Orthrus
Orthrus was a fearsome two-headed dog who guarded the cattle of the three-bodied giant Geryon at the western edge of the world.
The Myth of Orthrus
Orthrus was the two-headed hound of Geryon, brother of Cerberus, and offspring of the monsters Typhon and Echidna. He guarded Geryon's magnificent red cattle on the island of Erytheia, far beyond the Pillars of Heracles at the western edge of the world. When Heracles sailed to the island in the golden cup of Helios during his tenth labour, Orthrus charged to defend the herd. Heracles killed the hound with a single blow of his olive-wood club, then slew the herdsman Eurytion and finally Geryon himself. Like his brother Cerberus and siblings the Hydra, Chimera, and Sphinx, Orthrus was part of the monstrous brood that heroes spent generations destroying — a legacy of Echidna's dark fertility.
Parents
Typhon and Echidna
Children
Sphinx, Nemean Lion (by Echidna, in some traditions)
Symbols
Fun Fact
Orthrus was Cerberus's brother — a two-headed dog guarding the edge of the world, as Cerberus with three heads guarded the underworld.
Explore Further
Cerberus
🐉 creatureThree-headed hound guarding the underworld
The three-headed dog that guarded the gates of the underworld, preventing the dead from leaving and the living from entering.
Geryon
🐉 creatureThree-bodied giant of the west
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.
Cyclops
🐉 creatureOne-eyed giant
Race of one-eyed giants. The original three Cyclopes forged Zeus's thunderbolts; later Cyclopes were savage shepherds, the most famous being Polyphemus.
Crommyonian Sow
🐉 creatureDestruction, monsters
Monstrous wild sow that terrorised the region of Crommyon until it was slain by the young Theseus
Minotaur
🐉 creatureBull-headed monster of the Labyrinth
A monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull, imprisoned in the Labyrinth beneath Crete. The Minotaur was fed Athenian youths until Theseus slew it.
Calydonian Boar
🐉 creatureMonstrous boar sent by Artemis
The Calydonian Boar was a massive, destructive beast sent by Artemis to ravage Calydon after King Oeneus forgot to honour her in sacrifice.
Minotaur's Labyrinth
🐉 creatureBull-headed man of the Labyrinth
The Minotaur was a creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull, born from Pasiphaë's unnatural union with the Cretan Bull, imprisoned in the Labyrinth.
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.
Cynocephali
🐉 creatureExotic races, borders
Race of dog-headed people described by Greek geographers as dwelling at the edges of the known world
Erymanthian Boar
🐉 creatureGiant boar of Mount Erymanthos
The Erymanthian Boar was a gigantic wild boar that ravaged the lands around Mount Erymanthos in Arcadia — the fourth labour of Heracles.
Catoblepas
🐉 creaturebeasts
A heavy-headed bull-like beast from Ethiopia whose downward gaze could kill
Centaurs
🐉 creatureHalf-human, half-horse beings
A race of beings with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse. Most were wild and unruly, but the wise Chiron was the exception — teacher of heroes.