Ladon
Also called Drakon Hesperios.
In Greek mythology, Ladon is the serpentine dragon that coils around or through the tree of golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides, guarding the fruit against all who would take it.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Greek mythology
- Trait family
- The Monstrous Broods
- Symbols
- Dragon
Kinship
Lines of descent added by hand and approved one at a time.
- Typhon derived from
why
Ancient sources vary on his exact parentage: he is most often called a child of Typhon and Echidna, placing him among their brood of monstrous siblings, though some accounts instead make him the offspring of the sea-deities Phorcys and Ceto, or born directly from Gaia.
- Echidna derived from
why
Ancient sources vary on his exact parentage: he is most often called a child of Typhon and Echidna, placing him among their brood of monstrous siblings, though some accounts instead make him the offspring of the sea-deities Phorcys and Ceto, or born directly from Gaia.
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Dragon is image-domain The dragon denotes chaotic instinctual power, guardian of hoarded treasure and fertility, destructive in the West and, in China, the beneficent waterlike way of things.
why
In Greek mythology, Ladon is the serpentine dragon that coils around or through the tree of golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides, guarding the fruit against all who would take it.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Serpentine elongated body
why
Vase paintings and literary descriptions agree in giving him a serpent's body
- Multi-headed body
why
some tellings add many heads
Behaviour
- Guards remote monstrous domain
why
Ladon is the serpentine dragon that coils around or through the tree of golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides, guarding the fruit against all who would take it.
- Eternal vigilant watcher
why
his vigilance was said to be tireless, since as a serpent he had no need for sleep
Omens
- Petrified into constellation
why
some tellings place Ladon among the stars as the constellation Draco, coiled near Hercules and the pole in the night sky, a lasting image of his endless watch
Defensive powers
- Danger sensing
why
his vigilance was said to be tireless, since as a serpent he had no need for sleep
Utility powers
- Multi-headed speech
why
some tellings add many heads and the ability to speak with different voices out of each one
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Serpent carries both readings
4 citations
- Apollodorus, translated by J. G. Frazer, The Library, p. 510.
- Maria Leach, editor, Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, s.v. "Ladon."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Ladon."
- Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth, p. 6.
- Threshold carries both readings
4 citations
- Apollodorus, translated by J. G. Frazer, The Library, p. 510.
- Maria Leach, editor, Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, s.v. "Ladon."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Ladon."
- Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth, p. 6.
- Hero meets
4 citations
- Apollodorus, translated by J. G. Frazer, The Library, p. 510.
- Maria Leach, editor, Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, s.v. "Ladon."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Ladon."
- Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth, p. 6.