00:33The tenth labor of Heracles was to capture the cattle of the Erythian monster, Geryon.
00:40Geryon was a fearsome giant with three heads, six legs, and three bodies, who resided in the land of Erythia.
00:47He was the son of Calero and Chrysauer, and had a two-headed pet dog called Orthrus, brother to Cerberus,
00:55the three-headed guardian of the underworld.
00:58Heracles had to cross the desert of Libya, to get to the giant's island.
01:02There in the desert, he was tormented by the scorching heat, that he shot an arrow at the sun, in
01:08frustration.
01:10Seeing his plight, Helios the sun god, after having sailed across the sky, from east to west, sent his golden
01:17chariot by night, which carried Heracles to Erythia in no time.
01:22On getting to the island, he was attacked by Orthrus.
01:26With a mighty strike from his club, he killed the hound, but was then attacked by Geryon's herdsman, Erythian, whom
01:33he also killed in the same way.
01:35Hearing that his pet and his herdsman had been killed by this stranger, Geryon donned three helmets, armed himself with
01:42three spears and three shields, confronting Heracles.
01:46But the hero merely shot a poisonous arrow at an unprotected part of the giant's forehead, ending him in seconds.
01:54Now it seemed Heracles could freely take the cattle to Tyryn's, without any further obstacles, but it wasn't so.
02:01As the hero slept, a giant named Cocos, stole some of the cattle, by making them walk backwards to his
02:08cave, so that they left no trail.
02:11Heracles searched for them, till he reached the cave, where the rest of the cattle, called out to the missing.
02:17He then killed Cocos, and built an altar on that area, that would later be known, as Rome's cattle market.
02:25Next, Hera sent a gadfly, to sting and scatter the animals, and after almost a year of searching, the hero
02:32managed to retrieve them.
02:34Then, Hera caused the river in his path, to be so deep, that he could not go on.
02:40But Heracles simply piled huge stones into the river, till he formed a bridge.
02:44With that, he got across, reached Tyryn's, and delivered the cattle to Eurystheus, who sacrificed them to Hera.
