History Mystery: Realm of Myths and Legends -6

Hydra: In Greek mythology, a many headed water snake that lived in the marshy plain of Lerna in new Argos. As one if his 12 Labors, Hercules was sent to kill the Hydra, but as soon as he cut off one of its heads two grew in its place. His charioteer had to help by burning the roots of each head.

Loch Ness Monster: large aquatic creature, nicknamed Nessie, said to live in Scotland’s Loch Ness. The first sighting was made in AD 565 by St Columba but only after a newspaper article in 1933 did the creature become world famous. In 1934, a London gynecologist called R.K. Wilson supposedly took a photograph of Nessie’s swan like neck, which resembled that of an extinct marine reptile called a plesiosaur. This has since been exposed as a hoax mounted by Marmaduke Wetherell, a film producer and big game hunter. Large, unidentified shapes have been picked up on sonar equipment, but there is still no undisputed proof of Nessie’s existence.

Mermaid: Mythical sea creature with a woman’s body and a fish’s tail. Mermaid legends are very old, and are remarkably similar whatever their country of origin. Mermaids are seductive Sirens, personifying the beauty and treachery of the sea. They are said to lull sailors to sleep with their sweet singing and they carry them away beneath the waves. Belief in the existence of a race of merfolk was wide spread among seamen until the late 19^th century. Ti see a mermaid was considered a portent of danger and disaster.