English · Idiom Historical

geryon's dogs

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

Gargittios and Orthos. The latter was the brother of Cerberus, but had one head less. Hercules killed both these monsters.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Dogs Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “geryon's dogs” mean?

Gargittios and Orthos. The latter was the brother of Cerberus, but had one head less. Hercules killed both these monsters.

Is “geryon's dogs” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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