Augean Stables
The fifth labour of Heracles: cleaning the stables of King Augeas, which held 3,000 cattle and had not been cleaned in thirty years.
The Meaning of Augean Stables
He cleaned thirty years of manure in a single day — by rerouting two rivers through the stables. King Augeas of Elis owned divine cattle that never sickened, so their dung had accumulated for three decades. Eurystheus assigned this deliberately humiliating task. Heracles diverted the rivers Alpheus and Peneus to flood through the stables, washing them clean in hours. Augeas had promised one-tenth of his cattle as payment but refused when he learned it was a labour for Eurystheus. Heracles later returned with an army and killed Augeas. The labour established one of myth's most enduring metaphors — an Augean task means an overwhelmingly filthy or corrupt situation requiring radical action.
Symbols
Fun Fact
The phrase Augean stables is still used in English to describe any overwhelmingly corrupt situation needing a clean sweep.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Cattle of Geryon
💭 conceptlabour
The tenth labour of Heracles: stealing the red cattle of the three-bodied giant Geryon from the island of Erytheia at the western edge of the world.
Cerberus
💭 conceptlabour
The twelfth and final labour of Heracles: descending to the Underworld and bringing back Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog, without weapons.
Cretan Bull
💭 conceptlabour
The seventh labour of Heracles: capturing the monstrous bull of Crete, either the one Poseidon sent or the father of the Minotaur.
Girdle of Hippolyta
💭 conceptlabour
The ninth labour of Heracles: obtaining the war belt of the Amazon queen Hippolyta, a gift from her father Ares.
Apples of the Hesperides
💭 conceptlabour
The eleventh labour of Heracles: obtaining the golden apples from the garden at the edge of the world, guarded by the dragon Ladon.
Stymphalian Birds
💭 conceptlabour
The sixth labour of Heracles: driving away man-eating birds with bronze beaks from Lake Stymphalos in Arcadia.
Herculean
💭 conceptLanguage and effort
An English adjective meaning requiring enormous strength or effort, derived from Hercules, the Roman name for the Greek hero Heracles who performed twelve seemingly impossible labours
Augeas
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Elis whose filthy stables were cleaned by Heracles as one of his famous labours
The Twelve Labours
💭 conceptHeroism, endurance, redemption
Twelve impossible tasks imposed on Heracles by King Eurystheus as penance for killing his own family in a madness sent by Hera.
Twelve Labours of Heracles
💭 conceptNarrative
The twelve impossible tasks imposed upon Heracles as penance for killing his family in a divine madness
Fall of Troy
💭 conceptNarrative
The final destruction of the city of Troy through the stratagem of the wooden horse after ten years of siege
Cattle of Helios
💭 conceptsacrilege
Sacred immortal cattle of the sun god on the island of Thrinacia, whose slaughter by Odysseus's men doomed the entire crew.