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Augean Stables


In Greek mythology, Augeas (or Augeias, /ɔːˈəs/, Greek: Αὐγείας), 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's lineage varies in the sources: he was said to be either the son of Helios and Nausidame or of Eleios, king of Elis, and Nausidame, or of Poseidon, or the son of Phorbas and Hyrmine. His children were Epicaste, Phyleus, Agamede (who was the mother of Dictys by Poseidon),Agasthenes, and Eurytus.

The fifth Labour of Heracles (Hercules in Latin) was to clean the Augean (/ɔːˈən/) stables. Eurystheus intended this assignment both as humiliating (rather than impressive, like the previous labours) and as impossible, since the livestock were divinely healthy (immortal) and therefore produced an enormous quantity of dung (ἡ ὄνθος). These stables had not been cleaned in over 30 years, and 3,000 cattle lived there. However, Heracles succeeded by rerouting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus to wash out the filth.


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