Dragons in Greek mythology 2.113; Hyginus, Preface to "Fabulae") or of Gaia herself, or in her Olympian manifestation, Hera: "The Dragon which guarded the golden apples was the brother of the Nemean lion" asserted Ptolemy Hephaestion (recorded in his New History V, lost but epitomized in Photius, "Myriobiblion" 190). The Lernaean Hydra was a dragon-like water serpent with fatally venomous breath, blood and fangs, a daughter of Typhon and Echidna. The creature was said to have anywhere between five and 100 heads, although most sources put the number somewhere between seven and nine. For each head cut off, one or two more grew back
Penta of the Chopped-off Hands Penta of the Chopped-off Hands Penta of the Chopped-off Hands or The Girl With the Maimed Hands is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the "Pentamerone". It is Aarne-Thompson type 706B, "The Girl without Hands." The Brothers Grimm cited it as an analog to "The Girl Without Hands". Other variants of this tale include "The One-Handed Girl", "The Armless Maiden", and "Biancabella and the Snake". A king lost his wife and fell in love with his sister, Penta. He implored her to marry him. When she refused and he continued to implore her,