The Augean Stables
In
Greek mythology, Augeas (or Augeias, Ancient Greek:
Αύγείας), whose name means “bright”, was
king of Elis and father of Epicaste. Some say that Augeas was one of the
Argonauts. 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. Augeas’
lineage varies in the sources — he was said to be either the son of Helius and
Nausidame, or of Eleios, king of Elis, and Nausidame, or of Poseidon, or of
Phorbas and Hyrmine. His children were Epicaste, Phyleus, Agamede (who was the
mother of Dictys by Poseidon), Agasthenes, and Eurytus. The
fifth Labor of Heracles was to clean the Augean stables. This assignment was
intended to be both humiliating (rather than impressive, as had the previous
labors) and impossible, since the livestock were divinely healthy (immortal) and
therefore produced an enormous quantity of dung. These stables had not been
cleaned in over 30 years, and over 1,000 cattle lived there. However, Heracles
succeeded by rerouting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus to wash out the filth. Augeas
was irate because he had promised Heracles one |
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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 Augeas’ son Phyleus, who had been exiled for supporting Heracles
against his father. According
to the Odes of the poet Pindar, Heracles then founded the Olympic Games: “The
games which by the ancient tomb of Pelops the mighty Heracles founded, after
that he slew Kleatos, Poseidon’s godly son, and slew also Eurytos, that he
might wrest from tyrannous Augeas against his will reward for service done.” The success of this labor was ultimately discounted because the rushing waters had done the work of cleaning the stables and because Heracles was paid. Eurystheus, stating that Heracles still had seven labors to do, then sent Heracles to defeat the Stymphalian Birds. |