Augeas

 

(ôjē'əs) , in Greek mythology, son of Helios and king of Elis. He kept his huge herds of cattle in the Augean Stables. As his sixth labor, Hercules cleaned the stables in one day by diverting the course of a river (possibly the Alpheus) through them.

In Greek mythology, Augeas (or Augeias, Greek: Αυγείας), whose name means "bright", was King of Elis and husband of Epicaste. 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 great hero Heracles came along. He was one of the Argonauts. ^[1]

His parentage varies in the sources. He was said to be 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/Hercules was to clean the Augean stables in a single day. The reasoning behind this being set as a labour was twofold: firstly, all the previous labours exalted Heracles in the eyes of the people and this one would surely degrade him; secondly, the livestock were a divine gift to Augeas and were immune from disease and thus the amount of dirt and filth amassed in the uncleaned stables made the task surely impossible. 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 having completed the tasks and 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 goodly son, and slew also Eurytos, that he might wrest from tyrannous Augeas against his will reward for service done. [7]

The success of this labor was ultimately discounted because the rushing waters had done the work of cleaning the stables.

Origin

The Romans gave the constellation of Capricorn its name, taking it from part of a myth also concerning Pisces. The Greeks called it the Augean Stable, since the sun (brightness - the meaning of the name Augeas) appears to go to rest (i.e. stable) there during the winter solstice.

Since this time was so dark, early Greek religious ideas were that the darkness of the sky was due to the accumulation of sin throughout the year, thus the stable is extremely dirty and never cleaned before that year. These sins were said to be washed away as the sun arose again, and the next sign of the Zodiac is Aquarius, who is implicated in Greek mythology as causing a great flood. The factual river Alphaeus drains the mountains, but runs mostly underground, thus was seen as having been diverted.

The Milky Way, in some ancient myths considered the milk of dairy cows, lies next to the constellation of Capricorn, thus giving rise to a reward of cattle for passing the task of Capricorn.

References

1. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae, 14 [1]
2. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae, 14 [2]
3. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 5.1.9 [3]
4. ^ Apollodorus, Library, 2.88 [4]
5. ^ Apollodorus, Library, 2.88 [5]
6. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae, 157 [6]

The Twelve Labours of Herakles
I.Nemean Lion II.Lernaean Hydra III.Ceryneian Hind IV.Erymanthian Boar V.Augean Stables VI.Stymphalian birds VII.Cretan Bull VIII.Mares of Diomedes IX.Girdle of Hippolyte X.Cows of Geryon XI.Apples of the Hesperides XII.Cerberus

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