Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, Augeas (or Augeias, , grc-gre, Αὐγείας), whose name means "bright", was king of

Elis Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...

and father of

Epicaste Epicaste (; Ancient Greek: Ἐπικάστη ''Epikaste'') or Epicasta () is a name attributed to five women in Greek mythology. *Epicaste, a Calydonian princess as daughter of King Calydon by Aeolia, daughter of Amythaon, and thus, sister of ...

. Some say that Augeas was one of the

Argonauts The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, '' Argo'', ...

Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammatic ...

, ''Fabulae'
14
/ref> He is best known for his stables, which housed the single greatest number of cattle in the country and had never been cleaned, until the time of the great hero

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

Family

Augeas's lineage varies in the sources: he was said to be either the son of

Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; grc, , , Sun; Homeric Greek: ) is the deity, god and personification of the Sun (Solar deity). His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyper ...

either by

Nausidame In Greek mythology, Nausidame was the daughter of Amphidamas. She consorted with Helius and became mother of Augeas, king of Elis.Hyginus, ''Fabulae'14/ref> Otherwise, the latter was called the son of the Epeian King Eleios,Pausanias, 5.1.9 or Po ...

or Iphiboe, or of Eleios, or of

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...

, or of

Phorbas In Greek mythology, Phorbas (; Ancient Greek: Φόρβας ''Phórbās'', gen. Φόρβαντος ''Phórbantos'' means "giving pasture"), or Phorbaceus , may refer to: * Phorbas of Elis, son of Lapithes and Orsinome, and a brother of Periphas. ...

and

Hyrmine In Greek mythology, Hyrmine (; ) or Hyrmina was an Ancient Elis, Elean princess. The town of Hyrmine (Elis), Hyrmine, named after her, was founded by her son Actor (mythology), Actor. Family Hyrmina was the daughter of Neleus, Nycteus, or, a ...

Apollodorus Apollodorus (Ancient Greek, Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: ...

, 2.88 In the latter account, Augeas was probably the brother of

Actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

Tiphys In Greek mythology, Tiphys (; Ancient Greek: Τῖφυς ''Tîphus'') was the helmsman of the Argonauts.Apollodorus1.9.16/ref> Family Tiphys was the Thespian son of Hagnias or of Phorbas of Elis and Hyrmine, daughter of Epeius. In the latter ...

and

Diogeneia Diogeneia (; Ancient Greek: Διογένεια) may refer to three women in Greek mythology: * Diogeneia, daughter of the river god Cephissus_(Boeotia), Cephissus and the wife of Phrasimus by whom she became the mother of Praxithea, wife of King Er ...

. His children were

, Phyleus, Agamede, Agasthenes, and

Eurytus Eurytus, Eurytos (; Ancient Greek: Εὔρυτος) or Erytus (Ἔρυτος) is the name of several characters in Greek mythology, and of at least one historical figure. Mythological *Eurytus, one of the Giants, sons of Gaia, killed by Dionysus ...

Mythology

The fifth Labour of Heracles (

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

) was to clean the Augean () stables.

Eurystheus In Greek mythology, Eurystheus (; grc-gre, Εὐρυσθεύς, , broad strength, ) was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid, although other authors including Homer and Euripides cast him as ruler of Argos. Fami ...

intended this assignment both as humiliating (rather than impressive, like the previous labours) and as impossible, since the livestock were divinely healthy (

immortal Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

) and therefore produced an enormous quantity of dung (). These stables had not been cleaned in over thirty years, and 3,000 cattle lived there. However, Heracles succeeded by rerouting the rivers Alpheus and

Peneus In Greek mythology, Peneus (; Ancient Greek: Πηνειός) was a Thessalian river god, one of the three thousand Rivers (Potamoi), a child of Oceanus and Tethys. Family The nymph Creusa bore him one son, Hypseus, who was King of the Lapit ...

to wash out the filth. Augeas reacted angrily because he had promised Heracles one tenth of his cattle if the job was finished in one day. He refused to honor the agreement, and Heracles killed him after completing the tasks. Heracles gave his kingdom to Phyleus, Augeas' son, who had been exiled for supporting Heracles against his father. According to the odes of the poet

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is ...

, Heracles then founded the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

: Eurystheus discounted the success of this labour because the rushing waters had done the work of cleaning the stables and because Heracles was paid. Stating that Heracles still had seven labours to do, Eurystheus then sent Heracles to defeat the Stymphalian Birds.

Classical literature sources

Augeas

Chronological listing of classical literature sources for Augeas: * Homer, ''Iliad'' 2. 615 ff (trans. Murray) (Greek epic poetry C8th BC) * Homer, ''Iliad'' 2. 625 ff * Homer, ''Iliad'' 11. 696 ff * Homer, ''Iliad'' 11. 737 ff * Telegony ''Fragment 1'' (''Hesiod the Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' trans. Evelyn-White 1920) (Greek epic poetry C8th or 6th BC) * Pindar, ''Olympian Ode'' 10. 28 ff (trans. Sandys) (Greek lyric poetry C5th BC) * Pindar, ''Olympian Ode'' 10. 33ff * Theocritus, ''Idylls'' 25. 1 ff (trans. Banks) (Greek bucolic poetry C3rd BC) * Apollonius Rhodius, ''Argonautica'' 3. 367 ff (trans. Coleridge) (Greek epic poetry C3rd BC) * Apollonius Rhodius, ''Argonautica'' 3. 432 ff * Callimachus, Uncertain Location Fragment 69 (216) (trans. Mair) (Greek poetry C3rd BC) * Scholiast on Callimachus, Uncertain Location Fragment 69 (216) (''Callimachus and Lycophron Aratus'' trans. Mair 1921 p. 261) * Diodorus Siculus, ''Library of History'' 4. 69. 2 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek history C1st BC) * Diodorus Siculus, ''Library of History'' 4. 13. 3 * Diodorus Siculus, ''Library of History'' 4. 33. 1-4 * Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' 9. 187 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman epic poetry C1st BC to C1st AD) * Strabo, ''Geography'' 8. 3. 9 (trans. Jones) (Greek geography C1st BC to C1st AD) * Strabo, ''Geography'' 10. 2. 19 * Philippus of Thessalonica, ''The Twelve Labors of Hercules'' (''The Greek Classics'' ed. Miller Vol 3 1909 p. 397) (Greek epigram C1st AD) * Seneca, ''Hercules Furens'' 247 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD) * Seneca ''Hercules Oetaeus'' 1889 ff (trans. Miller) * Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''The Library'' 1. 9. 16 (trans. Frazer) (Greek mythography C2nd AD) * Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''The Library'' 2. 5. 5 * Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''The Library'' 2. 5. 11 * Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''The Library'' 2. 7. 2-3 * Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''The Library'' 2. 7. 8 * Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 2. 15. 1 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd AD) * Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 5. 1. 8-3. 4 * Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 5. 4. 2 * Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 5. 8. 1-3 * Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 6. 20. 15-16 * Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 8. 14. 9 * Pseudo-Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 14 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythography C2nd AD) * Pseudo-Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 30 * Pseudo-Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 157 * Aelian, ''Historical Miscellany'' 1. 24 (trans. Wilson) (Greek rhetoric C2nd to 3rd AD) * Quintus Smyrnaeus, ''Fall of Troy'' 6. 258 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic poetry C4th AD) * Servius, ''In Vergilii Carmina Commentarii'' 8. 300 ff (trans. Thilo) (Greek commentary C4th AD to 5th AD) * Nonnos, ''Dionysiaca'' 25. 242 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic poetry C5th AD) * Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Histories'' 278-290 (trans. Untia) (Greco-Byzantine history C12 AD)

Stables of Augeas

Chronological listing of classical literature sources for the Stables of Augeas: * Callimachus, Uncertain Location Fragment 69 (216) (trans. Mair) (Greek poetry C3rd BC) * Scholiast on Callimachus, Uncertain Location Fragment 69 (216) (''Callimachus and Lycophron Aratus'' trans. Mair 1921 p. 261) * Lycophron, Alexandra 648 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poetry C3rd BC) * Scholiast on Lycophron, Alexandra 648 ff (''Callimachus and Lycophron Aratus'' trans. Mair 1921 p. 548 * Diodorus Siculus, ''Library of History'' 4. 13. 3 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek history C1st BC) * Diodorus Siculus, ''Library of History'' 4. 33. 1-4 * Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' 9. 187 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman epic poetry C1st BC to C1st AD) * Seneca, ''Hercules Furens'' 247 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD): * Seneca ''Hercules Oetaeus'' 1889 ff * Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''The Library'' 2. 5. 5 (trans. Frazer) (Greek mythography C2nd AD) * Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''The Library'' 2. 5. 11 * Pseudo-Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 30 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythography C2nd AD) * Quintus Smyrnaeus, ''Fall of Troy'' 6. 258 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic poetry C4th AD) * Servius, ''In Vergilii Carmina Commentar''ii 8. 300 ff (trans. Thilo) (Greek commentary C4th AD to 5th AD) * Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Histories'' 2. 278-290 (trans. Untila) (Greco-Byzantine history C12 AD) * Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Historie''s 2. 497 ff * Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Histories'' 8. 268 ff * Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Historie''s 12. 248

Notes

References

, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

, '' The Library of History'' translated by

Charles Henry Oldfather Charles Henry Oldfather (13 June 1887 – 20 August 1954) was an American professor of history of the ancient world, specifically at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was born in Tabriz, Persia. Parentage Oldfather's parents, Jeremiah and Fe ...

. Twelve volumes.

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works of ancient Greek and L ...

. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8
Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Gaius Julius Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammatic ...

, ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
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