Mythical allusions to the Airburst over Ephesus c1327 BC © Nicholas Costa 2025

It is evident that many of the place names and mythological events wrongly ascribed by Roman times to the far west and the shores of the Atlantic were originally located on the western shores of Anatolia. The myths rather than being a complete fantasy were memories of real locations and of a catastrophic event which overwhelmed the region.

Who was Geryon?

Geryon is presented as a three headed or three bodied giant who lived on an island called Erythea. The island was in the far west. Even though he was a giant he was mortal. He was attacked and killed by Heracles on his tenth labour who then stole his oxen and took them back to Eurystheus king of Tiryns .

“But Chrysaor was joined in love to Callirrhoe, the daughter of glorious Ocean, and begot three-headed Geryones. Him mighty Heracles slew in sea-girt Erythea by his shambling oxen on that day when he drove the wide-browed oxen to holy Tiryns, and had crossed the ford of Ocean and killed Orthus and Eurytion the herdsman in the dim stead out beyond glorious Ocean” (Hesiod, fl c750 and 650 BC,Theogony § 270)

There is a more detailed version which dates to first or second century AD which states:

“The tenth labour assigned to Herakles was to fetch the cattle of Geryon from Erytheia. Erytheia was an island, now called Gadeira, lying near Okeanos (Oceanus). On it lived Geryon, son of Khrysaor (Chrysaor) and Okeanos’ daughter Kallirrhoe (Callirhoe) . . . He owned crimson-colored cattle, which were herded by Eurytion and protected by Orthos, the hound with two heads . . . [Herakles] went on to Tartessos where he set up two steles opposite each other at the borders of Europe and Libya, as commemorative markers of his trip. Then, when Helios (the Sun) made him hot as he proceeded, he aimed his bow at the god and stretched it; Helios was so surprised at his daring that he gave him a golden goblet, in which he crossed Okeanos. When he reached Erytheia he camped on Mount Atlas. The dog smelled him there and went after him, but he struck it with his club, and when the cowherd Eurytion came to help the dog, he slew him as well. Menoites (Menoetes), who was there tending the cattle of Haides, reported these events to Geryon, who overtook Herakles by the Athemos river as he was leading away the cattle. They fought, and Herakles slew Geryon with an arrow. He then loaded the cattle into the goblet, sailed back to Tartessos, and returned the goblet to Helios.” (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 106 – 109)

Description of an Asteroid and Airburst: Names used as a metaphors

Chrysaor: is derived from the Greek words chrysos meaning golden and aor meaning sword. The sword was a common metaphor for a comet.

Callirrhoe: also spelled Kallirrhoe: kallos (beautiful) and rhein (flow)

Geryon: is linked to the Greek word gêrys, meaning voice, speech. Suggesting therefore a connection to a sound or something heard.

Athemos River: is constructed from the Greek words a meaning without and themos derived from the Greek word themis, meaning law of nature or divine law. Therefore the lawless river. Heracles is depicted as killing Geryon with his ‘arrow’.

These metaphors are reinforced by the image of Heracles who is depicted as sailing across the sea in a cauldron when he journey’s to Erythea on his way to kill Geryon. (A cauldron is large metal pot used for cooking over an open fire.)

Heracles’ Cauldron, a metaphor for an asteroid:

“And having crossed into Libya, and having received the golden cup from Helios…” (Diodorus Siculus – Library of History, 4.36.2)

“(Heracles) in a golden cauldron, by Helios’ gift…” (Aeschylus – Prometheus Unbound, Fragment 111)

“Hercules… in order to reach Geryon, sailed the Ocean in a cup which the Sun had given him.” (Hyginus, Fabulae 30)

“Theolytos says that he [Herakles] sailed across the sea in a cauldron to reach Geryon in Erytheia]; but the first to give this story is the author of the Titanomakhia.” (Eumelus of Corinth or Arctinus of Miletus, Titanomachia Fragment 7 from Athenaeus 11. 470B, Greek epic C8th B.C.)

The metaphor is continued with Heracles’ killing of Eurytion the herdsman and Orthus the dog:

Eurytion: is derived from the Greek words eu meaning good and rythmos meaning rhythm or order. Therefore, the name Eurytion can be interpreted to meaning good order

Orthus: Orthus is depicted as a dog, often written as Orthrus or Orthos. The name is derived from the Greek word orthos meaning straight or upright. The dog image is therefore an allusion to the idea of unwavering obedience. Their killing is a metaphor for the disruption caused by the air-burst.

Dawn: Similarly if linked to the word orthros meaning daybreak or dawn it acts as a metaphor for the early morning timing of the incoming bolide. This corroborates evidence cited by myself elsewhere of bolides appearing in the early morning. (SeeThe Enigma Of Egyptian Sekhmet And Leonine Deities, 2024)

Menoites (Menoetes): This name likewise is redolent of disaster. The name derives from the Ancient Greek words menos (might, power) and oitos (doom, pain). Notably in this version he is the herdsman of Haides’ cattle. Haides is none other than the god of the dead.

The Cattle:

The cattle are none other than the local population. There are many instances in extant ancient records of the metaphor. It was universal. In Homer the soldiers are compared to flocks of sheep or goats:

“As when shepherds separate their flocks to pasture…” (Iliad 2. 480–484)

When Agamemnon slaughters Trojan warriors Homer directly compares them to cattle. (Iliad 11.113–121). This simile grows into an extended comparison where warriors are driven and cut down like beasts led to slaughter. It shows the helplessness and powerlessness of the Trojans.

The Disaster was presented as Heracles’ madness due to the fact the deaths were indiscriminate…

Euripides in his play entitled Heracles focuses upon the madness which was sent by Hera in which he slaughters his own wife and children. The simile used likens the slaughtered children to animals, helpless before Heracles’ madness. It is described :

“As one might drive herds of bulls…” (Heracles 1000–1005)

It was evidently depicted as madness since the deaths caused by the airburst and subsequent tidal wave were indiscriminate killing both friend and foe.

(For a further exploration of the Greek use of animals as a metaphor for people see Shepherds, Fathers, and Ships, Ancient Greek Leadership Metaphors and Some Consequences; Joël Christensen, 2022)

Mythology states that it was Heracles’ madness, instigated by Hera, which resulted in him having to complete twelve labours on behalf of the king of Mycenae. Therefore the entire cycle should be seen as a detailed metaphor for the crisis.

Once one understands the metaphorical nature of the myths associated with Heracles it should become apparent, given the dating they were allocated in antiquity, that they are based upon the real catastrophic events of c1327 BC and their aftermath, which were centered upon the western seaboard of Anatolia.

Tsunami

Isocrates (20,To Philip § 111 ) states after Heracles had destroyed Troy he:

“put to death to a man all the princes of the tribes who dwelt along the shores of both continents; and these he could never have destroyed had he not first conquered their armies.When he had done these things, he set up the Pillars of Heracles, as they are called, to be a trophy of victory over the barbarians, a monument to his own valor and the perils he had surmounted, and to mark the bounds of the territory of the Hellene.”

Piyamaradu

The myths are a fusion (as is found in other Near Eastern cultures) between natural events and the activity of a real individual. Thus as shall be demonstrated in a future article the dates of the superhuman Heracles overlap with those of a mortal Heracles who can be identified in the Hittite records as the historical figure known as Piyamaradu.

Evidence of Tsunami

Recent research at Cesme has revelaed evidence of a major tsunami dated to c1300 BC. The paper is entitled Volcanic ash, victims, and tsunami debris from the Late Bronze Age Thera eruption discovered at Cesme-Baglararasy (Turkey), V. Sahoglu etc al, 2022. In the author’s estimation ascribing the evidence to the Thera eruption is an error, as even indicated by the evidence gathered by the paper’s authors. They do not seem to have considered or examined the possibility of a direct link to the Kos–Nisyros–Yali volcanic field rather than Thera. Notably they state that the Cesme-Baglararasy site was occupied near-continuously
at least from the mid third millennium BCE until the 13th century BC.

Erithrai:

In antiquity, the area now known as Çesme was called Cyssus (also spelled Kyssus). It served as the port for the ancient Ionian city of Erythrai.

It is in this context that one can equate the mythical Erythea with the real city of Erythrai/ Erythrae (now known as Ildir) which was one of the twelve Ionian cities of Asia Minor. It was situated 90.18 km / 56.03 mi north-east of Ephesus.

Three bodied Geryon, historical metaphor:

As noted Geryon was said to be three bodied or headed. According to Pausanias (Paus. 7.3.7), the city was founded by a body of Cretans, Carians, and Lycians. This readily explains the metaphor of the three bodies or heads. In this context one may ask was the name Geryon an interplay upon the Carian origins of the original settlers?

Within this allusion there is an echo of the myth of Myrina as recounted by Diodorus Siculus. See the author’s article entitled Myrina’s Journey to Atlantis, 2024

Red

Notably the name of Erythrai originates from ancient Greek word for red. Specifically it is the plural form of eruthros/ red. The name is directly descriptive of the region for the earth there is noticeably red.

In classical times Erythrai actually featured a sacred area dedicated to Heracles and was known as the home of the Erythraean Sybil: “who prophesied about the Trojan War” (Suda Encyclopedia § si.361), indicating thereby an ancient tradition of record keeping prior to c1194 BC.

Likewise, as noted earlier, it was settlers from Erythrai who founded Phocaea in conjunction with settlers from nearby Teos and mainland Phocis in the period after c1327 BC

Next: Part Three, Discovering Cerne