Dragons in Greek mythology in its place. It had an immortal head which would remain alive after it was cut off. Some accounts claim that the immortal head was made of gold. It lived in a swamp near Lerna and frequently terrorized the townsfolk until it was slain by Heracles, who cut the heads off, with the help of his nephew Iolaus, who then singed the oozing stump with a blazing firebrand to prevent any new heads from growing, as the second of his Twelve Labors. Hera sent a giant crab to distract Heracles, but he simply crushed it under his foot. Hera then
Lerna several had central circular hearths. Narrow lanes separated houses. A great profusion of unlined pits ("bothroi") was characteristic of this phase: eventually they became filled with waste matter, bones, potsherds, even whole pots. The pottery, markedly discontinuous with Lerna III, shows a range of new forms, and the first signs— regular spiral grooves in bases and parallel incised lines— marking the increasing use of the potter's wheel. Painted linear decoration in dark glaze on the pale body is characteristic of Lerna IV. Caskey identified early examples of the ware that in Middle Helladic contexts would be recognized as Minyan ware,