In Greek mythology, Ladon was the dragon guarding the golden apples of the Hesperides.
The Hesperides were nymphs who tended a marvelous garden at the western edge of the world. The golden apples had been given to Hera as a wedding gift, and Ladon guarded the tree so that they could not be stolen. Ancient sources vary on the dragon’s parentage and on the number of Hesperides.
Ladon appears in the story of Heracles’s eleventh labor. Heracles had to obtain the apples, but versions differ over whether he killed Ladon, persuaded Atlas to retrieve the fruit, or used another strategy. In many later artistic traditions, Heracles kills the dragon with arrows.
Ladon is sometimes confused with Python, the serpent associated with Delphi and Apollo. They are separate creatures in Greek mythology, with different locations and stories.