Geryon
Geryon was a giant with three bodies joined at the waist, living on the island of Erytheia at the far western edge of the world, where he kept a famous herd of red cattle. Stealing this herd was the tenth of Heracles's labors: after crossing the ocean in the golden cup of the sun god Helios, Heracles killed Geryon with a poisoned arrow and drove the cattle back to Greece.
Geryon, the three-bodied giant
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Core Myth
Hesiod's Theogony traces Geryon's ancestry to Chrysaor, who sprang fully grown from the neck of Medusa when Perseus beheaded her, and the Oceanid nymph Callirhoe. Their son grew into a giant with three separate bodies joined together at the waist, and he made his home on Erytheia, an island Hesiod places at the far western edge of the world, beyond the stream of Ocean. There he kept a celebrated herd of red cattle, guarded by the herdsman Eurytion and a two-headed hound named Orthus. Stealing this herd was the tenth labor Eurystheus set for Heracles. Apollodorus describes an arduous outward journey across Europe and Africa, during which Heracles grew frustrated with the sun's heat and drew his bow against Helios himself; impressed rather than angered, the sun god lent Heracles the golden cup he used to sail back across Ocean each night, and Heracles used it to cross the sea to Erytheia. There he killed the guard-dog Orthus and the herdsman Eurytion, then faced Geryon himself beside the river Anthemus as the giant came to defend his cattle. Heracles shot him with an arrow tipped in the poisonous blood of the Hydra from his earlier labor, and Geryon fell. The return journey with the stolen cattle proved almost as eventful as reaching Erytheia, with various local hazards and hostile figures along the way through Spain, Gaul, and Italy before Heracles finally delivered the herd to Eurystheus at Tiryns.
How many bodies did Geryon have, and how were they joined?
Apollodorus describes him as three men grown together and joined as one at the waist, but separated into three from the flanks and thighs down - effectively one torso above the hips branching into three complete lower bodies. This made him formidable in a fight but also, per some traditions, unusually exposed to a single well-placed shot.
Apollodorus, Library 2.5.10
How did Heracles cross the ocean to reach Geryon's island?
According to Apollodorus, Heracles grew so frustrated with the heat of the journey that he aimed his bow at the sun god Helios himself. Rather than retaliating, Helios was impressed by his boldness and lent Heracles the golden cup he used each night to sail back across Ocean to the east, and Heracles used it to reach Erytheia.
Apollodorus, Library 2.5.10
How did Heracles actually kill Geryon?
After first killing the two-headed guard-dog Orthus and the herdsman Eurytion, Heracles faced Geryon himself as the giant rushed to defend his cattle. Apollodorus describes Heracles shooting him with an arrow tipped in the poisonous blood of the Hydra, the same weapon he had armed himself with after an earlier labor, and Geryon died of the wound.
Apollodorus, Library 2.5.10
Who were Geryon's parents?
Hesiod's Theogony names Chrysaor, who was born from Medusa's neck when Perseus beheaded her, and the Oceanid nymph Callirhoe as his parents. This makes Geryon part of a lineage of unusual or monstrous births tracing back to Medusa, even though Medusa herself is only his grandmother rather than a direct parent.
Hesiod, Theogony 287-294
Do the sources agree on exactly where Geryon died?
Not precisely. Hesiod's Theogony places the killing on the island of Erytheia itself, in the same lines that name Geryon's parents. Apollodorus's fuller account has Heracles already driving the cattle away by the time Geryon catches up to confront him beside the river Anthemus, which puts the actual fight slightly further along the journey rather than on the island proper.
Hesiod, Theogony 287-294; Apollodorus, Library 2.5.10
What happened after Heracles killed Geryon?
He still had to drive the stolen cattle all the way back to Tiryns in Greece, a return journey Apollodorus describes as its own ordeal, crossing Spain, Gaul, and Italy and facing various local hazards and hostile figures along the way before finally completing the tenth labor by delivering the herd to Eurystheus.
Apollodorus, Library 2.5.10
Later Traditions
Hesiod and Apollodorus do not fully agree on where exactly Geryon met his end: Hesiod places the killing on Erytheia itself, in the same lines that name his parents, while Apollodorus's fuller narrative has Heracles already driving the cattle away by the time Geryon catches up to him beside the river Anthemus, putting the actual confrontation slightly further along the return journey rather than on the island. The labor's geography - Erytheia at the edge of Ocean, the borrowed cup of the sun god, the long overland drive home through the far west - made it one of the more expansive-feeling labors in the traditional twelve, closer to a journey story than a straightforward monster hunt.
Also Connected
1 recorded connection, each with the ancient line behind it.
Connected
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Geryon's father Chrysaor, not yet a separate entity in this corpus, was said to be Poseidon's son by Medusa - the sea god's bloodline lies behind Geryon's far-western, ocean-edge myth.
Where Accounts Differ
- where Geryon died
- Location variant: Hesiod's Theogony places Geryon's death on the island of Erytheia itself, while Apollodorus's fuller account has Heracles already driving the cattle away when Geryon catches up to him beside the river Anthemus, putting the fight further along the return journey.
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Mythology
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Sources
- Hesiod, Theogony 287-294
- Apollodorus, Library 2.5.10
- Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth (1993)