Hercules and Geryon, Kings of Spain. The Myth and Its Reception in Medieval and Modern Iberian Chronicles

Abstract

The ancient myth about Hercules’ expedition to the island of Erythea, his combat with Geryon and setting the Pillars was adopted by the authors of Iberian chronicles from the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. The paper responds to the question of how the myth was being changed by the authors and what their political or genealogical aim related with the historical period was. The analysis of ancient sources and the comparison with chosen Iberian chronicles proves that the character of Hercules was intentionally adapted for creating old dynastic genealogies, a model of good king or founding myths of Spanish cities (as Cádiz and A Coruña). For similar reasons, Spanish colonial expansion changed also the idea of the Pillars of Hercules which were not perceived as the boundary of the Mediterranean anymore but became a gate to the New World.