Who was Augeas?

Augeas was a wealthy king in Ilia, located in the western Peloponnese. The land was fertile and his meadows had plenty of grass. So there were thousands of sheep and oxen grazing there, which the shepherds would take away in the morning. In the evening they would bring them back to the stables again, full of grass.

What were the stables like?

But there were so many of them, and the shepherds had no time to clear the stables of manure. So, year after year, the manure filled the place and no one decided to clean it up. It stayed like that for thirty years, and the piles were like little mountains. But the stench was so bad that people suffered and became sick.

The agreement with Augeas

Then Eurystheus ordered Heracles to go and clean the stables of Augeas. After a few days, the hero appeared before Augeas and asked to see the stables. He saw the piles of manure, but nearby he noticed how there were two rivers, the Alpheus and the Pineus. He turned to the king and told him how he would clean the stables in a day. Then Augeas promised to give him one ox for every ten if he succeeded. The witness was Augeas' son Phileas.

Hercules completes the labor

The next day, he started work at dawn. First he opened openings opposite the stables, then he dug a deep ditch from the two rivers to the stables. He then turned the water that poured down unhindered and within a few hours had cleared the manure from everywhere.

Hercules is angry

But Augeas had repented and did not want to give them (the oxen he had promised). Phileas was on Heracles' side.Then Heracles was angry and declared war on him. He defeated him, of course, and put Phileas on the throne.

The beginning of the Olympic Games

On his return, he passed through Olympia, where he liked the place so much that he built a temple to Zeus. Later, to honour Hercules, the Greeks held games in Olympia every four years. Young people gathered there and competed in running, wrestling and lithium. These were the Olympic Games, a great celebration for all Greeks.