Ladon was a serpent-like dragon that twined and twisted around the tree in the Garden of the Hesperides and guarded the golden apples. He was either the progeny of Phorcys and Ceto, or of Typhon and Echidna. According to one myth, in pursuance of his eleventh labour, Heracles killed Ladon with a bow and arrow and carried the apples away. Another holds that Ladon is never slain, and Heracles instead gets the Titan god Atlas to retrieve the apples, while Heracles takes Atlas’ place holding up the sky.

To add to confusion, their is another Ladon in Greek mythology – a river god – a quite separate entity.