Heracles & The Stables Of Augeas: The 12 Labours Of Heracles EP.5 | Greek Mythology

The fifth labor of Heracles was to clean the filthy stables of Augeas in one day. The stables belonged to king Augeas of Elis, had 1000 healthy cattle in it, which created an enormous litter of dung, and had never been cleaned in more than 30 years. And, Heracles was to clean them all in just one day. Even Augeas himself believed this could not be done, so he promised to give him one tenth of his cattle if he managed to clean the stables in one day. Eurystheus had grown increasingly irritated by the hero's success, time after time, so he sought to humiliate him this time. And what better humiliation than to clean the disgusting, dung-covered stables of Augeas, worse still, in one day? It was clear to him that Heracles possessed godly strength, which was the more reason he saw this fitting, as his strength would do little or nothing in helping him clear millions of heaps of dung and dirt within a day. But again, Heracles was out to surprise him. Proving he had wits just as he had strength, the hero changed the direction of the Penias and Alpheus rivers, by digging trenches that made the waters flow directly into the stables, cleaning all the waste, and getting the job done. You could imagine Eurystheus' horror when he saw the stables had been cleaned that same day, even before twilight. But he quickly came up with a splendid excuse. Just like the Hydra task, he again refused to acknowledge Heracles' success at this task, saying that the rivers did the work for him. More so, when Augeas delivered his own end of bargain, by giving one-tenth of his cattle to Heracles, Eurystheus used that as an additional excuse not to count the fulfilled task. Thus, the cleaning of the Augean stables would not be counted among the supposed ten labors. Again, Heracles would have to fulfill an extra task to make up for it, so he had seven more labors to perform.