Geryon- Greek CreatureCreature · Monster"The Triple-Bodied"

The Triple-Bodied Giant

Geryon possessed three complete bodies joined at the waist, with six arms and the strength of three men. He was the son of Chrysaor and the Oceanid Callirrhoe, and thus a grandson of Medusa. He dwelt on the island of Erytheia at the western edge of the known world, beyond the Pillars of Heracles, where the setting sun turned the waters crimson. His herd of red cattle was guarded by the two-headed dog Orthrus — brother of Cerberus — and the herdsman Eurytion.

The Tenth Labor

Heracles was commanded to steal the cattle as his Tenth Labor, a task that required traveling to the very limits of the earth. He journeyed to the far west and set up the Pillars of Heracles to mark his passage. When the heat of the sun became unbearable, Heracles drew his bow on Helios himself. The sun god, impressed by his daring, lent him the golden cup — the vessel in which Helios sailed each night from west to east along the river Oceanus — to cross the ocean to Erytheia.

Upon reaching the island, Heracles killed Orthrus with a single blow of his club and struck down Eurytion. Geryon came armed for battle with triple shield and spear. But Heracles's poisoned arrows, dipped in the Hydra's blood, proved decisive. In Apollodorus's account, a single arrow passed through all three bodies. Stesichorus describes a longer fight, body against body.

The Long Drive Home

Driving the cattle back to Greece took Heracles through Iberia, across southern Gaul, and down through Italia. Near the site of future Rome, the fire-breathing monster Cacus stole some of the cattle and dragged them by their tails into his cave to hide the tracks. Heracles found him, killed him, and recovered the herd.