Cox, George - Aryan Mythology Vol 2.pdf

GERYONES AND KERBEROS. 335
and accordingly lie journeys westward, receiving from Helios CFAP.
the golden cup in which Helios himself journeys every night w—^ *
from the west to the east. Having slain Orthros and
Eurytion, Herakles has a final struggle with Geryones, in
which he wins a victory answering to that of Indra over
Vritra ; and placing the purple oxen in the golden cup he
conveys them across the Ocean stream, and begins his
journey westward. 1 The stories of Alebion and Derkynos, and
again of Eryx, as noted by Apollodoros, 2 are only fresh
versions of the myth of the Panis, while the final incident
of the gadfly sent by Here to scatter the herds reproduces
the legend of the same gadfly as sent to torment the heifer
16. The myth as related by Herodotos has a greater in-
terest, although he starts with speaking of oxen and ends
with a story of stolen horses. Here the events occur in the
wintry Scythian land, where Herakles coming himself with
his lion skin goes to sleep, and his horses straying away are
caught by Echidna and imprisoned in her cave. Thither
Herakles comes in search of them, and her reply to his
question is that the animals cannot be restored to him until
he should have sojourned with her for a time. Herakles
must fare as Odysseus fared in the palace of Kirke and the
and Echidna becomes the mother of three
cave of Kalypso ;
sons, whose strength is to be tested by the same ordeal to
which Theseus and Sigurd are compelled to submit. He
only of the three shall remain in the land who can brace
around his body the girdle of Herakles and stretch his bow.
To the girdle is attached a golden phial or cup, of which we
have already traced the history.
As the name Ahi reappears in that of Echidna, so that of
Vritra is reproduced in Orthros, who, in the Hesiodic Theo-
gony is simply a hound sprung from Echidna and Geryones,
but in Apollodoros becomes a dog with two heads, as Ker-
beros appears with three, although in Hesiod his heads are
not less than fifty in number. It must however be noted
that Orthros is sometimes himself called Kerberos. He is
thus the being who, like Vritra, hides away the light or the
glistening cows of the sun ; but the time specially assigned
1 Max Miiller, Chips, ii. 184.
3 ii- 5, 10.
Orthros.