Geryon

Then he was to go to Crete and take from the keeping of King Minos the beautiful bull that Poseidon had given him.

Afterward, he was to go to the island of Erythia and take away from Geryoneus the monster that had three bodies instead of one, the herd of red cattle that the two-headed hound Orthus kept guard over.

Then he was to go to the garden of the Hesperides, and from that garden he was to take the golden apples that Zeus had given to Hera for a marriage gift, where the garden of the Hesperides was no mortal knew.

So Heracles set out on a long and perilous quest.

He laid his hands upon the bull's horns, and he struggled with him, and he overthrew him.

Then he drove the bull down to the seashore.

His next labor was to take away the herd of red cattle that was owned by the monster Geryoneus.

In the island of Erytheia, in the middle of the stream of Ocean, lived the monster, his herd guarded by the two-headed hound Orthrus.

To the other deities he performed worship according to the mode of the Albans, but to Hercules according to that of the Greeks, as instituted by Evander.

It is recorded that Hercules, after having slain Geryon, drove away his cattle, which were surprisingly beautiful; and that, being fatigued with traveling, he lay down near the river Tiber, in a grassy place, to which he had swum over, driving the herd before him, in order to refresh the cattle with rest and the rich pasture.

There, having indulged himself in meat and wine, he was overpowered by sleep; whereupon a shepherd, who dwelt in the neighborhood, named Cacus, of great strength and fierceness, being struck with the beauty of the cattle, wished to make prey of some of them.

But considering that, if he should drive the herd before him into his cave, their tracks would direct the owner's search, he dragged the cattle backward by the tails into the cave, picking out those that were the most remarkable for their beauty.

Pindar says, Law, the king of all, does violence with high hand.

As is indeed proved by the example of Heracles, who drove off the oxen of Geryon and never paid for them.

This is the truth, Socrates, as you will be convinced, if you leave philosophy and pass on to the real business of life.

A little philosophy is an excellent thing.

The slave would rise in rebellion and be lord over us, and the light of natural justice would shine forth.

And this I take to be the sentiment of Pindar, when he says in his poem that, Law is the king of all, of mortals as well as of immortals.

This, as he says, makes might to be right, doing violence with highest hand, as I infer from the deeds of Heracles, for without buying them, Footnote Fragment, insert, 151, balk End of footnote I do not remember the exact words, but the meaning is that without buying them and without their being given to him, he carried off the oxen of Geryon, according to the law of natural right, and that the oxen and other possessions of the weaker and inferior properly belong to the stronger and superior.

And this is true, as you may ascertain, if you will leave philosophy and go on to higher things.

Pindar says, Law, the king of all, does violence with high hand.

As is indeed proved by the example of Heracles, who drove off the oxen of Geryon and never paid for them.

This is the truth, Socrates, as you will be convinced, if you leave philosophy and pass on to the real business of life.

A little philosophy is an excellent thing.

And this I take to be the sentiment of Pindar, when he says in his poem that, Law is the king of all, of mortals as well as of immortals.

This, as he says, makes might to be right, doing violence with highest hand, as I infer from the deeds of Heracles, for without buying them, Fragment, insert, 151, balk.

I do not remember the exact words, but the meaning is that without buying them and without their being given to him, he carried off the oxen of Geryon, according to the law of natural right, and that the oxen and other possessions of the weaker and inferior properly belong to the stronger and superior.

And this is true, as you may ascertain, if you will leave philosophy and go on to higher things.