Hercules completed his ninth labor
and laid the belt of Queen Hippolyte at the feet of king Eurystheus
but the king gave him no rest and assigned his next task immediately
obtaining the cattle of Geryon from Eurasia was Hercules's tenth task
these cattle were magnificent beasts with coats made red by the red light of the sunset
the danger in this task though was the fact that the cattle were owned by Geryon
Geryon himself was enormous he had three bodies three heads six arms and six feet
Geryon was the son of Calera who was the daughter of Oceanus and tifos
which made Geryon the grandson of the Titans on his Island Geryon kept a herd of red cattle
guarded by Cerberus's brother Orthrus a two-headed hound and the fierce herdsmen Eurytion
Task 10 cattle of Geryon
Hercules set off on for Erytheia encountering and promptly killing many wild beasts along the way
after long wandering through desert country he came at last to a fruitful land
through which great streams flowed here he founded a city of vast size
which he named Hecatompylos which means city of a hundred
when Hercules reached the most Western point of his journey he split a mountain in half creating the Strait of Gibraltar
these mountains were later known as The Pillars of Hercules
Hercules then crossed the Libyan desert
after travelling through the desert for three days and three nights
Hercules was so hot and thirsty by now he got so angry that he shot an arrow at the sun
Helios or the Sun God was not mad at Hercules his failed attempt to kill him instead Helios
instead, Helios admired Hercules's courage and granted him a golden cup this wasn't a cup for drinking
for you see it was a cup that would allow the last leg of Hercules journey
it was a special cup that Hercules was going to sail into the island of Erytheia
the golden book aloud Hercules to quickly sail to Erytheia
and on the island shoreline, the hero landed not long after he arrived Orthrus a two-headed dog attacked Hercules
so Hercules bashed him with his club killing him in a single stroke
he also killed the giant herdsmen who came to help the dog
just as Hercules was hurrying away with the cattle
he was confronted by Geryon himself Hercules exhausted from his travels took out an arrow
and dipped it in the poisonous blood from the Lernaean Hydra and shot Gerry on in each of his three heads killing him instantly
Hera however was not about to let the hero accomplish this labor
when Hercules reached Thrace Hera sent a swarm of GAD flunks to bite the cattle
when the gadfly's started biting the cattle they got scared and scattered all over the island
it took Hercules a whole year to gather back all the cattle and continue his journey
Hera then caused the river Strymon to flood
to make it impassable the flood was only a minor setback Hercules threw rocks into the river
until it was shallow enough for the cattle to safely cross it
eventually, Hercules returned to the court of King Eurystheus
driving the cattle of Geryon before him
once again Eurystheus was disappointed by the fact that Hercules had not died in the attempting of the task
taking the cattle from the hero Eurystheus sacrificed all of the herd to his benefactor Hera
Eurystheus wasted no time and he summoned Hercules to give him his next labor
one day King Minos the ruler of Crete pray to the sea god Poseidon for a special bull to sacrifice to Zeus
The highest Olympian god
Poseidon granted his wish and a magnificent bull emerged from the ocean
King Minos was dazzled by the beauty of this amazing creature
King Minos decided not to sacrifice this bowl and sacrificed another one instead
when Poseidon came to know about this he punished Minos for his disobedience
by making Pasiphae, the king's wife fall in love with this animal
as a result Pasiphae gave birth to the Minotaur a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man
Poseidon was still mad at the king so he turned the bull mad so mad that fire was coming out of its nostrils
to the Minoans bulls were sacred it was against their religion to kill a bull
they tried to recapture it without harming it but they did not succeed the bull hid during the day
at night it ripped destruction from one end of the island to the other
to capture this animal master it and bring it before Eurystheus was the seventh labour of Hercules
task seven the Cretan bull
Hercules arrived in Crete as instructed by Eurystheus
the beast was hiding in a forest at the far end of the island
when the bull saw Hercules it was scared
he did not fight Hercules and bowed it's head down Hercules quickly grabbed its horn and climbed on top
so thoroughly did Hercules master the animal that he drove it back to King Eurystheus
Eurystheus saw that Hercules had succeeded in bringing back the Cretan bull
he plans to sacrifice the beast to his benefactor the Greek goddess Hera
Hera hated Hercules she did not wish to receive a sacrifice because of the work of her husband's illegitimate son
and refused the offering Eurystheus had no other
option than to set the bull free when it was no longer under the management of Hercules
the bull became wild again and wandered in the city destroy everything in its sight
it wandered around Greece terrorizing the people and ended up in Marathon
a city near Athens at marathon the bull
stopped its wandering and instead caused damage to property and people
just as it had done in Crete and later acquired the name marathon e'en bull later
Theseus son of the king of Athens Egeus set forth to capture the bull he went to marathon and
indeed successfully caught it he then returned to Athens where he sacrificed it to Athena or apollo
theseus would of course later travel to Crete where he killed the offspring of the cretan bull
the Minotaur killing it inside the labyrinth near the Palace of King Minos