In Greek mythology, Augeas (or Augeias, , ), whose name means "bright", was king of ancient Elis and father of Epicaste. Some ancient authors say that Augeas was one of the Argonauts.[Apollodorus, 1.9.16; Hyginus, Fabulae 14] He is 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. The derivative adjective augean came to signify a challenging task, typically improving or fixing something that is currently in a bad condition.[ Augean, Cambridge Dictionary, Retrieved November 7 2024][ Augean, Merriam-Webster, Retrieved November 7 2024]
Family
Augeas's lineage varies in the sources: he was said to be either the son of
Helios[Eustathius ad Homer, p. 303; Scholia ad Apollonius Rhodius, 1.172; Apollodorus, 1.9.16] either by
Nausidame[Hyginus, Fabulae 14] or
Iphiboe,
[John Tzetzes, Chiliades 4.361] or of
Eleius,
[Pausanias, 5.1.9] or of
Poseidon, or of Phorbas and
Hyrmine.
[Apollodorus, 2.88] In the latter account, Augeas was probably the brother of Actor,
[Pausanias, 5.1.11.] Tiphys[Hyginus, Fabulae 14] and
Diogeneia.
[Eustathius on Homer, pp. 303 & 1598] His children were
Epicaste,
Phyleus,
Agamede,
[Homer, Iliad 11.740; Hyginus, Fabulae 157] Agasthenes,
[Homer, Iliad 2.624] and
Eurytus.
[Diodorus Siculus, 4.33.3]
| +Comparative table of Augeas' family
! rowspan="2" | Relation
! rowspan="2" | Names
! colspan="10" | Sources |
| Homer | Theocritus | Apollonius | Diodorus | Strabo | Apollodorus | Orphic Argo | Pausanias | Hyginus | Tzetzes |
| Parents | Helios | | ✓ | ✓ | | | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | |
| Phorbas and Hyrmine | | | | | | ✓ | | | | |
| Poseidon | | | | | | ✓ | | | | ✓ |
| Eleios | | | | | | | | ✓ | | |
| Helios and Nausidame | | | | | | | | | ✓ | |
| Phorbas | | | | ✓ | | | | | | ✓ |
| Helios and Iphiboe | | | | | | | | | | ✓ |
| Sibling | Actor | | | | ✓ | | ✓ | | | | |
| Children | Agasthenes | ✓ | | | | | | | ✓ | | |
| Agamede | ✓ | | | | | | | | ✓ | |
| Phyleus | | ✓ | | | ✓ | ✓ | | ✓ | | ✓ |
| Eurytus | | | | ✓ | | | | | | |
| Epicaste | | | | | | ✓ | | | | |
Mythology
The fifth Labour of Heracles (
Hercules in
Latin) was to clean the Augean () stables.
Eurystheus intended this assignment both as humiliating (rather than impressive, like the previous labours) and as impossible, since the livestock were divinely healthy (
Immortality) and therefore produced an enormous quantity of
Cow dung (ἡ ὄνθος). Those stables had not been cleaned in over thirty years,
and 3,000 cattle lived there. However, Heracles succeeded by rerouting the rivers
Alfeios River and Peneus 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 honour 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, Heracles then founded the Olympic Games:
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.
Notes
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Apollodorus, 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.
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Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
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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.
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Gaius Julius Hyginus, 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.
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Pausanias, 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
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Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Scholia to Lycophron Alexandra, marginal notes by Isaak and Ioannis Tzetzes and others from the Greek edition of Eduard Scheer (Weidmann 1881). Online version at the Topos Text Project..
