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In the fifth labor, Eurystheus imposed upon Herakles
the task of cleansing the stables of Augeias, in a single day.
Augeias had a herd of three thousand oxen, but his stables had not been
cleansed for thirty years. When Herakles arrived at the stables, he did
not tell Augeias that he was ordered by king Eurystheus and made
an agreement with him, to take one tenth of his cattle, if he succeeded
to clean the stables.
Herakles completed the task by digging a deep ditch and turning the
waters of the rivers Alpheius and Peneius to pass through
the yard. Augeias refused to give him his promised reward, because he
had learned that Herakles was acting from orders of Eurystheus.
Some time later Herakles returned and slew Augeias and his sons and soon
after went to Olympia and renew the Olympic Games.
This labor too was not accepted by Eurystheus. |
