The tenth labour: Geryon's Cattle
The next task for Herakles was to steal cattle from the Titan Geryon. Geryon lived on the island of Erytheia, at the end of the world. He had three bodies, three pairs of arms, and three heads. He also had a dog which had two heads, which looked after the cattle.

After an arduous journey, Herakles finally managed to make it to the island of Erytheia. Once he landed on the island, the dog of Geryon attacked him, but Herakles easily overpowered the dog, and killed it. The herdsman saw what had happened and immediately called for Geryon for help, who appeared quickly to attack Herakles. Herakles attacked Geryon, but try as he might, while he attacked one body, the other two healed, and Herakles never seemed to be able to hurt him.

Herakles finally managed to hurt Geryon by circling the Titan and finally taking an opportune moment to shoot a swift arrow at the Titan, which pierced through the Titan's three bodies, leaving it dead. Hera who had come to help Geryon too, got hurt by the arrow. Before she fled, however, she sent flies after the cattle so they ran in all directions, making it harder for Herakles to gather the flock. However, it was finally done, and Herakles took the long journey back to Mycenae with the cattle.

The eleventh labour: The Apples of the Hesperides
After the tenth labour, the Delphic oracle had promised Herakles salvation. However, Eurytheus would not let him go, reminding him that on two counts he had received help, and thus the task did not count. In place of those tasks, Eurytheus requested that Herakles perform two more tasks, which he unwillingly agreed to.

Eurtheus wanted Herakles to steal the apples of Hesperides, which were given to Hera by Gaia herself, as a wedding present. These apples were kept in the garden of Hesperides, and were guarded by the serpent, Ladon, who had a thousand heads. To start with, Herakles did not know where the garden was. He finally found the old man of the sea, Proteus, and managed to force an answer out of him. Eventually, under Proteus' direction, Herakles managed to find the garden.

Under Proteus' advice, Herakles approached the Titan Atlas, who held up the earth, to help him get the apples. Once Herakles had Ladon killed, Atlas passed the earth to Herakles before running off to get the apples. Of course, Atlas never intended to take back the earth. Herakles had expected this and when Atlas returned, he pretended he wanted to shift the earth to a more comfortable position, and therefore needed Atlas to hold it for a while. Atlas was taken in, and once Atlas held the world again, Herakles took the apples and returned to Eurytheus.

When Eurytheus got the apples, he was terrified that he might offend Hera, and immediately gave the apples back to Herakles. Herakles passed the apples to Athene, who later returned the apples back to the garden.

The twelfth labour: Cerberus
The last labour of Herakles was to bring Cerberus from the underworld to Mycenae, a task which Eurytheus thought impossible. Cerberus was the terrifying dog-like guard of the underworld. To get to the underworld itself, one had to cross the river Styx, and to bring Cerberus back to Mycenae would require the consent of Hades himself.

Athene guided Herakles to the end of the world and at the river Styx, Herakles threatened the boatman, Charon, to ferry him across. Once he was in the underworld, Herakles met Hades and explained what he had come for. Hades agreed to it, on condition that he would have to subdue Cerberus on his own.

Wearing the Nemean tiger's skin once again, Herakles wrestled with the dog for a long time, but Herakles managed to beat it. The creature's poison fell harmlessly onto the Nemean tiger's skin and finally when Cerberus knew he was beaten, and gave in, Herakles chained him up and brought him to Mycenae. Eurytheus was so terrified he ran away at the sight of the creature.

So the twelve labours were completed, and finally Herakles was free again. Now that he had been purged of the sin for killing his children, Herakles had proved himself to be a true hero, and a rightful son of Zeus. He would later take part in many more adventures, weaving many other tales of his heroic deeds.

Next: The Tale of Perseus >>