Hercules: Tenth Labor

The tenth labor Hercules had to complete consisted of getting the cattle of Geryon for Eurysthesus. This required him to travel to the end of the world.  Chrysaor and Callirrhoe were the parents of Geryon. Chrysaor was the child of the Greek monster, Medusa. Callirrhoe was the child of the Titans, Oceanus and Tethys. With his family composing of Greek monsters, Geryon had three heads and three sets of legs that were joined at the waist. Geryon lived on the island, Erythia. He had a herd of red cattle. These cattle were guarded by Orthus, brother of Cerberus. Orthus was a two-headed-dog. Hercules set off on his voyage, killing many beasts as he approached his destination. He stopped at the place where Libya meets Egypt and built two mountains, one in Libya and one in Egypt, to commemorate his extensive journey.  In other versions of the myth, it says that Hercules split a mountain in two instead of forming two different mountain ranges. They became known as the Gates or Pillars of Hercules. The waterway that formed by the division/creation of the mountain ranges was called the Strait of Gibraltar. It is between Spain and Morocco and is the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea. When Hercules arrived, Orthus attacked him. Hercules defeated the guard by bashing him in the head with a weapon.  A herdsman discovered what had happened and told Geryon. Geryon went to find Hercules and ended up fighting him. Hercules came out successful in the match, shooting Geryon dead with the arrows he had. Hercules then had to take the cattle and transport them back to Greece. This was a difficult task. Two sons of Poseidon tried to steal the cattle from Hercules. In another situation, a bull dispersed from the herd and swam to Sicily. There, he was found by the ruler, Eryx who brought the bull into his own herd. Hercules had to wrestle Eryx to try to get his cattle back. He came out successful because of his immense strength. He then return to Greece and received his eleventh labor.