For his tenth labour, King Eurystheus sent Herakles to the faraway island of Erythia. He had to bring back the beautiful red cattle that belonged to Geryon who was a monster with three heads and three sets of legs all joined at the waist.

To get to Erythia Herakles had to split a mountain in half. This then became two mountains, or the 'Pillars of Herakles'. The gap that he made between the two mountains is now called 'The Straits of Gibraltar'. As he pushed the mountains apart, the sun beat down with such a heat that Herakles threatened to shoot it with his bow and arrows. Helios, the sun god, was so amused by this that he gave Herakles a huge golden bowl in which to sail for the rest of his journey to Erythia.