Achelous
[ak-e-loh'us] or Acheloos, "he who washes away cares"
A river god who fought unsuccessfully with Heracles for Deianira,
he is the source of the cornucopia, or horn of plenty (Sophocles,
Trachiniae 9-22; Apollodorus 2.7.5; Ovid, Metamorphoses
9.1-97; Hyginus, Fabulae 31; Diodorus, Siculus 4.35.3-4).
He also purified Alcmaeon for the murder of his mother (Apollodorus
3.7.5). Family Tree 9.
Achilles [a-kil'leez] or Achilleus , "lipless" or "one who grieves"(?)
He is the son of Peleus and Thetis, raised by the centaur Chiron
(Apollodorus 3.13.6). He was hidden by his mother among the daughters
of Lycomedes on the island of Scyros so he would not have to fight
at Troy, but was found by Odysseus and Diomedes (Apollodorus 3.13.8;
Hyginus, Fabulae 96). He became the fiercest fighter for
the Greeks at Troy and leader of the Myrmidons. He refused to fight
after Briseis was taken from him by Agamemnon, but reentered the
war after Hector killed his friend Patroclus. He killed Hector in
return (Homer, Iliad), but died when Paris hit him in the
ankle, his only weak spot, with an arrow (Apollodorus, Epitome
5.3). Family Tree 8.
Actaeon [ak-tee'on], or Aktaion, "one must lead" or "seashore"
He is the son of Aristaeus and Autonoe and a member of the ill-fated
family line of Cadmus. Taught by the centaur Chiron to be a hunter,
he stumbled upon Artemis bathing in a forest cavern (Apollodorus
3.4.4). When Artemis threw water from the spring at him, he was
immediately turned into a stag and his hunting dogs tore him apart
(Apollodorus 3.4.4; Diodorus Siculus 4.81.3-5; Ovid, Metamorphoses
3.138-252; Hyginus, Fabulae 180, 181). Family
Tree 7. Family Tree 47.
Admetus [ad-mee'tus] or Admetos, "untamed"
He was the king of Pherae, in Thessaly. He participated in the Calydonian
boar hunt and was one of the Argonauts. Apollo served him for one
year as his penalty for killing the Cyclopes (Apollodorus 3.10.4).
His wife, Alcestis, died for him, but Heracles wrestled with Thanatos
and restored her to Admetus (Euripides, Alcestis; Apollodorus
1.9.14-15; Hyginus, Fabulae 51).
Adonis [a-don'is], "lord"
He is the son of Cinyras and Myrrha-a handsome young man with whom
Aphrodite fell in love (Hyginus, Fabulae 58). When Adonis
was mortally wounded by a wild boar, Aphrodite caused an anemone
to spring up from his blood and she instituted sacred rites to memorialize
his death (Apollodorus 3.14.3-4; Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.519-552,
10.708-739). Family Tree 13.
Adrastus [a-dras'tus] or Adrastos
He is the son of Talaus and Lysimache and one of the Seven against
Thebes. He instituted the Nemean Games in honor of the infant Opheltes,
who died tragically at Nemea. Adrastus survived the disaster at
Thebes because Arion, his swift horse, carried him from the route.
He accompanied the Epigoni against Thebes, but died of grief when
his son was the only Argive leader to die in the attack (Pindar,
Nemean Odes 9.9; Euripides, Suppliants; Apollodorus
3.6.2-8; Hyginus, Fabulae 242). Family
Tree 29.
Aeacus [ee'a-kus] or Aiakos, "bewailing" or "earth-born"
The son of Aegina and Zeus, he became king of the island of Aegina.
Hera, jealous that Zeus had carried on with Aegina, sent a plague
to the island but Zeus repopulated the island by turning ants into
humans (Apollodorus 3.12.6). Aeacus became the leader of these people,
who were known as Myrmidons. He had two sons, Telamon and Peleus.
After his death, he became a judge in the Underworld (Ovid, Metamorphoses
7.517-660; Hyginus, Fabulae 52). Family
Tree 8.
Aeëtes [ee-ee'teez], "eagle," "light up," or "man from Aea (earth)"
The son of Helios and the Oceanid Perse, he possessed the Golden
Fleece that Jason had been sent to obtain. After he gave Jason a
list of impossible tasks to perform, Aphrodite caused Medea, the
daughter of Aeëtes, to fall in love with Jason; Medea used magic
to help Jason complete the tasks. Aeetes pursued them unsuccessfully
when they fled with the Golden Fleece (Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica
2.1140-4.241; Apollodorus 1.9.23; Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.1-158;
Hyginus, Fabulae 22; Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica
5.177-8.139). Family Tree 12.
Aegeus [ee'je-us] or Aigeus
The king of Athens and the father of Theseus, he is generally recognized
as a humanization of the god Poseidon. He fathered Theseus in Troezen
(Apollodorus 3.15.5-7; Hyginus, Fabulae 37) and, when he
thought that Theseus had been unsuccessful against the Minotaur,
Aegeus drowned himself in the waters that were later named the Aegean
Sea (Apollodorus, Epitome 1.10; Hyginus, Fabulae 43).
Family Tree 16.
Aegisthus [ee-jis'thus] or Aigisthos
He was the son of his own sister (Pelopia) and Thyestes. He became
the lover of Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife, and helped kill Agamemnon
when he returned from Troy (Homer, Odyssey 4.528-537, 11.404-420;
Apollodorus, Epitome 6.23; Aeschylus, Oresteia; Sophocles,
Electra; Seneca, Agamemnon). Family
Tree 15.
Aegyptus [ee-jip'tus] or Aigyptos, and Danaüs [dan'a-us] or Danaos
They are brothers, sons of Belus, who gave the kingdom of Libya
to Danaüs and the kingdom of Arabia to Aegyptus. When the two quarreled,
Danaüs fled from Libya to Argos, where he became king. The fifty
sons of Aegyptus married the fifty daughters of Danaüs, but forty-nine
of the daughters killed their husbands on their wedding night (Apollodorus
2.1.4-5; Hyginus, Fabulae 168). Family
Tree 34.
Aeneas [e-nee'as]
The son of Venus and Anchises, he was a noble fighter for Troy during
the Trojan War. He escaped from Troy as the Greeks were sacking
the city and went off in search of a place to establish the new
Troy. He settled in Italy, where his descendants founded the city
of Rome (Virgil, Aeneid; Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.623-726,
14.72-157, 14.441-622). Family
Tree 42.
Aeolus [ee'o-lus] or Aiolos
He was god of the winds who lived on a floating island; he had six
daughters and six sons who were married to one another. He gave
Odysseus a bag of winds to aid him on his journey home from Troy,
but when Odysseus' men opened the bag and released the winds, Aeolus
refused to help him again (Homer, Odyssey 10.1-76).
Aërope [a-er'o-pee]
She was the daughter of Catreus, king of Crete. Catreus had her
and her sister Clymene sold into slavery. She was bought by Atreus
and became his wife, but she had an affair with his brother, Thyestes,
which began the feud between the two brothers (Apollodorus 3.2.1-2,
Epitome 2.10). Family
Tree 15.
Aesacus [ee'sa-kus] or Aisakos
The son of Priam and Arisbe (Priam's first wife), he learned to
interpret dreams from his maternal grandmother, Merops. Some sources
say it was he, not Cassandra, who interpreted the dream of Helenus
to mean that Paris would be the destruction of Troy if he was not
put to death. Some sources say Aesacus married Asterope, daughter
of the river god Cebren, and that he was turned into a bird when
he mourned her death. Other sources say Aesacus was in love with
Cebren's daughter, Hesperia, that he chased her through the woods,
and that Tethys turned him into a diver bird when he threw himself
into the sea after Hesperia was killed by a snakebite (Apollodorus
3.12.5; Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.749-795).
Aether [ee'ther], "upper air"
The offspring of Erebus and Nyx, he is the personification of the
bright, upper atmosphere (Hesiod, Theogony 124-125). Family
Tree 2.
Agamemnon [ag-a-mem'non], "very determined"
The son of Atreus and Aërope and brother of Menelaus, he led the
Greek army that sailed to Troy to bring back Helen. He sacrificed
his daughter Iphigenia to appease Artemis so the Greeks could sail
to Troy (Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis; Hyginus, Fabulae
98). He also caused Achilles to withdraw from the war by demanding
Brise9s. When he returned to Mycenae after the war with Cassandra,
his concubine, he and Cassandra were killed by his wife, Clytemnestra,
and Aegisthus, her lover (Aeschylus, Agamemnon; Seneca, Agamemnon;
Homer, Odyssey 4.519-537). Family
Tree 15.
Ajax the Greater [ay'jaks] or Aias
The son of Telamon and one of the fiercest Greek warriors at Troy,
he contended unsuccessfully with Odysseus for the armor of Achilles.
He committed suicide when the armor was awarded to Odysseus (Sophocles,
Ajax; Homer, Iliad; Pindar, Isthmian Odes 6.41-54;
Apollodorus, Epitome 5.4, 6-7; Ovid, Metamorphoses
12.624-13.398; Hyginus, Fabulae 107). Family
Tree 17.
Ajax the Lesser [ay'jaks] or Aias
The son of Oileus and leader of the Greeks from Locris in the Trojan
War, he desecrated the temple and statue of Athena by raping Cassandra
during the sack of Troy (Euripides, Trojan Women 48-97; Apollodorus,
Epitome 5.22-23). He was shipwrecked off the island of Tenos;
when Ajax boasted that the gods could not keep him from escaping
death at sea, Poseidon caused him to drown (Homer, Odyssey
4.499-511; Apollodorus, Epitome 6.6; Virgil, Aeneid
1.39-45). Family Tree 10.
Alcmaeon [alk-mee'on] or Alkamaion
The son of Amphiaraüs, who was one of the Seven against Thebes,
he avenged the death of his father by leading the Epigoni in a successful
attack against Thebes and by killing his mother, who had been bribed
to induce Amphiaraüs to join in the earlier, ill-fated expedition
to Thebes (Apollodorus 3.6.2). He married the daughter of King Phegeus,
but had to leave because he had committed matricide (Hyginus, Fabulae
73). He was purified by the river god Acheloüs and married Callirhoë,
daughter of Acheloüs. He was killed by the sons of Phegeus (Apollodorus
3.7.2-7). Family Tree 11.
Alcyone [al-seye'on-ee] or Alkyone
The daughter of the wind god Aeolus, she found the body of her husband,
Ceyx, on the beach after she dreamed he had died at sea. She and
her dead husband were turned into kingfishers (Apollodorus 1.7.4;
Lucian, Halcyon 1; Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.410-748;
Hyginus, Fabulae 65).
Althaea [al-thee'a] or Althaia
The daughter of Thestius and Eurythemis, she married her uncle Oeneus
and became the mother of Gorge, Deianira, and Meleager. She was
told that Meleager would live until a particular log on the fire
burned through, so she preserved the log until Meleager angered
her by killing her brothers Toxeus and Plexippus in an argument
at the Calydonian boar hunt. She burned the log, Meleager died,
and then she killed herself (Homer, Iliad 9.533-599; Apollodorus
1.8.2-3; Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.268-546; Hyginus, Fabulae
171-174). Family Tree 48.
Amazons, "missing one breast"
They were a race of warlike women. Heracles, Theseus, and Bellerophon
made military campaigns against them. They fought on the side of
Troy in the Trojan War, where Achilles killed Penthesilea, their
leader. Theseus won the Amazon, Antiope (or Hippolyta), and their
son was Hippolytus (Apollodorus, Epitome 5.1).
Amphiaraüs [am-fi-a-ray'us]
The son of Oecles and Hypermestra, he was a prophet who took part
in the Calydonian boar hunt. He refused to attack Thebes until his
wife Eriphyle was bribed by Polynices and she persuaded him to be
one of the Seven against Thebes, even though he knew he would be
killed. At Thebes, he would have been speared in the back by Periclymenus,
but Zeus split the earth open with a thunderbolt. Amphiaraüs fell
into the hole along with his chariot and charioteer and vanished
(Pindar, Nemean Odes 9.13-27; Euripides, Suppliants;
Apollodorus 1.8.2, 3.6.2-8). Family
Tree 11.
Amphitrite [am-fi-treye'tee]
She was one of the Nereids. Married to Poseidon and mother of Triton,
she played the role of jealous and angry wife because of Poseidon's
many affairs (Hesiod, Theogony 243, 252-253; Apollodorus
1.2.2, 1.4.5; Hyginus, Poetica Astronomica 2.17). Family
Tree 53.
Amphitryon [am-fi'tri-on]
He ruled Mycenae while his uncle Electryon was away at war, but
was banished for accidentally killing Electryon. His wife, Alcmene,
refused to sleep with him until he finished Electryon's war against
the Teleboans and Taphians. He got help from Creon, the king of
Thebes, after solving Creon's problem with a fox by borrowing Laelaps
the hound from Cephalus. The night before Amphitryon returned from
the battle, Zeus, disguised as Amphitryon, slept with Alcmene and
they conceived Heracles; Amphitryon lay with Alcmene the next night
and fathered Iphicles (Apollodorus 2.4.5-8; Hyginus, Fabulae
29). Family Tree 31.
Amycus [am'i-kus] or Amykos
The son of Poseidon and king of the Bebryces, he compelled all visitors
to compete with him in a boxing match. He had killed all of his
opponents before Jason and the Argonauts arrived, when Polydeuces,
one of the Dioscuri, boxed with and killed Amycus (Apollonius Rhodius,
Argonautica 2.1-144; Apollodorus 1.9.20; Hyginus, Fabulae
17; Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 4.99-343).
Anchises [an-keye'seez]
The descendant of Dardanus and Ilus and king of the Dardanians,
he mated with Aphrodite and became the father of Aeneas. Anchises
vowed not to tell anyone of his affair with Aphrodite. When the
Greeks were sacking Troy, Aeneas carried Anchises from the city,
but Anchises died in Sicily before the Trojans landed in Italy (Homer,
Iliad 5.268-272, 13.428-431; Pausanias 8.12.8-9; Homeric
Hymn to Aphrodite 5; Virgil, Aeneid 2.647-649, 707-789;
Hyginus, Fabulae 94). Family
Tree 42.
Anticlea [an-ti-klee'a or an-ti-kleye'a] or Antikleia
She was the daughter of Autolycus and mother of Odysseus. One account
says Sisyphus seduced her to avenge the theft of his cattle by Autolycus
and that she gave birth to Odysseus shortly after Autolycus married
her off to Laertes. Another account says Laertes was the father
of Odysseus. She died of grief while Odysseus was fighting at Troy
(Homer, Odyssey 11.84-89, 11.153-224; Apollodorus, Epitome
3.12, 7.17; Hyginus, Fabulae 201, 243). Family
Tree 37.
Antigone [an-tig'o-nee], "contrary birth"
This daughter of Oedipus and sister of Polynices and Eteocles buried
Polynices despite Creon's decree that whoever buried him should
be killed. Creon confined her to a sealed cave, where she would
die-she hanged herself; Haemon, Creon's son, who was engaged to
Antigone, killed himself with his sword; Creon's wife, Eurydice,
then took her own life (Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes;
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone; Euripides,
Phoenician Women; Apollodorus 3.5.8-9, 3.7.1; Hyginus, Fabulae
72). Family Tree 19.
Aphrodite [a-froh-deye'tee], "foam born"(?)
The goddess of beauty, love, and marriage was born from the foam
that frothed up in the sea where the genitals of Uranus were cast
by Cronus (Hesiod, Theogony 168-200; Apollodorus 1.1.1-4).
One account makes her the daughter of Zeus and Dione, a goddess
who is virtually unknown (Homer, Iliad 5.370-416; Euripides,
Helen 1098; Apollodorus 1.3.1). The islands Cyprus and Cythera
were special centers of Aphrodite's worship. Aphrodite was married
to Hephaestus, but she had affairs with Hermes, Poseidon, Ares,
and Dionysus, as well as the mortal Anchises (Homer, Odyssey
8.266-366; Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 5). Family
Tree 50.
Apollo [a-pol'loh], "destroy," or "excite"
The brother of Artemis and son of Leto and Zeus, he was born on
the island of Delos (Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo 30-90;
Apollodorus 1.4.1). As one of the twelve Olympians-sun god as well
as a god of prophecy, music, poetry, and medicine-he represents
reason and intellect. He established the famous oracle of Delphi
on Mount Parnassus (Homeric Hymn to Pythian Apollo; Apollodorus
1.4.1; Hyginus, Fabulae 140). He obtained attendants for
his temple by turning himself into a dolphin and commandeering a
ship (Homeric Hymn to Pythian Apollo 388-544). The Romans
had no equivalent for Apollo. Family
Tree 21.
Apsyrtus [ap-sir'tus] or Apsyrtos, also called Aegialeus
The son of Aeëtes and Eidyia and brother of Medea, Apollodorus says
he accompanied Medea and Jason from Colchis and that Medea cut him
up and threw his body parts into the ocean to slow the pursuit of
Aeetes, their father (Apollodorus 1.9.23-24). Apollonius says Apsyrtus
pursued Jason and Medea and that Jason killed him in the Danube
(Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.576-591; Hyginus, Fabulae
23). Family Tree 12.
Arachne [a-rak'nee], "spider."
She was a young maiden who challenged Athena to a weaving contest.
When Athena could find no fault with Arachne's tapestry, she tore
Arachne's work to shreds and began hitting the girl with her shuttle.
Arachne hanged herself, but Athena turned her into a spider (Ovid,
Metamorphoses 6.1-145).
Ares [ar'eez] (Mars), "man," "male," "manhood," or "strife."
This son of Zeus and Hera, and god of war, was not popular with
the Greeks who saw him as a "butcher." He had a long-term affair
with Aphrodite-with whom he produced Eros, Deimos (Panic), Phobus
(Fear), and Harmonia-but was trapped in bed with Aphrodite by her
husband, Hephaestus (Homer, Odyssey 8.266-366; Homeric
Hymn to Ares). Family Tree
22.
Argonauts [ar'goh-nawtz]
They were the heroes who accompanied Jason on his quest to obtain
the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from Argo, the ship built by
Argus for the expedition, and nautes, the Greek word for
sailor-they were the most noble and heroic men in all of Greece
(Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.23-227; Hyginus, Fabulae
14).
Ariadne [a-ri-ad'nee], "very chaste," or "very pleasing"
This daughter of King Minos of Crete fell in love with Theseus and
betrayed her father by giving Theseus a thread to find his way out
of the labyrinth (Apollodorus, Epitome 1.7-9; Plutarch, Theseus
19.1; Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.152-173; Hyginus, Fabulae
40-42). She escaped from Crete, but, according to most popular accounts,
was left on the island of Naxos, where Dionysus found her and made
her his wife (Homer, Odyssey 11.321-325; Apollodorus, Epitome
1.9; Diodorus Siculus 4.61.5; Plutarch, Theseus 20.2-4; Ovid,
Metamorphoses 8.174-182; Hyginus, Fabulae 43). Family
Tree 23.
Arion [a-reye'on], "swift," or "the one who flows quickly"
This swift horse was a child of Poseidon, who had turned himself
into a stallion, and Demeter who had turned herself into a mare.
He was the horse of Adrastus, one of the Seven against Thebes, and
saved him from death (Homer, Iliad 23.346-347; Pausanias
8.25.7-10). Family Tree 20.
Artemis [ar'te-mis] (Diana), "fashion," or "cut"(?)
She was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin of Apollo. One of
the twelve Olympians, she was born on the island of Delos. As goddess
of childbirth, nature, and the hunt, she carried a bow and arrows,
which she used to avenge misdeeds, particularly crimes against her
mother. She also became a moon goddess and took on the characteristics
of Selene and Hecate (Homeric Hymn to Artemis). Family
Tree 21.
Asclepius [as-klee'pi-us] (Aesculapius) or Asklepios, "cut up,"
or "turn round and round"(?)
The son of Apollo and Coronis, he was god of medicine and healing,
but was raised by the centaur Chiron, who taught him medicine (Pindar,
Pythian Odes 3.5-7). He could restore the dead to life, for
which offense Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt (Pindar, Pythian
Odes 3.54-58; Euripides, Alcestis 3-6; Apollodorus 3.10.4;
Hyginus, Fabulae 49; Diodorus Siculus 4.71.2-3). The most
famous temple of Asclepius was at Epidaurus. His children included
Machaon, Podalirius (Diodorus Siculus 4.71.4), Hygeia (Health),
and Panacea (Cure-all). Family
Tree 21.
Asopus [a-soh'pus], "slimy muck," or "never silent"
A river god, he was sometimes called the son of Oceanus and Tethys,
sometimes the son of Poseidon and Pero, and sometimes the son of
Zeus and Eurynome. He married Metope and became the father of Aegina.
He caught Zeus lying with his daughter-Zeus fled, but later blasted
Asopus with a thunderbolt. Aegina became the mother of Aeacus (Apollodorus
3.12.6; Pausanias 2.5.1; Diodorus Siculus 4.72.1-5). Family
Tree 17.
Atalanta [at-a-lan'ta], "balanced," or "not suffering much"
She is sometimes called the daughter of Schoeneus (Apollodorus 1.8.2;
Diodorus Siculus 4.34.4, 4.65.4; Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.609;
Hyginus, Fabulae 185) and sometimes the daughter of Iasus
(Apollodorus 3.9.2), or Iasius (Hyginus, Fabulae 99). She
participated in the Calydonian boar hunt and refused to marry anyone
who could not beat her in a footrace. Melanion (Hippomenes in Theocritus,
Ovid, and Hyginus) outraced her by throwing golden apples to the
side of the course, which she slowed down to pick up. In their haste
to consummate the marriage, they had sex in a place sacred to Zeus
and were turned into lions (Theocritus 3.40-42; Apollodorus 1.8.2-3,
3.9.2; Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.560-704; Hyginus, Fabulae
99, 174, 185).
Athamas [a'tha-mas], "rich harvest," or "not crowded"(?)
As king of Boeotia, he married a cloud named Nephele and became
the father of Phrixus and Helle. He was abandoned by Nephele. Ino,
his new wife, tricked him into sacrificing Phrixus and Helle, but
Nephele saved them by placing them on a flying ram with a Golden
Fleece. Helle fell off at the Hellespont, but Phrixus flew on to
Colchis, where he sacrificed the ram to Zeus and gave its Golden
Fleece to Aeetes (Apollodorus 1.9.1; Hyginus, Fabulae 2,
3)-this was the fleece that Jason and his Argonauts had to obtain.
Family Tree 25.
Athena [a-thee'-na] or Athene (Minerva), "protectress"(?)
Born from the head of Zeus, she was goddess of wisdom, war, arts
and crafts-a virginal goddess-known as a protector and benefactor
of heroes. She was the patron deity of Athens, which was named for
her. She beat Poseidon in a contest for this honor by causing an
olive tree to grow after Poseidon had created the first horse or
caused a spring to gush forth by hitting a rock with his trident
(Apollodorus 3.14.1). Family
Tree 51.
Atlas [at'las], "he who bears."
This son of Iapetus and Clymene fought on the side of Cronus against
Zeus in the Titanomachy, so Zeus condemned him to hold the sky on
his shoulders (Apollodorus 1.2.3; Hyginus, Fabulae 150).
He helped Heracles obtain the apples of the Hesperides (Apollodorus
2.5.11). Perseus showed him the head of Medusa and turned him into
a stone mountain (Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.627-662). Family
Tree 49.
Atreus [ay'tre-us]
The son of Pelops and Hippodamia, he carried on a long term feud
with his brother Thyestes and served him a banquet of his own sons.
Thyestes cursed the family of Atreus. Among the many dire consequences
of this curse, Aegisthus, a later-born son of Thyestes, became the
lover of Clytemnestra, and they murdered her husband Agamemnon,
the son of Atreus (Hesiod, Catalogue of Women 69; Aeschylus,
Agamemnon; Apollodorus 2.4.6, Epitome 2.10-15; Seneca,
Thyestes). Family Tree
15.
Atropos [at'ro--pos], "unchangeable," or "inflexible."
A daughter of Zeus and Themis, she was one of the Fates who were
also called Moirae or Parcae. She is depicted as an old woman, and
cuts the thread of one's life that has been spun and measured out
by her two sisters and brings one's life to an end (Hesiod, Theogony
217-222, 901-906, Shield of Heracles 248-269; Apollodorus
1.3.1). Family Tree 5.
Augeas [aw-jee'as], "bright."
He was a son of Phorbas or Poseidon or Helios and king of Elis.
He had large herds of cattle, but had never cleaned their stables.
Heracles cleaned them in one day as his fifth labor, but Augeas
refused to give him the cattle he had promised as payment (Apollodorus
2.5.5; Diodorus Siculus 4.13.3; Pausanias 5.1.9-10; Hyginus, Fabulae
30). Later, Heracles returned with an army to defeat Augeas and
capture the city (Apollodorus 2.7.2; Diodorus Siculus 4.33.1, 4;
Pausanias 5.1.10-5.3.1).