Текст книги "The Library of Greek Mythology"

Автор книги: Apollodorus

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The later history of Perseus

When he arrived back at Seriphos, he found that his mother and Dictys had sought refuge at the altars to escape the violence of Polydectes. So he went into the palace, where Polydectes had assembled his friends, and turning his head aside, he displayed the Gorgon’s head. All who beheld it were turned to stone, each in the position he happened to have assumed at the time. And then, after making Dictys king of Seriphos, he restored the sandals, wallet, and cap to Hermes, and gave the Gorgon’s head to Athene. Hermes returned the aforesaid objects to the nymphs and Athene fixed the Gorgon’s head to the centre of her shield. But there are some who say that Medusa lost her head because of Athene—for they say that the Gorgon had claimed to rival the goddess in beauty.*

⁴Perseus, accompanied by Danae and Andromeda, hurried off to Argos to see Acrisios. But when Acrisios learned of this, he feared what the oracle had predicted,* and left Argos and travelled to the land of the Pelasgians. Now Teutamides, king of Larissa,* was holding an athletic contest in honour of his dead father, and Perseus came to take part. While competing in the pentathlon, he threw his discus and struck Acrisios on the foot, killing him* instantly. Realizing that the oracle had been fulfilled, he buried Acrisios outside the city, and then, because he was ashamed to go to Argos to claim the inheritance of one who had died at his own hand, he went to Megapenthes, son of Proitos, and arranged an exchange of kingdoms with him, placing Argos in his hands. So in this way Megapenthes became king of the Argives, and Perseus king of Tiryns; and Perseus fortified Midea and Mycenae* in addition.

The immediate descendants of Perseus

⁵By Andromeda, Perseus had the following sons, first, before their arrival in Greece, Perses, whom he left behind with Cepheus (and from whom, they say, the kings of Persia are descended), and later, in Mycenae, Alcaios, Sthenelos, Heleios, Mestor, and Electryon; he also had a daughter, Gorgophone, who became the wife of Perieres.

Alcaios had a son, Amphitryon, and a daughter, Anaxo, by Astydameia, daughter of Pelops (or according to some, by Laonome, daughter of Gouneus, or according to others, by Hipponome, daughter of Menoiceus); and Mestor and Lysidice, daughter of Pelops, had a daughter, Hippothoe. Hippothoe was carried off by Poseidon, who took her to the Echinadian Islands, where he had intercourse with her, fathering Taphios, who colonized Taphos and called his people the Teleboansbecause he had gone far*from the land of his birth. To Taphios a son, Pterelaos, was born, whom Poseidon made immortal by planting a golden hair in his head; and Pterelaos had six sons, Chromios, Tyrannos, Antiochos, Chersidamas, Mestor, and Everes.

Electryon married Anaxo, the daughter of Alcaios, and fathered a daughter, Alcmene, and nine sons, [Stratobates,] Gorgophonos, Phylonomos, Celaineus, Amphimachos, Lysinomos, Cheirimachos, Anactor, and Archelaos; and after these, he also had an illegitimate son, Licymnios, by a Phrygian woman, Mideia.

Sthenelos had Alcyone and Medusa, by Nicippe, daughter of Pelops, and afterwards he had a son, Eurystheus, who also ruled in Mycenae. For when Heracles was due to be born, Zeus declared before the gods that the descendant of Perseus who was then about to be born* would become king of Mycenae, and Hera, out of jealousy, persuaded the Eileithuiai* to delay Alcmene’s delivery, and arranged that Eurystheus, the son of Sthenelos, should be born at seven months.

The exile of Amphitryon

⁶While Electryon was ruling at Mycenae, the sons of Pterelaos came there with Taphios and claimed back the kingdom of [their maternal grandfather]* Mestor; and when Electryon disregarded their claim, they drove his cattle away. The sons of Electryon tried to rescue them, and they challenged and killed one another. Of the sons of Electryon, only Licymnios survived, because he was still a child, and of the sons of Pterelaos only Everes, who was guarding the ships. Those of the Taphians who escaped sailed away taking the stolen cattle, which they left in the care of Polyxenos, king of the Eleans; but Amphitryon ransomed them from Polyxenos and brought them back to Mycenae. Wanting to avenge the death of his sons, Electryon planned an expedition against the Teleboans. He entrusted the kingdom to Amphitryon, together with his daughter Alcmene, making him swear an oath that he would respect her virginity until his return. As he was receiving his cows back, however, one of them rushed forward, and Amphitryon let fly at her with the club that he had in his hands, but it rebounded from her horns to hit Electryon on the head, striking him dead.* Sthenelos grasped this as a pretext to banish Amphitryon from the whole of Argos and seize power for himself in Mycenae and Tiryns; as for Midea, he summoned Atreus and Thyestes, the sons of Pelops, and entrusted the city to them.

5. Heracles, and the Heraclids

Amphitryon in Thebes, and the mar against the Teleboans

Amphitryon went to Thebes with Alcmene and Licymnios and was purified by Creon, and he gave his sister, Perimede, to Licymnios as a wife. And since Alcmene said that she would marry him* when he had avenged the death of her brothers, he promised to do so, and, inviting Creon’s assistance, he prepared to march against the Teleboans. Creon said that he would join the expedition if Amphitryon would first rid the Cadmeia of the vixen* (for the Cadmeia was being devastated by a savage vixen). But even if somebody engaged to do so, it was fated that nobody could catch her. ⁷Such harm was being caused to the country that each month the Thebans exposed a son of one of their citizens to her, for she would otherwise have carried off a great number of them. So Amphitryon visited Cephalos, son of Deioneus,* in Athens, and in return for a share of the plunder from the Teleboans, he persuaded him to bring to the hunt the dog* that Procris had been given by Minos and brought over from Crete; for it was fated that this dog would catch whatever it chased. So it came about that as the vixen was being pursued by the dog, Zeus turned both of them to stone.*

With the help of his allies, Cephalos from Thoricos in Attica, Panopeus from Phocis, Heleios, son of Perseus, from Helos in the Argolid, and Creon from Thebes, Amphitryon sacked the islands of the Teleboans. Now as long as Pterelaos was still alive, Amphitryon was unable to capture Taphos; but when Comaitho, the daughter of Pterelaos, who had fallen in love with Amphitryon, plucked the golden hair from her father’s head, he died, and Amphitryon gained control of all the islands. He then put Comaitho to death* and sailed to Thebes with the plunder, giving the islands to Heleios and Cephalos, who founded cities that bear their name and settled in them.

The birth and early life of Heracles

⁸Before Amphitryon arrived back in Thebes, Zeus came to the city by night, and tripling the length of that single night, he assumed the likeness of Amphitryon and went to bed with Alcmene, telling her all that had happened in the war with the Teleboans. When Amphitryon arrived and saw that his wife was welcoming him with no great ardour, he asked her the reason; and when she replied that he had come the previous night and slept with her, he found out from Teiresias about her intercourse with Zeus.

Alcmene gave birth to two sons, Heracles,* who was the son of Zeus and the elder by a night, and Iphicles, whom she bore to Amphitryon.

When Heracles was eight months old, Hera, wanting to destroy the child, sent two huge serpents to his bed. Alcmene cried out for Amphitryon, but Heracles leapt up and killed the serpents* by strangling them, one in each hand. According to Pherecydes, however, it was Amphitryon who placed the serpents in the bed, because he wanted to find out which of the children was his own; and seeing that Iphicles fled while Heracles stood his ground, he realized that Iphicles was his child.

⁹Heracles was taught chariot-driving by Amphitryon, wrestling by Autolycos, archery by Eurytos, fencing by Castor, and lyre-playing by Linos. This Linos was a brother of Orpheus, who had arrived in Thebes and become a Theban citizen, but was killed by Heracles with a blow from his lyre (for Linos had struck him,* and Heracles lost his temper and killed him). When a charge of murder was brought against Heracles, he cited a law of Rhadamanthys* saying that if a person defends himself against another who has initiated the violence, he should suffer no penalty. So Heracles was acquitted. And Amphitryon, fearing that he might do something similar again, sent him to his herds; and there he grew up, surpassing all others in size and strength. The mere sight of him was enough to show that he was a son of Zeus: for his body measured four cubits, a fiery gleam shone from his eyes, and he never missed his mark with his arrows or javelins.

While he was still with the herds, and was now eighteen, he killed the lion of Cithairon, a beast that used to make incursions from Cithairon to destroy the cattle of Amphitryon and Thespios. ¹⁰This last was king of Thespiae, and Heracles visited him when he wanted to kill the lion. He was entertained by him for fifty days, and each night after Heracles went out to the hunt, Thespios arranged that one of his daughters should go to bed with him. For he had fifty of them, borne to him by Megamede, daughter of Arneos, and he was eager that they should all conceive children by Heracles.* And Heracles, in the belief that he was always sleeping with the same woman, had intercourse with all of them. When he had overcome the lion, he dressed in its skin,* and used its gaping mouth as a helmet.

Heracles and the Minyans; his first marriage, and madness

¹¹As he was returning from the hunt, he was met by some heralds who had been sent by Erginos to collect the tribute from the Thebans. The Thebans were paying this tribute to Erginos for the following reason. Clymenos, king of the Minyans,* had been wounded in the sanctuary of Poseidon at Onchestos when he was struck by a stone thrown by a charioteer of Menoiceus,* a man called Perieres; and Clymenos was carried back to Orchomenos half-dead, and as he was dying, he ordered his son, Erginos, to avenge his death. So Erginos mounted an expedition against Thebes, killed no small number of the Thebans, and concluded a treaty with them, sealed by oaths, that they should send tribute to him of a hundred cattle each year for twenty years. When Heracles met with the heralds who were travelling to Thebes for the tribute, he subjected them to a shameful mutilation; for he cut off their ears, noses, and hands, and tying these to their necks with cords, he told them to take that as tribute to Erginos and the Minyans. Outraged by this action, Erginos marched against Thebes. Heracles, who had received arms from Athene, took command of the Thebans, killed Erginos, and put the Minyans to flight; and he forced them to pay tribute to the Thebans at twice the aforementioned rate.

It happened that during the battle, Amphitryon, fighting with courage, met his death. As a prize of valour, Heracles received from Creon his eldest daughter, Megara, who bore him three sons, Therimachos, Creontiades, and Deicoon. And Creon gave his younger daughter to Iphicles, who already had a son, Iolaos, by Automedousa, daughter of Alcathous. And Rhadamanthys, son of Zeus, married Alcmene after the death of Amphitryon, and settled as an exile at Ocaleai in Boeotia.

Heracles, who had been taught archery earlier by [Eurytos],* received a sword from Hermes, a bow and arrows from Apollo, a golden breastplate from Hephaistos, and a robe from Athene; and he cut a club for himself at Nemea.

¹²After his battle with the Minyans, it came about that Heracles was struck by madness through the jealousy of Hera, and threw his own children, who had been borne to him by Megara, into the fire, together with two of Iphicles’ children. Condemning himself to exile on this account, he was purified by Thespios and went to Delphi to ask the god where he should settle. It was on this occasion that the Pythia* called him Heracles for the first time (for until then he had been called Alceides). She told him to settle in Tiryns while he served Eurystheus for twelve years, and to accomplish the [ten] labours* that would be imposed on him; and then, she said, after the labours had been accomplished, he would come to be immortal.*

First labour: the Nemean lion

¹On hearing this, Heracles went to Tiryns and fulfilled what

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Eurystheus demanded of him. Eurystheus began by ordering him to fetch the skin of the Nemean lion; this was an invulnerable beast fathered by Typhon.* As he was travelling to confront the lion, Heracles arrived at Cleonai and stayed with a labourer called Molorchos; and when Molorchos wanted to offer a victim in sacrifice, Heracles told him to wait for thirty days, and then, if he had returned safely from the hunt, to offer a sacrifice to Zeus the Saviour, but if he had died, to offer it to himself as a hero.* On reaching Nemea, he sought out the lion, and began by shooting arrows at it, but when he discovered that the beast was invulnerable, he raised his club and chased after it. When the lion took refuge in a cave which had two entrances, Heracles walled up one of them and went in through the other to attack the beast; and throwing his arm round its neck, he held it in a stranglehold until he had throttled it. And hoisting it on to his shoulders, he carried it back to Cleonai. Coming upon Molorchos on the last of the thirty days as he was about to sacrifice to him as a dead hero, Heracles sacrificed to Zeus the Saviour instead, and proceeded to Mycenae with the lion. Astounded by his bravery, Eurystheus refused him entry to the city from that day forth, and told him to exhibit his trophies in front of the gates. They say, furthermore, that in his alarm he had a bronze jar made for himself to hide in beneath the ground, and that he conveyed his commands for the labours through a herald, Copreus,* a son of Pelops the Elean. (Copreus had feld to Mycenae because he had killed Iphitos, and had settled there after he had been purified by Eurystheus.)

Second labour: the Lernaean hydra

²As a second labour, Eurystheus ordered Heracles to kill the Lernaean hydra;* this creature had grown up in the swamp of Lerna, and used to make incursions into the plain and destroy the cattle and the countryside. The hydra had a body of enormous size, and nine heads,* of which eight were mortal, but the one in the centre immortal. So climbing on to a chariot driven by Iolaos, Heracles made his way to Lerna, and halting his horses there, he discovered the hydra on a hill by the springs of Amymone,* where it had its lair. By hurling flaming brands at it, he forced it to emerge, and as it came out, he seized it and grasped it firmly. But it twined itself round one of his legs, and clung to him. By striking the hydra’s heads off with his club Heracles achieved nothing, for as soon as one was struck off, two grew up in its place; and a huge crab came to its assistance by biting Heracles on the foot. So he killed the crab, and summoned assistance on his own account by calling Iolaos,* who set fire to part of the neighbouring forest, and using brands from it, burned out the roots of the hydra’s heads to prevent them from regrowing. And when, by this means, he had prevailed over the regenerating heads, he cut off the immortal head, buried it, and placed a heavy rock over it by the road that leads through Lerna to Elaious. As for the body of the hydra, he slit it open and dipped his arrows into its gall. Eurystheus declared, however, that this labour should not be counted among the ten, because Heracles had not overcome the hydra on his own, but only with the help of Iolaos.

Third labour: the Cerynitian hind

³As a third labour, Eurystheus ordered him to bring the Cerynitian hind alive to Mycenae. This hind, which had golden horns, lived at Oinoe, and was sacred to Artemis;* so Heracles, wanting neither to kill it nor wound it, pursued it for a full year. When the hind, worn out by the chase, fled for refuge to the mountain known as Artemision, and from there towards the River Ladon, Heracles struck it with an arrow* as it was about to cross over the stream, and was thus able to catch it; and then, settling it on his shoulder, he hurried through Arcadia. But he came across Artemis in the company of Apollo, and she wanted to take the hind away from him, accusing him of trying to kill an animal that was sacred to her. By pleading necessity, however, and saying that the person responsible was Eurystheus, he allayed the anger of the goddess and brought the animal alive to Mycenae.

Fourth labour: the Erymanthian boar

⁴As a fourth labour, Eurystheus ordered him to bring the Erymanthian boar alive. This beast was causing havoc in Psophis, sallying forth from the mountain known as Erymanthos. While Heracles was passing through Pholoe, he was entertained as a guest by the Centaur Pholos, son of Seilenos and a Melian nymph. The Centaur served roasted meat to Heracles, but he himself ate it raw. When Heracles asked for wine, he said that he was afraid to open the jar that was the common property of the Centaurs;* but Heracles urged him to take courage, and opened it up. Not long afterwards, the Centaurs became aware of the smell, and appeared at Pholos’ cave armed with rocks and fir trees. The first who dared to come inside, Anchios and Agrios, were put to flight by Heracles, who hurled flaming brands at them; and he pursued the others with arrows as far as Malea, where they took refuge with Cheiron (who had settled there after he had been driven from Mount Pelion by the Lapiths).* As the Centaurs clung to Cheiron for safety, Heracles shot an arrow at them, which passed through the arm of Elatos and lodged in Cheiron’s knee. Distressed at this, Heracles ran up to him, pulled out the arrow, and applied a potion which Cheiron gave to him; but when the wound turned out to be incurable, Cheiron withdrew to his cave. He wanted to die, but was incapable of doing so because he was immortal. Only when Prometheus offered himself to Zeus to become immortal in his place was Cheiron able to die.* The rest of the Centaurs fled in all directions; some went to Malea, while Eurytion went to Pholoe, and Nessos to the River Evenos. The rest were received at Eleusis by Poseidon, who hid them under a mountain. Pholos, for his part, had pulled an arrow from a corpse, marvelling that so small a thing could kill creatures of such a size; but the arrow slipped from his hand and landed on his foot, killing him instantly.* When Heracles returned to Pholoe and saw that Pholos was dead, he buried him and went out to hunt the boar. He chased the beast from the thicket with loud cries; and thrusting it exhausted into deep snow, he trapped it in a noose, and took it to Mycenae.

Fifth labour: the cattle of Angelas

⁵As a fifth labour, Eurystheus ordered Heracles to remove the dung of the cattle of Augeias without assistance in a single day. Augeias was the king of Elis, and, according to some, he was a son of the Sun, or according to others, of Poseidon, or again, of Phorbas; and he owned many herds of cattle. Heracles went up to him, and without disclosing Eurystheus’ order, said that he would remove the dung in a single day if Augeias would give him a tenth of his cattle. Augeias gave his word, not believing that he could do it. After he had engaged Phyleus, the son of Augeias, as a witness, Heracles made a breach in the foundations of [the wall surrounding] the cattle yard, and then, diverting the courses of the Alpheios and the Peneios which flowed nearby, he channelled their water into the yard, after first making an outlet through another breach. When Augeias discovered that the task had been accomplished on the order of Eurystheus, he refused to pay the reward,* and went so far as to deny that he had ever promised to pay a reward, saying that he was ready to submit to arbitration on the matter. When the judges had taken their seats, Phyleus was called by Heracles and testified against his father,* saying that he had agreed to pay a reward to Heracles. Augeias flew into a rage, and before the vote had been cast, ordered both Phyleus and Heracles to depart from Elis. So Phyleus went to Doulichion and settled there; and Heracles visited Dexamenos in Olenos. He caught him as he was about to give his daughter, Mnesimache, under compulsion to the Centaur Eurytion; and when he was asked to help, Heracles killed Eurytion as he arrived to claim his bride. Eurystheus would not accept this labour either as one of the ten, saying that it had been accomplished for pay.

Sixth labour: the Stymphalian birds

⁶As a sixth labour, Eurystheus ordered him to drive away the Stymphalian birds. At the city of Stymphalos in Arcadia there was a lake called Stymphalis, in the depths of a thick forest; and innumerable birds had sought refuge there, fearing to become the prey of wolves. So when Heracles was at a loss as to how he could drive the birds from the wood, Athene gave him some bronze castanets which she had received from Hephaistos. By rattling these from a certain mountain that lay beside the lake, he frightened the birds. Unable to endure the noise, they flew up in alarm, and in that way Heracles was able to shoot them down* with his arrows.

Seventh labour: the Cretan bull

⁷As a seventh labour, Eurystheus ordered him to fetch the Cretan bull. According to Acousilaos, this was the bull that had carried Europa* across the sea for Zeus, but it is said by some that it was the bull that was sent up from the sea by Poseidon* when Minos had promised to sacrifice to him what ever appeared from the sea. And they say that when Minos saw the beauty of the bull, he sent it to join his herds and sacrificed another to Poseidon; and the god in his anger turned the bull wild. Heracles arrived in Crete to confront this bull, and when Minos replied to his request for assistance by telling him to fight and capture it on his own, he captured it and took it to Eurystheus; and after he had shown it to him, he set it free. It wandered to Sparta and throughout Arcadia, and crossing the Isthmus, it arrived at Marathon* in Attica and harassed the inhabitants.

Eighth labour: the mares of Diomedes

⁸As an eighth labour, Eurystheus ordered him to bring the mares of Diomedes the Thracian to Mycenae. This Diomedes, a son of Ares and Cyrene, was king of the Bistones, a highly belligerent people in Thrace, and owned man-eating mares.* So Heracles sailed there with a company of volunteers, overpowered the men who were in charge of the mangers, and led the mares towards the sea. When the Bistones came fully armed to the rescue, he passed the mares over to Abderos to guard. (This Abderos, a Locrian from Opous who was a son of Hermes and a beloved of Heracles, was torn apart by the horses and killed.) So Heracles fought against the Bistones, killed Diomedes, and put the rest to flight. After founding the city of Abdera by the grave of Abderos, who had met his death in the meantime, he took the horses to Eurystheus and handed them over to him. But Eurystheus released them, and they went to the mountain called Olympos, where they were killed by the wild beasts.

Ninth labour: the belt of Hippolyte

⁹As a ninth labour, Eurystheus ordered him to fetch the belt of Hippolyte. She was queen of the Amazons, who lived by the River Thermodon* and were a people who excelled in war; for they cultivated manly qualities, and if they ever had intercourse with men and gave birth to children, they raised the girls. They pressed down* their right breasts to ensure that they would not be hindered from throwing their javelins, but retained their left breasts to allow them to suckle their children. Hippolyte had the belt of Ares* in her possession as a symbol of her supremacy over the others, and Heracles was sent to fetch the belt because Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus, wanted it for herself. So taking some volunteers to assist him, he set sail in a single ship, and called in at the island of Paros, where the sons of Minos were living, namely Eurymedon, Chryses, Nephalion, and Philolaos. It happened that two men from the ship who had gone ashore were killed by the sons of Minos; and in his fury at this, Heracles slew them on the spot, and kept the other islanders under close siege until they sent a delegation to invite him to take whatever pair of them he pleased in return for the men who had been murdered. So he lifted the siege, and taking on board Alcaios and Sthenelos, the sons of Androgeos, son of Minos, he arrived in Mysia, at the court of Lycos, son of Dascylos. He was entertained there by [Lycos, and when Lycos*] joined battle with the king of the Bebrycians, Heracles came to his aid, and killed many men, including King Mygdon, the brother of Amycos. And he deprived the Bebrycians of a large amount of land and gave it to Lycos, who called the whole territory Heracleia.

When he put in at the harbour of Themiscyra, Hippolyte came to see him, and she asked him why he had come and promised to give him the belt. But Hera assumed the likeness of an Amazon and wandered around in the crowd saying that the strangers who had just arrived were abducting the queen. Seizing their arms, the Amazons hastened to the ships on horseback; and when Heracles saw them there fully armed, he thought that this must be the result of a plot, and he killed Hippolyte and robbed her of the belt. And then, after fighting the rest of the Amazons, he sailed away, and called in at Troy.

It happened that the city was in a desperate plight at that time, through the wrath of Apollo and Poseidon; for wanting to put Laomedon’s arrogance to the test, they had taken on human form and undertaken to fortify Pergamon* in return for pay. But when they had constructed the wall, he refused to pay them their fee. In response, Apollo sent a plague, and Poseidon a sea-monster which was carried along on a flood and used to snatch away the inhabitants of the plain. When oracles declared that they would be delivered from these misfortunes if Laomedon offered his daughter, Hesione, as prey to the monster, Laomedon offered her up, binding her to some rocks by the sea. When Heracles saw her exposed there, he promised to rescue her if he received in return the mares that Zeus had presented [to Tros*] in compensation for the abduction of Ganymede. Laomedon said that he would hand them over, and Heracles killed the monster and rescued Hesione. But Laomedon refused to pay the agreed reward, and Heracles put to sea threatening to make war on Troy at some future time.*

He then called in at Ainos, where he was entertained by Poltys. As he was sailing off, he shot and killed a man of violence on the shore there, Sarpedon, a son of Poseidon and brother of Poltys. Arriving in Thasos, he subjugated the Thracians who inhabited the island and gave it to the sons of Androgeos to settle in. From Thasos he set out for Torone, where he was challenged to a wrestling match by Polygonos and Telegonos, the sons of Proteus, son of Poseidon, and killed them during the contest. And taking the belt to Mycenae, he gave it to Eurystheus.

Tenth labour: the cattle of Geryon

¹⁰As a tenth labour, he was ordered to fetch the cattle of Geryon from Erytheia. Erytheia was an island that lay near the Ocean and is now called Gadeira; it was inhabited by Geryon, son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe, daughter of Oceanos. He had the body of three men joined into one;* these were united at the waist, but divided into three again from the hips and thighs downwards. He owned red cattle, which were herded by Eurytion and guarded by Orthos, a two-headed dog that Echidna had borne to Typhon. So travelling through Europe to fetch the cattle of Geryon, Heracles killed many savage beasts,* and then arrived in Libya. He made his way to Tartessos, where he erected two pillars* standing opposite one another at the boundaries of Europe and Libya, as memorials of his journey. In the course of his journey, he was overheated by the Sun, and aimed his bow against the god; and the Sun was so impressed by his bravery that he offered him a golden cup* which he used when crossing the Ocean. Arriving at Erytheia, Heracles set up camp on Mount Abas. His presence was detected by the dog Orthos, which rushed to attack him; but he struck it with his club and when the herdsman Eurytion came to the dog’s assistance, he killed Eurytion too. Menoites, who was pasturing the cattle of Hades in the area, informed Geryon of what had happened; and Geryon caught Heracles driving the cattle away near the river Anthemous, and engaged him in battle, but was killed by an arrow. Heracles put the cattle into the cup, and after he had made the crossing to Tartessos, he returned it to the Sun.

He passed through Abderia and arrived in Liguria, where Ialebion and Dercynos, sons of Poseidon, tried to rob him of the cattle, but he killed them and travelled on through Tyrrhenia. At Rhegion*a bull broke loose, plunged swiftly into the sea, and swam across to Sicily, and then, after passing through the neighbouring land which was named Italyafter it (because the Tyrrhenians called the bull italus*), it arrived at the plain of Eryx, who was king of the Elymoi; and Eryx, a son of Poseidon, mixed the bull amongst his own herds. Entrusting the rest of the cattle to Hephaistos, Heracles hurried off in search of the bull; he discovered it in the herds of Eryx, and when Eryx declined to surrender it unless Heracles defeated him* in a wrestling match, he defeated Eryx three times in the course of the match and killed him. He then took the bull and drove it with the other cattle to the Ionian Sea.