primary texts and corpus scholarship, listed below.
Cite this page
MythSource. (n.d.). Ladon. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/ladon
"Ladon." MythSource, n.d., www.mythsource.com/figures/ladon.
"Ladon." MythSource. n.d. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/ladon.
The mythology summaries and identity fields on this page are grounded in the primary texts and scholarship above. The appearance table records candidates separately; only reviewed joins are presented as modern reworks in Overview.
The film
The Underdrawing video on Ladon embeds here once it publishes.