Characters:
Heracles: Heracles was one of the Greatest Heroes in Greek Mythology . His parents were Zeus and Alcmene. (The Greek Gods of Mythology n.d) It was said that as an act of hatred in which Hera had for Heracles , she drove him mad, and caused him to slaughter his wife and kids. (The Greek Gods of Mythology n.d) As a result, his punishment was to complete the 12 labors given to the Greek Hero by his cousin Eurystheus. (The Greek Gods of Mythology n.d)
Augias : Augias was the Greek king of Epelans who had a large stable of cattle given to him by Helios, the famous sun god which was also his father. (Brittanica n.d)
Helios : Helios was known as the sun god and his parents were Hyperion and Theia. (Lindemans 2006)He was the father of Aeetes, Circe, Pasiphae, Phaethusa, Lampetia and Phetion. (Lindemans 2006)
Eurystheus: Eurystheus was the cousin of Hercacles, as well as the person responsible for assigning the 12 labors for the Greek Hero. (Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology n.d) Although Heracles was suppose to be older than Eurystheus, because of the knowledge that the first child born would eventually rule the kingdoms in the future. (Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology n.d) Hera decided to delay the birth of Heracles and sped up the birth of Eurystheus . (Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology n.d) Thus making Heracles younger than Eurystheus. (Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology n.d)
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(Labors)
In the fifth labor Eurystheus’s main goal was to humiliate the Greek Hero, as he ordered Heracles to clean the stables of Augias. (Grimal 1996) The reason was because after having received the great herds of cattle from his father Helios, Augias did not bother to clean the waste , and left it in the stables. (Grimal 1996) As a result the waste started to pile up which eventually led to lands becoming sterile , preventing the growth of crops.(Grimal 1996) Before Heracles attempted to clean the stable, Augias promised to give Heracles part of his Kingdom if he manages to complete the task in one day.(Grimal 1996) In other myths it was stated that Augias promised to give tenth of his herds to Heracles under the same condition.(Grimal 1996) The Greek hero was able to easily complete the task by creating two holes in the walls and diverting the nearby rivers towards the stables.( BBC 2003) However after completing his task , Augias refused to keep his end of the bargain and banished the Greek hero from his kingdom. (Grimal 1996) As a result Heracles was furious and waged war against the king. (Grimal 1996) Lastly according to a Greek scholar named Apollodorus , Eurystheus refused to accept this as one of the 12 labors because he claimed that Heracles asked or received salary for this particular labor. (Grimal 1996)
Referencing
BBC 2003, The 12 Labours of Heracles , Available from :<
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A988897>. [ 22 September 2011]
Brittanica n.d, Augeas, Available from: < http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/42683/Augeas
>. [ 20 September 2011]
Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology n.d , Eurystheus, Available from: < http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/entries/eurystheus.html >. [ 22 September 2011]
Grimal, P 1996, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, , Blackwell Publishing , Oxford
Lindemans , M 2006, Helios, Available from:<
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/helios.html.>. [ 22 September 2011]
The Greek Gods of Mythology n.d , Heracles, Available from: < http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~baheintz/heroes.html >. [ 22 september 2011]
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