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Key Details
Type
IslandMythology
Greek Pantheon
Coordinates
36.1°N, 5.5°W
About This Location
Geryon's red island
Apollodorus 2.5.10: the tenth labor is the cattle of Geryon, a three-bodied giant on Erytheia in the far west, with the herdsman Eurytion and the dog Orthrus. Heracles crosses in the golden cup of the Sun, kills them, and drives the herd back. Stesichorus's Geryoneis is an older poetic witness. Erytheia is a sunset island, later pointed at Gades. There is no Greek colony-cult of Geryon required by the labor.
Primary Sources
“He embarked in the cup and sailed to Erytheia. He killed Orthrus and Eurytion, then Geryon, and drove the cattle away.”
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