Further Resources: The Cattle of Geryon

• Read the story of Hercules and the Cattle of Geryon, as told by Apollodorus, the ancient writer who collected legends in his mythology handbook, the Library.

• The Temple of Zeus at Olympia was decorated with sculptures illustrating the Labors of Hercules. Look at the sculpture catalog entry for the Geryon metope.

• Read the quote from Hesiod in context.

• See the catalog entry and additional images of the Harvard vase depicting Geryon, and see the catalog entry for the Munich vase with Hercules, Geryon, and Orthros.

• Cattle were a sign of wealth in ancient Greece, for only a rich person could afford to feed and maintain a large herd. Read an early hymn to Mother Earth which describes the wealth of a man blessed by the Earth.

• Find out about the ancient Greeks' sacrifice of cattle.

• Look up a short excerpt from Pausanias describing an unusual legend about cattle and the Charadrus River, in Achaia, a region in southern Greece.

Go back to the Cattle of Geryon page.

This exhibit is a subset of materials from the Perseus Project digital library and is copyrighted. Please send us your comments.