Orthrus’s Family Tree

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Family

• Echidna(parent),Typhon(parent),Cerberus(sibling),Chimera(sibling),Colchian Dragon(sibling),Ladon(sibling),Lernaean Hydra(sibling),Nemean Lion(sibling),Sphinx(sibling)— Consort

  Typhon and Echidna produced a brood of monsters including Cerberus, the Chimera, the Lernaean Hydra, the Nemean Lion, the Sphinx, Orthrus, Ladon, and the Colchian Dragon — terrors that defined Greek heroic mythology.

• Chimera(spouse),Nemean Lion(child),Sphinx(child)— Consort

  Chimera, overcome by Orthrus, bore the Sphinx who plagued Thebes and the Nemean Lion that Heracles strangled as his first labor.

  ⚠ Apollodorus (Bibliotheca 3.5.8, 2.5.1) attributes the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion to Typhon and Echidna, while Hesiod (Theogony 326\u2013332) names Chimera and Orthrus as their parents.

• Echidna(spouse),Nemean Lion(child),Sphinx(child)— Consort

  Orthrus fathered the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion by his own mother Echidna, as told in Hesiod's Theogony.

  ⚠ This parentage is textually uncertain. The relevant passage in the Theogony (326-332) uses ambiguous pronouns, and scholars debate whether 'he' refers to Orthrus or Typhoeus. Many editors prefer Typhoeus as the father.

Allied with

• Eurytion

  Orthrus and the herdsman Eurytion together guarded the cattle of Geryon on Erytheia. Both were slain by Heracles at the start of his tenth labor.

Guards

• Geryon

  Orthrus guarded the magnificent red cattle of Geryon on the island of Erytheia, serving as the giant's two-headed watchdog at the far western edge of the world.

Slain by

• Heracles

  Heracles slew Orthrus with his club upon arriving at Erytheia during his tenth labor, killing the two-headed guard dog before confronting the herdsman Eurytion and the giant Geryon.