Geryon
Geryon was a giant with three bodies joined at the waist who owned magnificent red cattle at the world's western edge — Heracles' tenth labour was to steal them.
The Myth of Geryon
Geryon was a three-bodied, six-armed giant who kept magnificent red cattle on the island of Erytheia, far beyond the Pillars of Heracles at the western edge of the world. The cattle were guarded by the two-headed dog Orthrus, offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and the herdsman Eurytion. For his tenth labour, Heracles sailed to the island in the golden cup that Helios used to cross the ocean each night. He killed Orthrus and Eurytion, then faced Geryon himself. The giant charged with three shields and three spears, but Heracles shot a single arrow through all three bodies. He drove the cattle across Europe back to Mycenae, a journey that took him through Sparta, Corinth, and past Troy.
Parents
Chrysaor and Callirrhoe
Symbols
Fun Fact
Heracles' journey with Geryon's cattle may preserve memories of ancient trade routes from the western Mediterranean to Greece.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
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The mightiest of the Gigantes, immortal within his homeland, who stole the cattle of Helios
Orthrus
🐉 creatureTwo-headed dog of Geryon
Orthrus was a fearsome two-headed dog who guarded the cattle of the three-bodied giant Geryon at the western edge of the world.
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Six-armed earth-born giants who attacked the Argonauts on Bear Mountain
Chrysaor
🐉 creatureGolden-sword warrior born from Medusa
Chrysaor was a giant with a golden sword who sprang from Medusa's blood alongside Pegasus — father of the three-bodied Geryon.
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🐉 creaturesmithing, monstrous
One-eyed giants who existed in two distinct traditions: divine craftsmen who forged Zeus's thunderbolts, and savage pastoral giants encountered by Odysseus.
Cattle of Geryon
💭 conceptlabour
The tenth labour of Heracles: stealing the red cattle of the three-bodied giant Geryon from the island of Erytheia at the western edge of the world.
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🐉 creatureHundred-eyed giant watchman
Argus Panoptes was a giant with a hundred eyes covering his body — the all-seeing watchman whom Hera set to guard Io.
Polybotes
🐉 creaturegiants,Gigantomachy
One of the Giants who fought the gods in the Gigantomachy, pursued by Poseidon across the sea and finally crushed beneath the island of Nisyros, which Poseidon broke off from the island of Cos.
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One of the Hecatoncheires (Hundred-Handed Giants), beings of immense power with fifty heads and one hundred arms, allies of Zeus in the Titanomachy.