THE TENTH LABOR--THE CATTLE OF GERYON
Iberia, now called Spain, lies at the farthest end of Europe, and
beyond it, in the Atlantic, is an island which was once the home of
Geryon, a famous giant. His body was as large around as three other
men's bodies put together. He had three heads and three pairs of legs
and six arms. He had huge wings also and carried dangerous weapons.
Geryon was the lord of many herds of cattle. He had one herd of red
oxen, as red as the sky at the setting of the sun, and they were
guarded by a trusty herdsman and a fierce two-headed dog. Eurystheus
ordered Herakles to bring the cattle to Mykenæ.
Herakles having overcome numberless difficulties, wandering through
wild deserts and unknown lands, finally reached the open ocean, the
end of all. There he erected as a monument two pillars opposite each
other, one on the African shore, and one in Europe. These were called
the Pillars of Herakles in those days, but now they are known as the
Rocks of Ceuta and Gibraltar.
Helios, the Sun, admiring the bravery of Herakles, lent him his golden
skiff, shaped like a cup. Helios always sailed round the world every
night from west to east in this cup, and Herakles, although he feared
a storm, took his place in the strange boat and started for the island
where Geryon tended his red cattle. The world, as the Greeks saw it,
was in the form of a great plate, and the ocean was a river
surrounding it as the rim surrounds the plate.
When the two-headed dog saw Herakles he rushed at him with fury, and
the herdsman also attacked him at the same time. Herakles slew them
both with his club, took the cattle and fled toward the boat. Then
Geryon sprang upon him and forced him to fight for his life. They had
a dreadful battle, in which Herakles drew his bow and shot at the
giant with one of his deadly arrows and Geryon died.
Herakles at once drove the oxen down to the boat, and after a safe
voyage landed them in Iberia. Then he started for home on foot,
driving his cattle northward over the Pyrenees into Gaul or France.
Here he was attacked by hundreds of people who wanted to rob him of
his cattle.
Herakles shot at them with his arrows and killed great numbers, and
they stoned him in return with large stones. Herakles would have lost
the battle but Zeus sent down a shower of rocks of vast size, and
Herakles hurled them at his foes, driving them away like frightened
sheep. These enormous rocks are still to be seen in the south of
France.
After this adventure Herakles drove his cattle over the Alps and down
into Italy across the Tiber, and they came to the Seven Hills of Rome.
In one of these hills there was a cave, the home of a lawless giant
named Cacus. He was a creature of iron strength, and was hideously
ugly. He breathed out fire and smoke, often killing people in this
way, and everybody in all the country about feared him. Cacus saw
Herakles coming with his cattle over the river and among the hills,
and he determined to steal the cattle and hide them in his den.
So when Herakles was asleep and the cattle were grazing quietly, Cacus
slipped out of his cave and, seizing great numbers of them by the
tails, dragged them backward into the cavern that their tracks might
point away from the cave and not toward it. When Herakles awoke he
missed his cattle and began to look for them. He found their tracks
and went in the direction they seemed to point out, getting farther
and farther from their place of hiding. The oxen bellowed, and their
noises were muffled by the rocks of the cavern, but Herakles heard
them and returned to the Seven Hills. Listening intently he traced
them to the right hill, but Cacus had braced a stone slab against the
opening and it could not be moved from the outside.
Herakles went around to the other side of the hill and, tearing the
stones away, forced a new entrance. He sprang into the cave and
seized the terrible monster by the throat. Cacus blew flames into the
hero's face and tried to burn him to death, but Herakles held on and
strangled the giant to death. A volume of black smoke came from his
mouth and a stream of melted lead as he fell back dead. Herakles tore
the slab from the door of the cave and threw the body of Cacus out on
the hill, and all the people came to see it and rejoice that their foe
was slain. And they built an altar to Herakles and instituted games to
be held every year in his honor.
Herakles left the Seven Hills and drove his cattle southward. Being
tired, he lay down to rest on a mountain near Locri, and the
grasshoppers came around him singing in such shrill tones that he
could not sleep. He prayed to the gods to drive them away, and the
gods swept them out of that region so that they never came back.
One of the wild oxen ran away to the southwest and escaped to an
island. Herakles followed, driving the whole herd over to the island.
The cattle swam across, and Herakles, sitting on the back of one of
the oxen and holding on by its horns, was safely taken over. He
captured the runaway and wandered for a long time through the island,
enjoying the fresh water of the springs and the kindness of the
people. Then he drove his cattle back to Italy and passed up the
shores of the Ionian Sea.
But Hera sent gadflies to make the cattle wilder than they were
before, and they scattered over the mountain-heights as clouds are
scattered by a hot wind. They fled far to the east, until they came to
Thrace. There Herakles gathered together as many as he could and
brought them to Mykenæ, where Eurystheus sacrificed them to Hera.