Upon his return, Atlas decided that he did not want to take the heavens back, and instead offered to deliver the apples himself, but Heracles tricked him again by agreeing to take his place on condition that Atlas relieve him temporarily so that Heracles could make his cloak more comfortable. This would have made this task – like the Hydra and Augean stables – void because he had received help. Detail of a Twelve Labours Roman mosaic from Llíria, Spain.įinally making his way to the Garden of the Hesperides, Heracles tricked Atlas into retrieving some of the golden apples for him, by offering to hold up the heavens for a little while (Atlas was able to take them as, in this version, he was the father or otherwise related to the Hesperides). Hercules stealing the golden apples from the Garden of the Hesperides. Herodotus claims that Heracles stopped in Egypt, where King Busiris decided to make him the yearly sacrifice, but Heracles burst out of his chains. Heracles killed Antaeus by holding him aloft and crushing him in a bearhug. In some variations, Heracles, either at the start or at the end of his task, meets Antaeus, who was immortal as long as he touched his mother, Gaia, the earth. Heracles first caught the Old Man of the Sea, the shape-shifting sea god, to learn where the Garden of the Hesperides was located. The first of these two additional Labours was to steal the apples from the garden of the Hesperides. Under this assumption, the Greek botanical name chosen for all citrus species was Hesperides and even today the Greek word for the orange fruit is πορτοκαλί (Portokali)-after the country of Portugal in Iberia near where the Garden of the Hesperides grew.Īfter Heracles completed his first ten Labors, Eurystheus gave him two more claiming that neither the Hydra counted (because Iolaus helped Heracles) nor the Augean stables (either because he received payment for the job or because the rivers did the work). In later years it was thought that the 'golden apples' might have actually been oranges, a fruit unknown to Europe and the Mediterranean before the Middle Ages.

In the myth of the Judgement of Paris, it was from the Garden that Eris, Goddess of Discord, obtained the Apple of Discord, which led to the Trojan War. Not trusting them, Hera also placed in the garden a never-sleeping, hundred-headed dragon named Ladon as an additional safeguard. The Hesperides were given the task of tending to the grove, but occasionally picked apples from it themselves. The trees were planted from the fruited branches that Gaia gave to Hera as a wedding gift when Hera accepted Zeus. In doing so, he allowed Hercules to retrieve the Apples, make good his escape and carry them back to Eurystheus.īecause the Apples belonged to the gods, they could not remain with Eurystheus and so he had to return them to Athena, who took them back to the garden at the northern edge of the world.Hera's Orchad (:'also' known as the 'Garden of the Hesperides':) is Hera's orchard in the west, where either a single apple tree or a grove grows, producing golden apples that grant immortality when eaten. Atlas put the apples on the ground, and lifted the burden onto his own shoulders. Hercules slyly agreed, but asked Atlas whether he could take it back again, just for a moment, while he put some soft padding on his shoulders to help him bear the weight of the sky and the earth. On returning with the golden apples, Atlas told Hercules he would take them to Eurystheus himself, and asked Hercules to stay there and hold the heavy load for the rest of time. He would have to send Atlas after them, instead of going himself.Ītlas hated holding up the sky and the earth so much so, that he agreed to the task of fetching the apples, if Hercules would carry the burden of the world. Hercules slew the eagle and in gratitude, Prometheus told Hercules the secret to getting the apples. He was bound to the mountain, and every day a monstrous eagle came and ate his liver, at night, Prometheus' liver grew back, and the next day he had to endure the eagle's painful visit all over again. Prometheus, who had stolen the secret of fire from the Gods, was sentenced by Zeus to a horrible fate. But Hercules escaped, killing Busiris, and continued his journey.Įventually he came to the rock on Mount Caucasus where Prometheus was chained. Later, Hercules was captured by Busiris, another of Poseidon's sons, and was led to an altar to be a human sacrifice. Once he had the location, he continued, beset with dangers, Hercules was stopped by Antaeus, the son of the sea god, Poseidon, who also challenged Hercules to fight. After journeying through many lands Hercules arrived in Illyria, where he seized the sea-god Nereus, who knew the garden's secret location. The first task in the quest was to find the location of the Garden.

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