The Cattle of Geryon

Heracles, having completed nine labors, was then sent to Erytheia.  He was tasked with the theft of Geryon's Cattle.  So the demigod traveled across the desert of Libya, where, exhausted by the heat, he fired upon the sun in an attempt to make him hide.  Helios offered Heracles whatever he wanted, so long as he ceased firing upon him.  Heracles demanded the golden cup in which he sailed each night, and Heracles used it to sail to Erytheia.

Upon landing on shore, Heracles was accosted by Orthrus, who gnashed and snarled at him with both of his fierce heads.  Heracles, bearing his olve-wood club, smote the dog upon the head, crushing its skull.  Eurythion, the cattle-herder, who was following Orthrus, saw the deed and rushed upon Heracles.  But Heracles wielded his mighty club and struck Eurythion dead.

Hearing the commontion, Geryon emerged from his home.  Geryon was a giant, fierce in battle, and it was his brother, Eurythion, who had been killed.  Geryon had thus armed himself with three spears, and carried three shields upon his arms.  His three helmets protected his three heads, and he rushed upon Heracles full-force.  Heracles fled, dismayed at the sight of such a fierce monster, but upon reaching the River Anthemus, Heracles turned and fired a poisoned arrow at the giant.  It pierced all three of Geryon's bodies, and the monster cried out in terror and pain before collapsing dead.

Heracles returned home with the cattle, but on the way Hera, who was envious of Heracles, sent a gadfly to bite the cattle, scattering them in many directions.  Though it took Heracles a year, however, he was able to find each of them and bring them back together.  So she caused a flood to raise a river in his path, making it impassable, but he piled stone upon stone into the river until he was able to cross safely with the cattle.  Hera then raised up a monster who was half-serpent and half-woman, but Heracles fought and destroyed her.

At last, Hera relented, and Heracles reached Eurystheus.  There, he sacrificed the cattle to Hera, whose anger was then appeased.

-From Greek Legend


The Celts told a story in which the early inhabitants of the British Isles were ruled by a giant named Albion (incidentally, the earliest recorded name of modern-day Britain is “Albion”).  Albion was son of the Celtic sea-god, and, along with his brothers, went south to France to fight against a strong hero in a clash involving cattle.  This great battle between the giants and this hero resulted, tragically, in the giant’s death.

What is remarkable to me is the fact that two cultures separated by more than 1,400 miles (that's more than 2,300 kilmoeters for our friends outside of the US) can tell the exact same story.  It is not difficult to see the parallels between the Celtic story and this week's story of Hercules, but just in case you missed it, I'll lay it out for you:

1) Both stories involve a strong man.
2) In the Greek story, the strong man crosses the African desert, and then crosses a large body of water in some form of vessel; this would put him in Western Europe.  In the Celtic version, the story takes place in France.
3) Both stories involve a clash over cattle.
4) In both stories, the giants are brothers.
5) In both stories, the giants die.

The only difference (other than the cultural name differences, of course) is that the Greek version mentions a dog, a detail that could simply have been left out in the Celtic version.  Of course, if the story actually happened, then the lineage of the giants in the Hercules myth involves a migration into other parts of Europe, something also claimed by the Greeks to have happened.  In fact, most cultures have a form of migratory myth by which all the cultures of the world developed. 

Does this prove that the story happened?  No, but it strains the imaginative mind to come up with a different scenario that explains such a parallel.  So what do you think?  What does the existence of two very similar versions of the same story say to you?