Orthus

The Two-Headed Guard Dog

Orthus, also spelled Orthrus, was a gigantic two-headed dog who guarded the red cattle of Geryon. He was a child of Typhon and Echidna and the brother of Cerberus, the famous guard dog of the Underworld. The family resemblance is fairly obvious! Orthus lived far away on the island of Erytheia at the western edge of the world. A herdsman called Eurytion watched the cattle with him, while their owner Geryon was an extraordinary warrior often shown with three bodies joined together. Orthus had a simple job: make sure nobody stole the herd.

Unfortunately for Orthus, King Eurystheus gave Heracles the job of doing exactly that. Bringing back Geryon’s cattle was the hero’s tenth Labour and required an enormous journey. When Heracles finally reached Erytheia, Orthus rushed to defend the herd. Heracles killed him, usually with his famous club, and then defeated Eurytion and Geryon as well. The story moves past Orthus quite quickly because the real adventure includes the long journey there and the even more difficult task of getting the cattle all the way home. Hera later sends a gadfly to scatter the herd, making Heracles chase the animals around again.

Orthus appears only briefly in surviving literature, but ancient artists sometimes included him because two dog heads made the scene instantly recognisable. Some difficult ancient family trees also connect him with the Sphinx and Nemean Lion, although the exact relationships vary. Orthus is much less famous than Cerberus, which feels slightly unfair. Cerberus gets three heads and the dramatic Underworld entrance, while Orthus is stuck guarding cows at the edge of the world. I do not really see him as an evil monster. He attacks Heracles because a stranger has arrived to steal the animals he is supposed to protect. From Orthus’s point of view, he may have been having a completely normal day at work until Greek mythology’s strongest hero turned up with a club.

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