Augeas

In Greek mythology, Augeas (or Augeias, Greek: Ἀυγείας), whose name means "bright", was king of Elis and husband of Epicaste. Augeas was one of the Argonauts.^[1]

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,^[2] or of Eleios, king of Elis and Nausidame,^[3] or of Poseidon,^[4] or of Phorbas.^[5] His children were Epicasta, Phyleus, Agamede (who was the mother of Dictys by Poseidon),^[6] Agasthenes, and Eurytus.

The Fifth Labour of Heracles

The fifth of the Twelve Labours set to Heracles (or Hercules) was to clean the Augean stables in a single day. This assignment was intended to be both humiliating (rather than impressive, as had the previous labours) and impossible, since the livestock were divinely healthy (immortal) and therefore produced an enormous quantity of dung. However, Heracles succeeded by rerouting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus to wash out the filth.

Augeas was irate because he had promised Heracles one tenth of his cattle if the job was finished in one day. He refused to honour 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 success of this labour was ultimately discounted because the rushing waters had done the work of cleaning the stables and because Heracles was paid.

In popular culture

Mickey à travers les siècles (Mickey Through the Centuries) was a French comic strip series published in the early 1970s featuring Mickey Mouse as a time traveller. In one such adventure, he assisted Heracles in his twelve tasks. Here again, when they clean out the Augean stables, Augeas hesitates in paying them, so Heracles contents himself with giving the double-dealer a spanking.

Fungus the Bogeyman is set in a world of tunnels inhabited by Bogeymen: large, green-skinned creatures who live in damp, filthy conditions and would not have it any other way. Cleanliness is anathema to Bogeymen. As such, they believe that Augeas (renamed Baugeas) was a Bogeyman and look upon him as a saint. The filthy conditions of his stables makes him a highly revered figure in Bogeydom, while Heracles is despised for cleaning them.

In the novel The Battle of the Labyrinth the main character must repeat the task before sundown.

A play Hercules V by Heiner Mueller is based on this labor.

References