Mušmaḫḫū Mušmaḫḫū Mušmaḫḫū, inscribed in Sumerian as MUŠ.MAḪ, Akkadian as "muš-ma-ḫu", meaning "Exalted/distinguished Serpent", was an ancient Mesopotamian mythological hybrid of serpent, lion and bird, sometimes identified with the seven-headed serpent slain by Ninurta in the mythology of the Sumerian period. He is one of the three horned snakes, with his companions, Bašmu and Ušumgallu, with whom he may have shared a common mythological origin. In "Angim" or "Ninurta's return to Nippur", the storm god describes one of his weapons as "the seven-mouthed muš-mah serpent" (line 138), reminiscent of the Greek myth of Heracles and the seven headed Lernaean Hydra he
Heracles by tying them to a stick with their faces pointing downward. While walking through the wilderness, Heracles was set upon by the Dryopes. In Apollonius of Rhodes' "Argonautica" it is recalled that Heracles had mercilessly slain their king, Theiodamas, over one of the latter's bulls, and made war upon the Dryopes "because they gave no heed to justice in their lives". After the death of their king, the Dryopes gave in and offered him Prince Hylas. He took the youth on as his weapons bearer and beloved. Years later, Heracles and Hylas joined the crew of the "Argo". As Argonauts,